Kirk Barry, CCCE – CEO of Clarion Compliance
The key to any association is the people that make up the network. From lawyers and banking professionals, to commercial cannabis business owners and all who fall in between, the Association of Certified Commercial Cannabis Experts is proud of the diverse and expanding network of professionals and experts we who are our members. To show our appreciation for the exceptional individuals in our community, we are highlighting ACCCE member Kirk Barry this week. Please reach out and connect with him on LinkedIn!
Kirk is a compliance executive and is the CEO of Clarion Compliance. He has an extensive background in law enforcement and as a consultant in the civil litigation field, having testified in Superior Court on approximately 350 occasions and has consulted on over 10,000 files. Kirk has been operating in the cannabis industry since 2009 in California. He operated a greenhouse grow, managed a 2,400 square-foot indoor grow, launched an edible company with his son Michael, and received training in cannabis testing.
When seed to sale tracking first rolled out in Colorado, Kirk recognized that local government and ancillary businesses were relying too heavily on this self-reporting model as a compliance tool. In response, Kirk launched Clarion Compliance in 2017. Clarion Compliance provides on-site inspections, nonscheduled inspections, a SAAS product, back-end monitoring, loss investigations, entity resolution and KYC, financial monitoring, audits, and more. Kirk’s focus is on effective compliance solutions that the banking industry, insurance industry, and local and state governments need for early identification of non-compliant activity and the assurance of compliance from the commercial cannabis industry. Clarion Compliance also works directly with commercial cannabis businesses to help them understand their unique risks, tailor a risk management program that suits their risks appetite, and work directly with them to bolster communications with their local and state government, bank, insurance company, and other ancillary providers. Kirk believes that the records and oversight created by Clarion Compliance is an advantage to commercial cannabis businesses because it creates a defensible set of documents for any number of purposes.
Kirk first heard about the Association of Certified Commercial Cannabis Experts through LinkedIn and is now a Certified Commercial Cannabis Expert. Kirk is very excited to be associated with this organization and says he “appreciates the international medium to exchange thought leadership and best practices that ACCCE provides.” Kirk said he was also drawn to ACCCE because it promotes industry-standard terminology, international standards for commercial cannabis risk management, and has rigorous certification standard for compliance experts. Kirk says ACCCE is “unmatched in the industry.”
Kirk is married to Loree, and they live in Scottsdale, Arizona. Together, they have five children and one grandson. Kirk grew up in California and spends a fair amount of time there. Kirk has enjoyed motorcycle riding for most of his adult life, and he and his wife like to travel for long weekends and see interesting sites around the nation.
ACCCE is proud to have an esteemed member like Kirk Barry as a part of our association. As our community continues to grow, we find it important to thank our members for their commitment to professionalizing the commercial cannabis industry. Thank you, Kirk, for being such an important part of the cannabis community. Together, we are a part of something great.
Connect with Kirk Barry on LinkedIn or email him at [email protected]
