Small Business Spotlight

Chris Jackson and Anthony Sabatella are cannabis entrepreneurs who are building companies at different ends of Michigan’s green rush. Jackson is co-owner of Indica LLC in Ypsilanti, a state-licensed marijuana provisioning center that does business under the name “Sticky Ypsi.”  Sabatella is the founder of THC 123, a back-office support firm tailored to marijuana growers, distributors and retail stores. Jackson and Sabatella sat down with Crain’s Senior Editor Chad Livengood last month at the 2020 Net Impact Conference at TCF Center in Detroit to talk about how they got into the budding industry and what challenges they see ahead.

Ashley Williams is founder and CEO of Rizzarr, a content-creating platform for consumer brands seeking to market their products to millennial customers. She talked to Crain's Senior Editor Chad Livengood on the Detroit Rising podcast about her Detroit company. The platform has a network of 5,200 freelancers who produce articles, videos, podcasts and photos that companies use on their social media, websites or marketing materials. The company also does market research on millennial customers for corporate brands. Rizzarr's clients have included JPMorgan Chase & Co., Glassdoor, DTE Energy Co., Bridgewater Interiors, First Independence Bank and Warby Parker eyeglasses.