NEA’s Founder and CEO, Chris Harkins works closely with state and local governments and oversees the acquisition of all real estate and directs the design, planning, and construction of all facilities. He has extensive experience in Real Estate Development and Private Equity. Chris worked for over 20 years as the founder and CEO of a real estate development company serving the Southern New England markets. Chris was a founding principal in a private equity business with assets under management over 30 million dollars. He has a diverse skill set and experience and sets the tone for the overall business vision, values, and leadership of the team. He has his undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts.

Rich Rosier serves as NEA’s CFO. Since 2017, Rich has led the Finance, HR, IT and Supply Chain departments. Since NEA began its recreational business operations in 2019, Rich and the team have ensured four years of profitability while being acknowledged as the #1 awarded cannabis company in MA.

Before co-founding NEA, Rich served as a management consultant, advising and coaching leaders and executive teams from around the globe to enhance their leadership effectiveness and overall business results. His leadership experience includes P&L responsibility for multiple business units and global sales and marketing.

He’s authored multiple books and articles, including the Sloan Management Review article “Leading in Unnerving Times” with Warren Bennis. He holds a BA from the University of Michigan.

NEA’s COO, Kyle oversees our cultivation operation and manages branding and marketing for the company. Kyle and his team won their first award from High Times in the 2011 Cannabis Cup in the Sativa category. Kyle has managed a 140,000 SQ FT warehouse as well as hundreds of employees. In addition, he has designed, built, furnished, and trained staff for the renowned 200,000 SQ FT warehouse “The Mother Ship” at Native Roots from 2014-2017. Kyle has won 15 Cannabis Awards including many High Times Cannabis Cups from 2010-2017 for both cultivation and extracts. He has consulted for many large companies on grow design, staffing strategies, and successful management focusing on scalability. He graduated from Fort Lewis College in 2009 with a focus on Ethnobotany and Finance.

A distinguished leader within the cannabis industry with over 12 years of cannabis cultivation expertise, Zac Cooper, is NEA’s CPO and helps manage and supervise the creation of new products. Zac has gained unparalleled experience from the ground up, managing small grow operations as a caregiver in 2005; to large scale commercial cultivation, managing 200,000 SQ FT with over 80 growers in 2014. Zac has overseen the successful cultivation of over 30,000+ pounds of high-quality flower in CO. From 2014 to 2017, Zac served as Director of Operations for Native Roots’ 200,000 SQ FT cultivation facility, excelling in the development and standardization of SOPs for cultivation, IPM, facilities operation, instrument use, and compliance. Native Roots was awarded numerous awards during this time for cultivation and extraction, including Top 100 Best Workplaces in CO two years in a row (2016-2017). He holds a BA in Psychology with a minor in business.

NEA’s VP of Retail & Wholesale, Grant Troeger, is responsible for the strategic vision and expansion of the company’s operations. Grant’s priorities are building high-performing teams, driving revenue through innovative customer experiences and products, and executing expansion initiatives. He has 12 years of retail cannabis experience stemming from the Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Canadian markets. Grant was previously the Director of Retail at Native Roots Dispensary. He oversaw 20 retail locations in Colorado while supporting expansion for 4 new locations in Manitoba, Canada. Under his leadership, Native Roots was awarded “Best Dispensary” in the medical and recreational categories for 4 consecutive years, 2014-2018. He attended Endicott College in Beverly, MA, and the Metropolitan State University of Denver for Business Management.