Beth Kotarba, chief operating officer of Native Roots Cannabis, nabbed the Woman of the Year award at the Green Market Report Women in Cannabis Awards in New York last month.
Kotarba, who has helmed operations at Native Roots for nearly eight years, has steered the company through go-go growth while championing gender equity and operational excellence. Native Roots is Colorado’s largest independent vertically integrated cannabis operator, with 21 retail locations across the state.
Under Kotarba’s leadership, Native Roots achieved 30% growth in 2021, a company record. Despite subsequent industry-wide challenges, the company has maintained market share and stable growth.
“When I started, there wasn’t really a playbook for success,” Kotarba told Green Market Report. “So, it has been incredible to watch Native Roots grow over the years and see the positive impacts we’ve made on both the business and the community.”
Kotarba’s tenure has been marked by big operational improvements. She implemented changes that doubled output capacity to 52,100 pounds annually. Her team also refined production processes, which allowed Native Roots to scale to demand effectively without oversupply.
Cultivation efficiency also saw marked improvement, with grams per square foot increasing from 49.4 in 2016 to 56.45 in 2023.
While those numbers are impressive on their own, Kotarba’s most notable achievement might be the advancement of gender equity within the company. When she joined Native Roots, only two women held management positions in operations; today, that number has grown to 17, with women occupying 64% of senior leadership roles.
“Helping to create a supportive and inclusive culture has been incredibly rewarding,” Kotarba said. “Seeing talented women thrive in leadership roles and knowing I’ve played a part in their success makes me proud every day, especially in this industry.”
Kotarba’s impact on company culture is reflected in her division’s 78% employee engagement rating.
Her journey in cannabis hasn’t been without challenges. Kotarba cited the implementation of an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system as one of the biggest hurdles she’s faced.
“It was a multiyear, complex project that added work and more stringent controls to our existing processes,” she said. “This resulted in a lot of resistance and frustration from our production teams, especially when COVID hit and paused everything.”
Despite calls to abandon the project, Kotarba kept pushing forward, believing in its long-term benefits.
“Now, three years later, it is amazing to see how it has transformed our operations and how our staff has learned to work with the applications,” she said.
Before entering the cannabis industry, Kotarba accumulated more than 25 years of experience in management consulting and corporate leadership across various sectors, including financial services, manufacturing, retail, and aerospace.
“I love bringing a touch of traditional business savvy from my previous career to the cannabis industry,” Kotarba said, “mixing in professionalism, structure, and best practices while keeping things fun and true to this unique industry.”
Beyond her role at Native Roots, Kotarba is active in industry mentorship. She participates in the Marijuana Industry Group mentor program, which promotes diversity and inclusion by fostering relationships between social equity entrepreneurs and established cannabis business leaders.
The post Green Market Report Women in Cannabis Awards: Beth Kotarba named Woman of the Year appeared first on Green Market Report.
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