Hemp Innovation on History, Tech, and the Future

<p> Join GHA now! 🌐https://globalhempassociation.org/join-now/ Donate to GHA 🌐https://globalhempassociation.org/donations/ 🔊Tune into the GHA Podcast: https://rebrand.ly/Moving-Forward-With-Mandi-Kerr 🌿 Join Mandi Kerr and John Lupien on Thursday morning’s episode of Moving ^HEMP Forward. John possesses over 30 years of experience in hemp related research, businesses and technology development. His experience was born out of his Master’s thesis in history. Back in the early 90’s, John located the Bureau of Narcotics’ “Marihuana Tax Act of 1937” document collection on a destruction list in an obscure record center in Maryland. The document collection was still classified, but John was able to gain access through a successful Freedom of Information Act request. Years of research resulted in a unique education about the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurs and innovators during the Great Depression and World War II to develop hemp as an industrial commodity. Eventually, John put this knowledge to use to build a business and, over the past 15 years, he has played a key role in the founding and development of three companies in the hemp fiber industry. His achievements include technology patents and the production of the first ever US grown and processed hemp-cotton blend yarn at commercial scale. Currently, John drives innovation and guides strategy at Hemp Ventures. Joining the company in late 2019, he played an instrumental role in helping the company achieve its first major milestone in 2022 with the design and installation management of a three ton per hour hemp decortication line. Since this installation, the client has become a major player in the hemp space. Continuing to push system innovation, John is currently spearheading a collaboration between Hemp Ventures and the USDA. This work focuses on improving efficiency and includes the development of a new decorticator. Through Hemp Ventures, John is also engaged to design and install two more hemp decortication lines. Outside of Hemp Ventures, John is l