Larry Thacker

Background

About Larry Thacker

I am chief compliance officer at Caliva, a cannabis company based in San Jose, California. I am responsible for all regulatory compliance, training, audits, investigations, governmental affairs work, and strategic regulatory expansion. As founding CEO at Caliva from 2015 to 2017, I worked with city and state officials to develop the operational and regulatory guidelines that the company was launched under.Compliance and governmental affairs work is a passion for me. I like working with lobbyists and meeting with city councils, municipal leaders, and California state representatives to educate them about cannabis. Through tours for government officials I help spread the message about what a regulated cannabis program can do for cities—from jobs to taxation—and what kind of corporate citizen our company can be. The future belongs to those of us still willing to get our hands dirty. I believe no job in a business is beneath the leadership to do when needed. It is important for company leaders to build a hard-working bond with their employees. Fair relationships create loyal employees. I care about how each team member perceives themselves within the company.As a founding executive of Caliva, I helped establish an inclusive company culture and an objective to be a best-in-class employer. We fully fund education for our employees at all community colleges in the state of California. Every full time employee gets fully funded healthcare including medical, dental, vision, and life. And every employee is a shareholder of the company.It is an exciting time to be in this industry, and it is the most fun I’ve had in my career. It has been inspiring to go from the formal conventions of traditional healthcare to a sector that has so much passion throughout it—from employees to consumers and even the regulators. It’s a great industry to work in.