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Some conversations are worth coming back to.

For Season 2, Episode 15 of The Canna Connect Show, we're reaching into the vault for a conversation originally recorded in October 2025 with Brad Obermueller of the Center for Energy and Environment.

A lot has changed in Minnesota cannabis since we recorded it. But listening back, we were struck by how much of this conversation still matters.

Brad and Stephen Eigenmann talk about one of the less glamorous, but incredibly important, pieces of building a cannabis business: energy.

From LED cultivation lighting and utility costs to rebates and facility planning, Brad explains why operators should be thinking about efficiency early and how available resources can help businesses reduce the long-term cost of operating.

The conversation also goes well beyond cultivation.

Brad talks about energy assessments and efficiency opportunities for retailers and other businesses, why he wants CEE to become part of the checklist for Minnesota cannabis entrepreneurs, and what it means to build an energy-intensive new industry while thinking about the demands being placed on the electrical grid.

Then the conversation gets personal.

Brad shares his experience being diagnosed with blood cancer, undergoing treatment, and having a physician at Mayo Clinic suggest he explore cannabis for symptom relief. He describes how cannabis became part of his experience navigating treatment and eventually helped shape his passion for supporting Minnesota's emerging cannabis industry.

Stephen and Brad also get into the changing stigma around cannabis, Minnesota's unique relationship with hemp-derived THC beverages, home growers, small businesses, and a bigger question that feels just as relevant today:

What can we do now to make Minnesota cannabis better five years from now?

This one may be from the vault, but the conversation is far from outdated.

🎙️ The Canna Connect Show | Season 2, Episode 15

Recorded October 2025.

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Every episode, Community Spotlight, and partner profile helps connect Minnesota's cannabis industry. Visit CannaConnectMN.com to explore interviews, resources, events, and the trusted organizations helping shape the future of cannabis in Minnesota.

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Cannabis businesses face marketing challenges that most industries don't.

Accounts get restricted. Content can disappear. Advertising options are limited. And now AI is changing how people discover businesses and information online.

So what do you do?

Kyle Sattler, co-founder of So Good, joins Stephen Eigenmann on The Canna Connect Show at CannaCon Midwest to talk about building visibility in a restricted industry.

Kyle shares the story of working with a Texas dispensary that couldn't initially afford his company's services. He gave the owner four things to change on the business's Google Business Profile. Kyle says that three months later, foot traffic had increased 94.6%.

From there, the conversation gets practical.

Kyle shares four areas cannabis businesses should pay attention to on Google: choosing the right category, consistently asking for reviews, adding new images, and posting updates.

Stephen and Kyle also explore educational YouTube content, blogs and FAQs, AI-driven search, AEO/GEO/AIO, website crawlability, and why answering real customer questions can help businesses build authority over time.

Kyle is equally clear that his approach isn't designed to produce customers overnight. He talks about the six-month to one-year mindset he asks businesses to consider when investing in long-term brand visibility, and why he'll refer a company elsewhere when what they actually need is immediate lead generation.

It's a conversation about marketing, but also about something we see constantly at Canna Connect: bringing what you know into an emerging industry while staying curious enough to learn what you don't.

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Explore the free AI Visibility Check and learn more about Kyle's work:

https://sogoodteam.com/

Follow more conversations from Minnesota cannabis, subscribe to The Cannaverse, and find upcoming Canna Connect events:

https://cannaverse-newsletter.beehiiv.com/

Become Part of the Canna Connect Community Network

Every episode, Community Spotlight, and partner profile helps connect Minnesota's cannabis industry. Visit CannaConnectMN.com to explore interviews, resources, events, and the trusted organizations helping shape the future of cannabis in Minnesota.

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Minnesota cannabis is being built one relationship at a time.

In this episode of The Canna Connect Show, Stephen Eigenmann sits down with Shawn Worth of Paragon Payroll for a conversation about cannabis, business, relationships, and finding your place inside an industry that's still taking shape.

Paragon Payroll specializes in payroll, HR, compliance, and workforce solutions for cannabis businesses. That puts Shawn in a unique position to work alongside companies navigating the operational realities that come with building in a highly regulated industry.

But the conversation is bigger than payroll.

It's about understanding the people you're working with, building relationships, solving problems, and recognizing that a successful cannabis industry requires an entire ecosystem behind the businesses consumers see.

Minnesota's market is still young. Cultivators are coming online. Dispensaries are opening. New employees are entering the industry. Service providers are learning the market. And relationships being formed today may continue shaping the industry for years to come.

That's why we're documenting these conversations now.

The Canna Connect Network

Paragon Payroll provides payroll, HR, compliance, and workforce support for cannabis businesses.

Paragon Payroll

Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) works with qualifying Minnesota indoor agriculture businesses in Xcel Energy territory to explore LED grow-lighting rebates and energy-efficiency opportunities.

CEE Grow Lighting Rebates

Trailhead Cannabis Company is a family-owned Minnesota cannabis company connecting cultivation, manufacturing, and retail under one roof in Brainerd.

Trailhead Cannabis Company

World Insurance works with businesses navigating insurance, risk, and the evolving needs of the cannabis industry.

World Insurance

Become Part of the Canna Connect Community

Every episode, Community Spotlight, partner profile, and event helps connect another piece of Minnesota's cannabis industry.

Visit CannaConnectMN.com to explore interviews, resources, events, The Cannaverse, and the organizations helping shape Minnesota cannabis.

Become Part of the Canna Connect Community Network

Every episode, Community Spotlight, and partner profile helps connect Minnesota's cannabis industry. Visit CannaConnectMN.com to explore interviews, resources, events, and the trusted organizations helping shape the future of cannabis in Minnesota.