President of Cresco Labs, operator of Sunnyside marijuana dispensaries, exits company

© Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune/TNS Joe Caltabiano, president and co-founder Cresco Labs receives his stub from Manager for the Zoning Board of Appeals Victor Resa during a lottery drawing held at City Hall, Friday, Nov. 15, 2019.

Cresco Labs President Joe Caltabiano said Monday he is leaving the cannabis firm known for its Sunnyside recreational marijuana dispensaries in Chicago.

A spokesman for Cresco did not immediately comment on Caltabiano’s exit.

In an interview, Caltabiano said he plans to stay in the marijuana industry, but wants to pursue opportunities outside of the publicly traded company.

“As with any startup organization, when you have a few founders still left in the operating side of the business, different visions start to go in different directions,” he said. “I’m incredibly proud of everything we were able to accomplish with Cresco, but I think there’s more in the cannabis industry yet to be done and I didn’t think Cresco was the right platform for me to continue to explore what I think this industry has to bring.”

Cresco has grown into one of the largest marijuana companies in Illinois. Headquartered in River North, it has three cultivation facilities and five dispensaries in the state, with plans to open five more retail locations.

When Caltabiano, CEO Charlie Bachtell and others launched the company, they were working at online mortgage lender Guaranteed Rate.

Bachtell told the Tribune in 2017 that it was Caltabiano who came into his office at Guaranteed Rate one day with the idea to start a cannabis company. Cresco was awarded its first operating license in Illinois in 2015.

Cresco went public on the Canadian Securities Exchange in late 2018, around the time other marijuana companies also were going public. After a period of growth, many marijuana stocks went through a correction last year.

Caltabiano, 42, is leaving Cresco just two months after recreational marijuana went on sale in Illinois. .

This story has been updated. An earlier version identified Caltabiano as CEO.

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