Item 9 Labs Corp

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Item 9 Labs Q2 FY 2021 Earnings Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Brian Loper, Investor Relations from ClearThink. Sir, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Item 9 Labs second quarter fiscal year 2021 Earnings for the three months ended March 31st, 2021 earnings conference call. By now, everyone should have access to the earnings press release, which was issued earlier today before the markets open at approximately 8.30 a.m. Eastern Time. This call is being webcast and will be available for replay. In our remarks today, we will include statements that are considered forward-looking within the meanings of securities laws, including forward-looking statements about future results of operations, business strategies and plans, our relationships with our customers, market and potential growth opportunities. In addition, management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current knowledge and expectations as of today and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and may cause the actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. A detailed discussion of such risks and uncertainties are contained in our most recent Form 10Q, Form 10K, and in other reports filed at the SEC. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. On this call, we will refer to certain non-GAAP measures that, when used in combination with GAAP results, provide us with additional analytical tools to understand our operations. We have provided reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures in our earnings press release, which will be posted on the investor relations section of our website at item9labcorp.com. And with that, I'll now hand over the call to Item 9 Labs Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Bowden. So Andrew was appointed to CEO of Item 9 Labs Corp in November 2019 after a year on the board of directors. Since his appointment, Item 9 Labs has been strongly, steadily performance with sequential quarter over quarter growth rates around 20%. He is also the CEO and co-founder of Bowdoin Investment Group with a focus on wellness and sustainability. His family has invested 10 million into Item 9 Labs. His career has been focused on multi-tier investment strategies in real estate, technology, and sustainable sectors. During his nine years in real estate, he started developing net zero building projects that produced as much energy as they consumed in a year. He also directly saw the value franchising offers firsthand. I'll now hand the call over to Andrew.

Thank you, Brian, and good morning, everyone. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to join us on today's call. This is our first ever Earnings Results Conference call as a publicly traded company. So in addition to discussing our operational highlights, and financial results for the quarter, we will invest some time introducing our team and providing some background on how we got to where we are today and our strategy for accelerated growth over the next three years. After my opening remarks, our CFO, Bobby Michaelson, will then give a summary of our second quarter fiscal year 2021 financial results. Then Mike Weinberger, Chief Franchise Officer of our dispensary franchise brand, Unity Road, will discuss the franchise's traction to date and growth plans. I will then end with providing insights into some of our strategic growth initiatives and our outlook for continued growth and profitability for fiscal year 2021 and beyond, along with our plans to increase our shareholder awareness and visibility. We will then answer shareholder questions that were pre-submitted prior to the call. The commitment I've made to our company and the cannabis industry as a whole is both professional and personal. Anyone who has heard my story knows of my mother's battle with cancer. She's now four years cancer free and the cannabis plant helped tremendously through the treatment process. Item Nine Labs core is a vertically integrated cannabis operator and dispensary franchise or delivering premium products from our large scale cultivation and production facilities in the United States. Our award winning Item Nine Labs brand specializes in best in class products, and user experience across several cannabis categories. We also offer a unique dispensary franchise model through our national Unity Road retail brand, easing barriers to entry. The franchise provides an opportunity for both new and existing dispensary owners to leverage the knowledge, resources, and ongoing support needed to thrive in their state, compliantly and successfully. Item 9 Labs brings the best industry practices to markets nationwide through distinctive retail experience, cultivation capabilities, and product innovation. Our veteran management team combines a diverse skill set with deep experience in the cannabis sector, franchising, and the capital markets to lead a new generation of public cannabis companies that provide transparency, consistency, and well-being. I'd like to share with you several facts about Item 9 Labs and UnityRoad that I find particularly compelling and essential for understanding the growth potential of our business. Item 9 Labs was founded back in 2017 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. We attained OTC QX listing in August of 2020 and have reported 20% sequential quarter-over-quarter growth over the last five quarters. Since our inception, we've sold more than 1.3 million packaged goods sold. We have 50 acres of approved cultivation operations and production on our site in Coolidge. It's one of the largest properties in the state that is zoned to grow, cultivate, and manufacture cannabis. Arizona is one of the most sought-after markets in the U.S. with anticipated revenues of $1.5 billion by 2024 as the state recently expanded to legalize adult use. Unity Road has multiple agreements signed with over 10 entrepreneurial groups who are in various stages of development across seven different states. Our team has a combined 200 years of experience in legal cannabis and franchising. Throughout our careers, we've supported over 100 concepts for franchise development, won cannabis licenses in 15 states, and earned 24 Cannabis Industry Awards. I will now introduce key people of our team who have been instrumental in our growth to date and, as importantly, for where we're going. Chief Strategy Officer Jeffrey Roussas. Jeffrey is charged with guiding the company's strategic growth. Mr. Roussas is a 20 plus year veteran of early to middle stage companies with extensive business management experience in strategic planning, funding, leading, and performing pivotal turnarounds for private and public ventures across a variety of industries. He previously served as CEO of Airware Holdings Inc., CEO at YCNG and UChange, and CEO of Global Alerts, a holding company for Earth911.com and Pets911.com, and building ImprovedNet.com, later selling to Interactive Commerce Corp. Chief Franchise Officer Mike Weinberger. Mike leads all franchise-related areas of Unity Road while overseeing day-to-day operations of the franchise. A culture creator and growth driver with around 20 years in franchising, his experience has been focused on growing emerging concepts into nationally recognized brands. Mr. Weinberger has been instilling his franchise knowledge into the cannabis industry since 2018 and paved the path for bringing the franchise business model to cannabis, offering creative solutions to something many thought couldn't be done. His tenacity has opened the doors to cannabis entrepreneurship through the Unity Road franchise opportunity. Mike Weinberger was previously the CEO of Maui Waui, a coffee and smoothies franchise with 500 plus units worldwide. Most notably, in his eight years with the franchise, He led a successful sale to Kahala Brands. Upon acquisition, his role shifted to brand president and VP of franchise development, overseeing Kahala Brands' non-traditional portfolio and growth strategies. His comprehensive knowledge of franchising fuels Unity Road's success in an emerging market where agility is essential to entry in new markets and states. Chief Financial Officer Bobby Michelson. Before joining Item 9 Labs, Bobby was a certified public accountant in the state of Arizona and worked with a client base that is diverse in both size and industry, including small nonprofits, large government agencies, and medium-sized businesses in healthcare, mental health, and pharmaceutical industries. He most recently led his own accounting firm and had previously spent more than a decade as an auditor with Henry and Horn LLP in Arizona. Now I'd like to pass it off to Bobby for a summary of our second quarter fiscal year 2021 financial results.