General Cannabis Names Interim CEO; Steve Gutterman Steps Down

• General Cannabis Board Member and major investor, Adam Hershey, to be appointed Interim CEO
  
  
• Search for new CEO to begin immediately
  

DENVER, May 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- General Cannabis Corp (OTCQB: CANN) today announced several changes to its executive management team. Current Board Member and major investor, Adam Hershey, was appointed as the Company’s Interim CEO. Steve Gutterman stepped down from his CEO and Director roles and will be leaving the Company to pursue other opportunities, effective immediately. Tim Brown, Founder and CEO of Trees, will be joining the Board upon the first closing of the recently announced foundational Trees acquisition.

Richard Travia, current Independent Board Member, has been named Lead Independent Director and has initiated a comprehensive search process to select a permanent CEO to lead the Company into its next phase of growth.

Mr. Hershey was initially appointed to the Board on July 13, 2020. He has over 25 years of investing experience in public and private markets and is currently the Founder, Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager of Hershey Strategic Capital, LP, an opportunistic, alternative asset manager focused on active investing in small cap public companies. He is also the Founder and Managing Member of several investment partnerships that focus on providing growth and expansion capital to public and private companies. Mr. Hershey was previously a Partner and Chief Investment Officer at SIAR Capital, LLC, a single-family office specializing in undervalued and emerging growth companies based in New York City from September 2007 through June 2016. Mr. Hershey graduated from Tulane University A.B. Freeman School of Business with a B.S.M. in 1994. Mr. Hershey will continue to serve on the Board and will not receive any additional compensation in connection with his new role as Interim CEO.

Carl Williams, Chairman of the Board of General Cannabis said, “Adam Hershey injected capital into the Company in May of 2020 and has been integral in the significant strategic and operational progress made since then. Adam brings decades of experience and knowledge and will run the day-to-day operations of the Company, as of May 7^th. Over the last 6 months, the Board has become very involved with the Company and has worked tirelessly to improve the results. With the pending transformational Trees acquisition and improvements to the General Cannabis organization, the Company is well positioned for the next chapter of rapid growth.