Editorial team members from both GIE Media titles took home awards -- and hope to do so again next month.

Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary, their staffs and their writers were recognized with several regional awards by the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) during the 2018 award period, receiving Azbee Awards of Excellence nominations for their work in 2017. Both titles were honored at the Heartland Region awards banquet on April 20 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The CBT and CD staffs have also been nominated for several awards at the national level.

Most notably, Cannabis Business Times was named as a national finalist for Magazine of the Year.

The national awards banquet will be held May 10-11 in Washington, D.C.

“After our second full year of print publication, this nomination is a true honor,” said Editorial Director Noelle Skodzinski, who co-founded CBT in 2014. “The recognition puts a wonderful spotlight on the in-depth and far-reaching work of our editorial staffs—our writers and designers.”

Cannabis Business Times caters exclusively to the cannabis cultivation market. Its sister publication, Cannabis Dispensary, debuted in November 2017and focuses solely on the retail segment of the cannabis industry.

Contributing columnists and industry experts Kurt and Kerrie Badertscher were nominated at the regional level for their regularly featured “Hort How-To” column, which covers a spectrum of important topics for cannabis growers. They won the Silver prize for their column.

“We are thrilled by the ASBPE recognition and grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Cannabis Business Times and their growing reputation as a must read for anyone in cannabis,” Kurt and Kerrie said.

Associate Editor Brian MacIver was also nominated for both a national and regional award for his feature on LeafLine Labs, which offers premium medical cannabis while currently operating at a loss, in the April 2017 issue of CBT. At the regional banquet held on April 20, he was awarded the Gold prize for his work.

“I am thrilled to have been honored with a Gold award at the regional Azbee Banquet,” MacIver said. “This award is not only recognition for the story, but a sign of appreciation to our team that has put in lots of early mornings, late nights and weekend shifts over the past two years. I’d like to share this award with my hard-working colleagues, all of whom set an example of professionalism that I strive to follow.”

Senior Editor Scott Guthrie earned a regional Bronze award for his case history feature on The Giving Tree in Arizona and its robust budtender training program, which appeared in the November 2017 issue of Cannabis Dispensary.

“Being recognized by the ASBPE so early in the magazine’s existence is a tremendous honor. It is a testament to our great staff, who made this award possible, and it foreshadows what is to come as we continue to develop Cannabis Dispensary,” Guthrie said.

The design staff also won nominations both nationally and regionally for the presentation of the magazine. Jim Blayney, creative director at GIE Media, and Justin Armburger, art director at Cannabis Dispensary, earned national and regional nominations for their design work on the debut issue of CD in November 2017. The design team won a Gold award in the New Publication Design category. (The team is up for that same award on the national level.)

Armburger was also nominated for his photo spread and presentation of the guest interview, “Lounging at the Coast”, in that same issue. At the April 20 banquet for the Heartland Region, Armburger won Bronze.

“I’m thrilled to see, once again, the national and regional spotlights shining brightly on this growing staff,” group publisher Jim Gilbride said. “These awards are a testament to their hard work and their insightful perspectives on an industry that seems to change by the hour. I’m looking forward to more great work from this team in the years ahead.”