Cannabis Monitoring, Management and Compliance Services

Alfred Moran, Chief Executive Officer

Alfred Moran is the co-owner of HMBI that has provided property preservation and marketing services for over 70,000 residential properties across the country. Mr. Moran’s company was previously an M&M contractor for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Prior to that he served as a HUD Regional Administrator and later as HUD
Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development. A former Assistant United States Attorney, he has extensive legal knowledge and experience regarding corporate law and complex real estate transactions, primarily in the distressed sector. Mr. Moran also served as the co-chairman of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He has a BA in History from the University of Dubuque in Dubuque, Iowa. and a Juris Doctor (JD) degree from Northwestern University’s School of Law.

Dotan Y. Melech (“DT”), President and Co-Founder, United CMC
Dotan Y. Melech taps into decades of experience as a business fiduciary, founder, project manager and problem-solver to help company leaders achieve positive outcomes, whether their business is seeking to mitigate risks, is in a hyper-growth phase or in distress.

He takes an engineer’s approach to analyzing all angles and lining out the best path forward, working with the highly skilled United CMC team to execute strategies and ensure stakeholders are aligned.

For the better part of his career, Mr. Melech worked as a federal bankruptcy trustee and court-appointed receiver, serving as the asset manager and moderator between creditors and businesses facing worst-case scenarios, including bankruptcy and accusations of fraud.

With this unique experience, Mr. Melech founded United Asset Management Services to help businesses overcome seemingly insurmountable financial and legal challenges, and the firm has since conducted over 9,000 projects. After working on a landmark case involving a cannabis operator, he established United CMC to help medical and adult-use cannabis businesses mitigate and avoid regulatory and compliance risks.

His interest in asset management and corporate governance grew during his time as a civil engineer overseeing multimillion-dollar casino construction projects across the northern hemisphere.

A native of Israel, Mr. Melech completed his studies in the United States, where he earned his bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He served eight years in the Israeli Army, and retired with the rank of Captain.

Outside of his extended family of clients and the United CMC team, Dotan enjoys spending time traveling, exploring and learning with his wife and four children.

Scot is a Partner and government affairs specialist with Argentum Partners, a full-service communications firm in Nevada. He provides political strategy, regulatory and government affairs services to his clients in the cannabis industry. Scot has worked on dozens of issue advocacy, legislative, and political campaigns since arriving in Nevada in 2004. His years of experience in political advocacy, campaign finance and management, and government and regulatory affairs has developed his reputation as a trusted voice and advisor to Nevada’s decision-makers.

Scot managed the 2016 campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol in Nevada and continues to serve clients through the implementation of marijuana laws and regulations. His efforts to develop a well-regulated solution to the issue of public consumption of cannabis lead to his role as one of the primary voices on social use policy in Nevada. He continues to work on state and local cannabis consumption legislation and regulations in Nevada and has consulted with regulators across the country on the issue of social consumption of cannabis. Scot is an accomplished public speaker and thought leader and has been featured in dozens of media stories about cannabis legalization and social use laws.

In 2019, the opportunity to partake as a cannabis regulatory compliance professional in a legal action that is the first of its kind in the cannabis industry was a proceeding, I wanted to be involved in.  This process is referred to as a “Receivership Action”.  The Receivership is a means of allowing a cannabis entity to resolve operational, financial, or general organizational issues and resume business.  It’s a state level resolution to allow a marijuana establishment from becoming bankrupt.  Due to marijuana not being federally recognized, it is a viable solution for the status of the marijuana industry.

In December 2017, I became part of private industry as Director of Nevada Risk Management of Terra Tech Corp.  Prior to joining Terra Tech Corp., I worked for State of Nevada as an Auditor II from 2015 to 2017. I began as a State of Nevada Auditor for a newly regulated market. While working for the State of Nevada, I gained invaluable insight into the regulatory requirements of a newly regulated industry while forging professional and exceptional relationships with other government authority officials, industry leaders and business owners.

My previous work experience includes accounting, auditing, finance, information technology and consulting.  I have over twenty years of experience working in multiple industries for Fortune 500 organizations and has been responsible for financial management, change management, systems implementation, audit engagement management, consulting services, and regulatory compliance.

I am an East Coast native (originally from Connecticut) relocated to Nevada to participate in the newly regulated industry.  Although it was a life-changing decision for me, being that I am of African American, Native-American, and Caribbean decent, my family, friends and support system were perplexed and proud of the decision to take on this new endeavor.  The impetus for the decision was my greater than three-decade experience witnessing the advantages and disadvantages of an underserved urban communities. As a consequence, I have been committed to ensuring social equity, availability of highest quality products, and compliance with local and state industry regulations. For someone like myself there was no better way to create systemic change than by being a part of the system and seeking to understand and change the system to be a positive contributor in the lives of people like myself.  After a period of working directly in the governmental area of the system, I then realized that I had as much to contribute to the development and awakening of the nascent industry. At which point I moved to the private sector of the marketplace to help it move the needle for women like me.

I hold a B.S. in Business Administration from Boston University, an M.S. in Accounting from University of Hartford, and an M.S. in Information Technology Management from Rensselaar Polytechnic Institute.

Paulette brings to the team 18 years of experience in accounting and finance, including audit and compliance in the highly regulated gaming industry. Former CEO of a Dallas based Commercial Real Estate firm, Paulette is a seasoned professional who understands the complexities of operating a business while keeping a laser focus on the bottom line.

Paulette studied Accounting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and is CCIM educated.

Mitch Harhay, Managing Director of Information Technology, United CMC

Digital technology became a lifelong driving force for Mitch Harhay when he was introduced to a personal computer at a young age by his father. For well over two decades, he has applied his passion for information systems and entrepreneurship to support businesses in their growth.

At United CMC, Mitch excels in ensuring that partners have the proper technology tools to thrive in the ultra-competitive cannabis industry, and relishes solving the new and unique tech problems that invariably arise in the rapidly expanding cannabis arena.

Mitch first pursued his own business ventures during college. While studying Management Information Systems at UNLV, he also co-owned an internet service provider (ISP) with his brother and father, and subsequently launched an internet consulting company, Aspireworks, with his brother in 2001. Aspireworks has been at the forefront of tech development ever since, advising on and meeting the internet and technical needs that facilitate the growth of small- to medium-size businesses based in the Las Vegas area.

Mitch lives in Las Vegas with his wife of 20 years. He enjoys watching his two daughters play volleyball and soccer, as well as taking family trips to the West Coast and the mountains of Colorado. He is also a rabid pickleball player.

With over a decade of experience in privilege licensing, Mr. Donato has licensed hundreds of liquor and restricted gaming establishments in southern and northern Nevada. In particular, Mr. Donato has substantial experience in working directly with elected officials, management, and staff on land use and licensing matters in jurisdictions such as Clark County, Washoe County, Douglas County, City of Las Vegas, City of North Las Vegas, City of Henderson, City of Reno, City of Sparks, among others. Since 2007, Mr. Donato has been and continues to be solely responsible for all aspects of State and local licensing, including liquor and restricted gaming, for over 200 corporate and franchise owned convenience stores within Nevada for the world’s largest convenience store chain and one of the nation’s largest gasoline retailers.

Since its inception in 2014, Mr. Donato has been directly involved with the marijuana industry in Nevada and the licensing of marijuana establishments, including the licensing for dispensary, cultivation, and production facilities. In addition, Mr. Donato successfully licensed a liquor distributor as one of the first marijuana distributors in Nevada. Mr. Donato has and continues to work directly with the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board and local licensing jurisdictions on all aspects of licensing and compliance for medical and recreational marijuana establishments, including, without limitation, obtaining and renewing licenses, transfer of interests, relocations, expansions, appointments of and updates to officers and board members, and agent cards. Mr. Donato was part of the team that assisted and advised the first ever Court appointed receiver in Nevada on marijuana matters as they pertain to preserving and protecting the receivership estate, which included 14 medical and recreational marijuana licenses for five failing marijuana establishments in the State of Nevada.

James Hammer is a Las Vegas native who has 5+ years experience in the cannabis industry. After receiving his degree in Marketing and Business Law from Loyola Marymount University he took an offer to head the marketing department of a newly formed banking compliance company, Integrated Compliance Solutions (“ICS”). ICS’s custom compliance banking software was designed to automate the enhanced compliance requirements necessary for banks to work with cannabis-related companies. During his time with the company, James developed key insights to product development and led overall market penetration strategy. The most influential change that occured during his tenure was reorienting the sales model from direct-to-dispensary to direct-to-bank. The decision to make banks the primary customer allowed for increased flexibility, the elimination of equipment costs, reduction in marketing costs, and a more reliable recurring revenue model by leveraging the bank’s existing customer base.

After his time with ICS, James was offered the Co-General Manager position at ShowGrow dispensary located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Initially, his primary role was to revamp the standardized operating procedures and correct the compliance deficiencies resulting from the previous management company. He and his partner worked with a former state auditor and compliance officer to create new SOPs and bring the facility back to compliance. The primary focus of these efforts centered on creating a robust inventory management system that encompassed order in-take management, inventory organization, internal auditing, and inventory data compliance. Since then, he and his partner have continued to retool the compliance-dense operating procedures in an effort to create efficiencies, institute practicality, and redesign the employment structure accounting for new roles and responsibilities. James also oversaw ShowGrow’s transition from a medical-only market to an adult-use recreational market.

As the operation grew, James began developing custom technology pieces to more effectively utilize customer data and improve order management logistics. The system he created centered around a customer-facing mobile application and backend management dashboard. The system was designed to house their internal rewards program, express pick-up ordering, home delivery, and data analytics. Through this platform ShowGrow has been able to build a database of over 100,000 verified phone numbers, 40,000 active app users, and wealth of customer-specific data. The use of this data has resulted in an in-depth targeted marketing platform. Additionally, the accessibility of online ordering has significantly reduced wait times, improved order fulfillment efficiency, increased overall revenue, and led to more complete customer data profiles. Realizing there were broader market applications for this technology, James retooled the backend infrastructure and founded the SaaS product company, Carrot. Carrot is now a service provider for several cannabis retail dispensaries in the Nevada market.

Given his success in dispensary retail operations and ShowGrow’s turnaround experience, James and his partner were contracted to reopen and manage a dispensary asset in receivership. Working with the court-appointed receiver and state legislators, James opened the newly branded, Wallflower Dispensary in June 2020. With limited budget and runway, James and his partner were able to reopen the failed dispensary and realize profitability within the first 6 weeks of operation.

Kira Hurtado is a hands-on retail cannabis leader with 6+ years experience operating high-volume dispensary storefronts within strict compliance frameworks. As Retail Director of the ShowGrow dispensary chain, Kira opened one of the first licensed medical cannabis dispensaries in Orange County, CA. Within 3 months she expanded ShowGrow’s reach with retail locations in downtown Los Angeles and San Diego. In 2016 she made the permanent move to open ShowGrow’s first multi-state location in Las Vegas, which grew to be one of the top-performing dispensaries in the state under the leadership of her and her H&H Management partner, James Hammer. In an industry first, H&H Management was hired to reopen a failed dispensary operation that fell into court-appointed receivership. Rebranded as Wallflower Cannabis House, the previously distressed asset realized profitability within 4 weeks of operation. With a keen understanding of cannabis consumer demands, a strong appreciation for regulatory requirements, and the ability to innovate with smart solutions, Kira has found navigating the novel and rapidly evolving world of cannabis to be extremely fulfilling.

Cevon is a cannabis entrepreneur with a background in luxury goods & fashion retail. Having over a decade of first hand experience with international manufacturing factories, product development, and strategic merchandising, Cevon has built an impressive client base working with top influencers, celebrities, and worldwide retailers, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Le Bon Marché, Revolve Clothing, and more.

Taking from her background leading sales for luxury brands, Cevon focuses on marketability and the end customer experience when creating products & developing brands.  She has a deep understanding of the cannabis category and hands on experience launching consumer products in multiple markets and states, with a unique focus on white space opportunity and strategic partnerships.  Cevon’s commitment to the category has generated finger-on-the-pulse industry knowledge & a deep network.

Her work elevating products in cannabis has garnered recognition from outlets ranging from Thrillist to New York Magazine.  High Times Magazine featured her as one of the leading Women in Weed in 2019.

Mr. Norton is a Certified Protection Professional (CPP).  He is certified by ASIS, International, the security industry’s premier professional association.  He is a 30-year veteran of the United States Air Force, where he served as a Military Policeman.  He is a combat veteran who service in Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.  He holds licenses as a Private Investigator and Security Services provider in Nevada, Arizona, and Washington states.  He has provided security consulting services to United AMS since October of 2008.  Mr. Norton was an executive with three major international and national security services providers and was the licensed agent for each in the state of Nevada.  In 2016 the Department of Homeland Security awarded his company a Protective Security Officers contact in the state of Washington.  With the advent of medical marijuana legalization in Nevada he began to focus on providing security consultation and services for the cannabis industry. The city of Las Vegas sought his expertise when developing ordinances regulating the cannabis industry.  He spoke at city council and attended workshops advising the City and Planning Department on how to develop appropriate security programs and how to best implement those programs.  He as conducted several Semi-annual Security Audits for license holders in the cannabis industry.  He has helped these companies to come in line and stay in line the regulatory requirements.  He has provided the required security training for clients and his employees.  He developed, trained staff, and implemented the physical security program for Nevada Pure, which held cultivation, production, and medical dispensary licenses, and provided security for a 70,000 square foot facility. He has been the security consultant and security services provider for the CWNEVADA Receivership Estate, the first court directed receivership in the cannabis industry.

Mrs. Ayeni has served in both the public and private sectors throughout her career. She served as General Counsel and Legislative Director to Representative Richard Raymond during the 82nd Legislative Session in 2011. She was responsible for providing legal and policy advice on current and proposed legislation. She regularly drafted Bill Analyses, analyzed the constitutional implications for proposed legislation, produced talking points for the Representative, and met with lobbyists and constituents.

Mrs. Ayeni has utilized this experience throughout her career in the private sector by ensuring that her clients are in compliance with relevant rules and regulations and advising them on their legal rights and duties. She currently specializes in all aspects of business formation, trademark applications, and contract drafting, review, and negotiations.

Pancy Coffman has been a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) since 2000. She gained her accounting experience working in the audit and tax department of Arthur Anderson and Deloitte, and was the two-time recipient of the Deloitte Employee of the Month Award in the Las Vegas tax department. Pancy left Deloitte to begin her own practice. She provides bookkeeping and tax services to a variety of clients including, but not limited to, multi-state restaurants, high net worth individuals, real estate entities, legal and medical professionals. She is committed to serving her clients and continues to expand her knowledge and practice.

Don holds the coveted Chartered Financial Analyst® or CFA® designation and is also a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA). Prior to founding Gryphon Valuation Consultants in 2003, he spent over 20 years in the investment industry as a global equity strategist & portfolio manager with his own firm and also served as an advisor to other investment management companies.

Don has been engaged in literally hundreds of valuation assignments world-wide involving various types of companies and industries. In addition to providing expert witness services in cases of bankruptcy, commercial litigation, economic loss and corporate restructuring, he has been at the forefront of providing precedent-setting valuation opinions and expert testimony relating to the budding business of legalized cannabis.

Don is a member of the CFA Institute, National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts, the Southern Nevada Estate Planning Council and the Clark County (NV) Bar Association. He has served as president of the CFA Society of Nevada and the Financial Planning Association of Nevada and is also a past president of the Summerlin Rotary Club.

Jason Dvorchak brings a unique breadth and depth of experience to every complex project he tackles. His background in technology and project management allows him to process the requirements of an opportunity, analyze it from both the big picture to the tactical details, and manage the resources to see it through.

As a project leader within a private equity firm focused on green technology startups, he honed his ability to recognize inherent value and find creative pathways to capitalize on it. Jason repeatedly demonstrated his ability to act as the hub of innovative projects, efficiently communicating and managing everyone (and everything) involved. His unending drive inspires others and keeps the path clear to ensure focus stays on the key objectives while minimizing distractions.

The importance of creating and maintaining the right environment for success, including trusting and respectful relationships, is critical to Jason. He invests the time necessary to ensure they’re maintained. This approach extends to anyone he works with making him approachable and fair. Throughout his experience he has learned that hard decisions are often necessary and he is capable and willing to make them, with strength or compassion, as necessary.His dedication to delivering on a vision is unparalleled.

• Serve as Voice and Interpreter between dissimilar corporations, organization, and industry groups.
• Established processes and parameters for non-visual support of unfamiliar applications in EPC industry.
• Reset production and retail operations, resulting in retail profitability after 14 days in cannabis industry.
• Develop rapid response to critical logic flow and infrastructure in air freight and cargo industry.
• Board, financial, operational, and organizational oversight across multi-million revenue companies.

As President of Coreprime, Matt oversees the management and strategic growth of the firm. Matt’s leadership and industry expertise has enabled Coreprime to become one of the fastest-growing Employee Benefits advisory firms in the Western U.S.

Matt is active in both the Nevada and Southern California business communities. Matt currently serves on the Board of Directors of the UNLV Football Foundation and is an active member of the USC Alumni Club of Las Vegas, the USC Alumni Group of Orange County, the Northern Nevada USC Alumni Association, and the LMU MBA Alumni Association. Matt played football at the collegiate level with both USC (2000-2001) and UNLV (2001-2003).

Holding a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Loyola Marymount University, Matt resides in Las Vegas with his wife and four daughters.

With over 15 years of experience developing and executing strategies for new and growing businesses, and is highly experienced in entrepreneurship, management, business planning, international business development, engineering, growth-oriented operations, and decision analysis. Ranson guides businesses to create the future they envision with data from multiple markets & industries he’s involved in focusing on analytics, metrics and data points to make well informed decisions. Ranson has a proof of concept that will add value in all phases of the operations.

Ranson is a co-founder with Pegasus Nevada based out of Las Vegas, which is a venture that was able to have a full ROI one year from sales with a 42% net profit margin that created a great win for his journey. Being his flagship state where they have multiple cannabis licenses under holding along with numerous management service agreement contracts along with involvements in markets across the country. In the last two years he has led fundraising for his partnerships bringing in over $100 million to be allocated to multiple ventures across the country. He is also participating in multiple Native American management contracts ranging from a wide range of services within the cannabis industry. Most recently

Ranson was a part of a leadership team tasked through a receivership appointed by the courts in Nevada and state agencies to turn around a massive case of management negligence, misleading investors, nonpayment to employees, vendors, supplier and taxes. Last week that project was approved & settled by the involved parties on a positive roadmap to profitability and or liquidation. But his one project that brings tremendous excitement is the Louisiana State University Ag Center contract which he recently just sold off shares in a merger deal with a group of large local Louisiana based business families pursuing the medical research & studies on cannabis focusing on tissue culture, pain management, inflammation and CTE in efforts to give validation/confirmation on effects of the plant based alternative since 2017. In 2019 & 2020, alongside one of his longtime partners in Bradie James, he was able to participate & contribute to a ground breaking paid internship with LSU students in his Nevada based cannabis ecosystem of companies focusing on seed-sale education which ultimately opened up various international opportunities.

Ranson, a Native Hawaiian was born and raised in Waimanalo, Hawaii and graduated from Kailua High School. He pursued an academic scholarship at the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2003 where he also walked onto the football team under hall of fame coach John Robinson. He later finished his studies pursuing a business management degree. Ranson started his professional career in the nutrition & supplement field before transitioning into the hospitality/night life industry where he built up a strong participation resume of projects. He eventually joined Pegasus Nevada because of the unique opportunity to work with highly successful business families in the Nevada market, customer centered culture, and innovative vision led by data to make their mark in the various opportunities.

In addition to his career, Ranson is focused on putting his passions and skills to good use by supporting local organizations and projects in Las Vegas along with his home state of Hawaii. He offers volunteering or charitable donations to local youth projects such as Fight Capital Foundation and the Cure 4 Kids Cancer Foundation. Providing underserved youth the ability to learn self-defense and life skills, which helps drive key mental health care initiatives along with confidence building for the Las Vegas youth. Ranson also advocates for the NYFL with The Las Vegas 49ers Youth Organization promoting football as an outlet for the Las Vegas Youth. In his spare time, you can find him on the Judo/Jiu-Jitsu mats with his three children, local athletic club or youth football field.

Frederick E. Dashiell is a transactional and business lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in asset management, real estate conveyancing, federal regulatory and labor law, appellate advocacy and criminal and civil litigation.

As a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and private counsel, he has counseled the U.S. government, bank clients, and private business clients in more than $300 million of business transactions involving REO property disposition, asset management services, asset-based lending, residential and commercial loan closings, asset forfeiture seizures and real property acquisitions.

He has served as an Assistant Regional Attorney at the Solicitor’s Office, U. S. Department of Labor, as a Supervisory and Criminal Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, as an Associate Counsel and Lead Real Estate Counsel at a national law firm, as the Deputy General Counsel of a premier REO Management and Marketing Government Contractor company, as General Counsel of a national Bankruptcy Real Estate Sales Solutions company, and as Managing Partner of Dashiell & Associates, P.C.

He is a graduate of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Chicago, IL, Juris Doctor, 1979, and Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, A.B., cum laude, 1976.Frederick E. Dashiell is a transactional and business lawyer with more than 30 years of experience in asset management, real estate conveyancing, federal regulatory and labor law, appellate advocacy and criminal and civil litigation.

As a former Assistant U.S. Attorney and private counsel, he has counseled the U.S. government, bank clients, and private business clients in more than $300 million of business transactions involving REO property disposition, asset management services, asset-based lending, residential and commercial loan closings, asset forfeiture seizures and real property acquisitions.

He has served as an Assistant Regional Attorney at the Solicitor’s Office, U. S. Department of Labor, as a Supervisory and Criminal Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, as an Associate Counsel and Lead Real Estate Counsel at a national law firm, as the Deputy General Counsel of a premier REO Management and Marketing Government Contractor company, as General Counsel of a national Bankruptcy Real Estate Sales Solutions company, and as Managing Partner of Dashiell & Associates, P.C.

He is a graduate of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Chicago, IL, Juris Doctor, 1979, and Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, A.B., cum laude, 1976.

Wendy has been with Pancy Coffman CPA since 2013. She gained her accounting and financial experience at the Firm. Wendy has extensive working knowledge of QuickBooks online and QuickBooks desktop. She specializes in professional services, restaurants, and small businesses in many industries. Wendy has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Brittani is a born and bred Texan, graduating from St. Edwards University with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations. Brittani’s primary passion for service led her to a 15-year career in law enforcement with the Dallas Police Department and the Office of the Attorney General Fugitive Unit.

Making the leap from law enforcement to consulting, Brittani maintains her guiding principal of service while helping companies implement safety and compliance protocols to combat the security threats of today’s everchanging environment.