Abaca CEO Dan Roda named to cannabis trade association subcommittee

The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) named Dan Roda, CEO of North Little Rock-based cannabis financial technology firm Abaca, to its Hemp Committee. The mission of the committee is to promote, advocate and educate on the specific concerns and issues surrounding hemp, according to a news release.

NCIA committees are an opportunity for individuals to directly engage their expertise and passion to develop best practices and guidelines that will shape the future of the cannabis, hemp, and CBD industries, the release said.

“Stable banking and payment processing services have been difficult for CBD and hemp business to obtain, even after the 2018 Farm Bill paved the way for legal hemp production nationwide” Roda said in a statement. “I look forward to joining the national conversation and utilizing my resources at Abaca to help expand access to normalized financial services for this rapidly growing segment of the economy.”

Abaca enables financial services such as banking, lending, and electronic payment processing for the U.S. cannabis and hemp industries. Roda, Greg Ellis, John Foley and Brian Bauer founded the business in 2017.