Sponsor Spotlight: Northeast Processing

When two longtime friends – Noah Quist and Carl Christianson – reconnected in 2017, they discovered a mutual passion for sharing the benefits of medicinal cannabis. They also both recognized that despite having a dedicated and fast-exploding cannabis-growing community, Vermont was still missing a source of comprehensive testing and processing.

This meant that many farmers were unable to convert their crops into clean, pure CBD or essential oils. Christianson and Quist responded to that need by launching Northeast Processing in the fall of 2017. Their mission is to provide best-in-class medicinal hemp and botanical testing, extraction, and CBD oil sales.

Northeast Processing, also the Testing Sponsor for Hemp Fest 2018, provides a variety of services, including:

• Hemp extraction with both supercritical fluid CO2 and organic, food-grade ethanol.
• Testing of raw plant material, extracts, and consumer products for cannabinoid and terpene profiles, as well as pesticides and herbicides.
• Isolate extraction.
• Sales of whole plant extracts, isolates, and terpenes.

They’re also dedicated to establishing long-lasting business relationships built upon science, trust, integrity, and their passion for the cannabis industry.

Christianson, Northeast Processing’s CEO, has a Ph.D. in chemistry, and had been researching how bacteria, yeast, and plants make compounds that get utilized for human health. He’d also been actively involved in the VT cannabis community for several years, and was familiar with the community’s need for greater access to processing facilities, and the advanced analytical lab results which ensure consistency of both quality and dosage.

Quist, Northeast Processing’s Chief Development Officer, hails from Northern California and lived internationally throughout his childhood. A dynamic, highly energetic, and self-proclaimed “passionate outside-the-box thinker, he brings over 15 years of direct sales and management experience to the job, with a committed belief that “relationships and trust are everything. Period.”

Both men recognized immediately that relieving the cannabis processing bottleneck would also help feed the national demand for hemp products and put Vermont hemp on the map.

“There is a much broader role that Northeast Processing can play here in Vermont” says Quist, “and by doing whatever we can to support those farms already growing hemp or those considering to designate some acreage to it can only help everyone involved.”

Vermont seems to be perceived as poised to explode on the national hemp scene and we couldn’t be more thrilled and appreciative to be a part of it at the ground floor.

After a year in business, Christianson recognizes that part of the long term work – for both legislators and entrepreneurs – will be finding the right balance for regulation in the industry.

“We need enough regulation to ensure quality products are being produced in the state,” says Christianson, “without squashing the entrepreneurial spirit of Vermonters.” In addition, Christianson believes in the importance of a relatively low barrier for entry into the marketplace.

“The last thing we would want to see,” says Christianson, “are exceptionally high licensing fees that would prevent most Vermonters from being able to get involved and showcase their ideas. In this vein, it would be great to see an emphasis on small, local businesses that are creating high quality products.”

Quist is determined to ensure that Northeast Processing will “always be regarded throughout the national cannabis landscape as a proudly built and honest Vermont company who has remained as committed to our farming partners as we have our consumer product partnerships.”

Quist and Christianson also recognize the potential for local cannabis products to take their place alongside microbrews, cheese, maple syrup, milk, and  other nationally recognized Vermont foods and beverages. They designed their processing methodologies to reflect the quality and integrity of the hemp grown by their farming partners, and their analytical lab helps validate hemp samples for farmers, consumer products for producers, and can be used as a source of consultation and formulation for entrepreneurs interested in starting their own product lines.

“Hemp seems to be in the news daily whether it’s in relation to the national legalization discussion or the CBD market projected to be a $20 billion industry by 2020,” says Quist. “Vermont seems to be perceived as poised to explode on the national hemp scene and we couldn’t be more thrilled and appreciative to be a part of it at the ground floor.”