About Us
Diligent, experienced and dedicated to helping cannabis based businesses.
Our Mision
To cultivate the emergence of a cannabis industry that is more responsible, compliant, and inclusive.
Our Values
We understand the impact cannabis can have in changing people's lives for the better.
We endeavor to help cannabis businesses that align with our belief in expanding safe access to cannabis.
The cannabis industry needs to evolve to become more inclusive and diverse, and open to all people - regardless of their race, gender, socioeconomic status, or the formerly incarcerated.
We are capable of sharing invaluable industry knowledge with our clients that help them create successful cannabis businesses.
We can help shape our client's cannabis businesses to be successful, compliant, and providing safe and high-quality cannabis to the market.
We believe that small businesses should also be able to participate in the cannabis industry.
Experience matters.
KOLAB Founder
Nicola Batten
Nicola Batten is the founder and CEO of KOLaB Consulting LLC. A veteran of the cannabis industry since 2012, Nicola started her career as an intern for Massachusetts state congresswoman Ruth Balser, a main sponsor of cannabis legislation. From there she worked on the Massachusetts ballot initiative campaign for medical marijuana.
After the initiative passed, she was hired by Vicente Sederberg LLP, a preeminent cannabis law firm in the county.
Serving as the Regulatory Affairs Liaison, she project managed over 35 competitive, merit-based licensing processes for clients across the U.S. She has the highest success rate in the world in these processes. She also led the National Licensing Practice Group, researched and analyze statutes and regulations, advised state agencies on policy changes, managed clients, interpreted regulations in deliverables and created various compliance documents, as well as performing compliance inspections of various cannabis businesses.
In January 2020, Nicola started her own business consulting cannabis business clients across the U.S. and works with them on applications, post-licensure requirements, and continuing compliance. She has vast experience project managing complex projects in various states, submitting proposals at performance specification, controlling quality, maintaining a schedule, and meeting client expectations. Nicola's technical skills are utilized to increase productivity, quality, and outputs.
Director of Regulatory Affairs
Jonathan Cherkoss
Jonathan Cherkoss is an accomplished compliance and licensing professional with over six years of experience in highly regulated industries. Jonathan brings an unparalleled understanding of competitive licensing processes and what it takes to get a business operational once a license has been issued.
Having worked in nearly every facet of cannabis industry operations, Jonathan served on Jared Polis’s 2018 campaign as the nation’s first full-time campaign staffer dedicated to cannabis voter outreach. Prior to joining Kolab Consulting, Jonathan worked with the nationally recognized law firm Vicente Sederberg, LLP, winning dozens of competitive licenses across the country. Jonathan’s broad skill set, adaptability, and collaborative approach will help prospective and current licensees thrive. Jonathan is a member of the Virginia Bar specializing in merit application technical writing and project management, as well as creating comprehensive compliance programs that help businesses thrive in some of the country’s most regulated states.
