Surna Appoints Two New Directors
Industry Veterans Randy Shipley and Nick Etten Bring Cultivation Facility and Multi-state Operator, Executive Experience
Boulder, Colorado, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Surna Inc. (OTCQB: SRNA), a designer, engineer and manufacturer of environmental control and air sanitation systems for commercial, state- and provincial-regulated indoor cannabis cultivation facilities, is pleased to announce the recent appointments of Randy Shipley and Nick Etten as independent directors. These appointments fill vacancies on the Board of Directors (the "Board"). President and CEO Tony McDonald, also a director, was appointed Chairman of the Board.
The addition of Shipley and Etten strengthens Surna’s Board with two cannabis industry veterans. Each new director provides not only successful experience in and commitment to the industry, but deep industry relationships as well. In addition to their cannabis experience, the new directors have between them many years’ successful experience as entrepreneurs, executives, and investors.
"Surna continues to focus on both organic growth and strategic relationship opportunities even during the unprecedented current overall business conditions. The addition of Randy and Nick to our Board will help Surna dramatically on both fronts," said Tony McDonald, the Company's CEO.
James R. Shipley
Randy Shipley has been the Chief Strategy Officer of GroAdvisor and the Vice-President of Sales and a member of the executive leadership team at VividGro since 2017. GroAdvisor provides supply chain management and solutions to cultivation operations through a cooperative of industry leaders in environmental services, lighting, building structures and green technologies. VividGrow is a company that provides agricultural technology for consumer and commercial applications. From 2014 to 2017 Mr. Shipley, acting in several executive roles, helped build multiple business lines for MJIC Inc. (now Manifest 7); these roles included being a member of the board of directors, Chairman and President. Mr. Shipley has been active in the cannabis business, where he has founded various summits such as the Marijuana Investor Summit and been involved in many educational workshops and business expos. Previously, Mr. Shipley was an officer and chief revenue officer with Carrier Access Corporation (CACS), a public company trading on Nasdaq. Prior to Carrier Access, Mr. Shipley worked at Williams Companies in their telecommunications divisions.
Nicholas J. Etten.
Nick Etten joined Acreage Holdings in 2018 where he is currently the Head of Government Affairs. Acreage is a vertically integrated, multi-state operator of cannabis licenses and assets in the U.S. In 2017 he founded the Veterans Cannabis Project where he continues to serve as Chairman. Veterans Cannabis Project (VCP) is an organization dedicated to advocating on behalf of cannabis access issues for U.S. military veterans. From 2015 to 2017, Mr. Etten set aside his career to provide care for his seriously ill son. Mr. Etten’s career has been focused on the growth equity market, and prior to Acreage, he held positions including Vice President of Global Business Development for FreightWatch International, and Director of Corporate Development for Triple Canopy. Mr. Etten was an investment professional at Trident Capital, where he focused on the cyber-security space, and an investment banker at Thomas Weisel Partners.
Contact:
Jamie English
Managing Director, Marketing
303.993.5271
