GPS Firm Experience & Qualifications

Over 200 Years Combined Experience in Over 37 Countries

Gateway Proven Strategies (GPS) is a newly formed (c. 2019) Colorado-based, full-service management and consulting firm focused on the innovation, integration, and strategic development of the cannabis industry – both regulated, commercial marijuana and industrial hemp – domestically and abroad.

We work with governments and businesses in the private sector to support this mission, advancing the growth and development of the nascent cannabis industry. Though we have a global footprint through a network of strategic partners, we are headquartered in Denver, CO.

GPS was founded through a collaboration between two of Colorado’s most distinguished cannabis-sector attorneys, Robert Hoban and former DEA task force commander and military veteran, Charles Feldmann. As such, GPS is a sister company to the two founder’s Colorado-based law offices, the Hoban Law Group and Feldmann Nagel Cantafio, PLLC. And, to enhance the expertise, skills, and competencies of this consultancy, Ceci Zak was tapped to join the team from the inception, as she possesses deep experience in strategic and market planning, financial acumen, CoE development, marketing & sales, customer insights, talent acquisition/development, and nonprofit leadership.

GPS is the embodiment of the expertise, experience, and network of these two law firms – both of which are pioneers in the development of the law, policy, and regulation in Colorado of both the commercial marijuana industry and the industrial hemp industry – in conjunction with the strategic prowess and leadership of Chief Operating Officer, Ceci Zak.

For over a decade, these firms have worked closely with industry stakeholders, including business owners, supply chain operators, policymakers, state legislators, state universities, state departments (agricultural, health and environment, revenue, etc.), farmers, and cultivators, just to name a few.

In addition, these two law firms have expanded well beyond the four corners of Colorado, to build a global practice that has positioned them to sit at the center of the world’s largest commercial cannabis industry network.

The network and expertise that has been gained by both Robert Hoban and Charles Feldmann and their respective law firms, stretches far beyond the sectors of law, regulation, and policy into the critical components of large-scale commercial success for the industrial hemp industry and how Colorado can position itself, not as only as the domestic leader, but as a global leader of the industrial hemp industry.

The Experience and Qualifications of Robert Hoban and the Hoban Law Group

Mr. Hoban is a Martindale Hubbell AV® Preeminent™ rated attorney and seasoned full-service commercial & policy practitioner and President and Founder of the Hoban Law Group (HLG). He is recognized as one of the leading commercial cannabis policy advisors worldwide — representing governments, private clients, and publicly held clients around the globe.

He has worked through the various cannabis codes in over twenty countries and has drafted more than 30 bills for the Colorado General Assembly.

In addition to being well versed in all legal aspects surrounding the cannabis industry (since 2007), he has served as a Professor at the University of Denver in the Law & Society Program and regularly instructed regarding cannabis policy topics (since 2009). He also teaches government regulations, public policy, and research-based policy courses.

In September 2015, he was hired by the University College of Professional and Continuing Studies at D.U., in part, to develop and instruct medical marijuana and related regulatory courses in its Healthcare Leadership graduate program. In Spring, 2016, he instructed a multi-student research practicum concerning the legal, policy, and regulatory framework surrounding the rebirth of industrial hemp in the United States. He has worked on a range of hemp policy courses and multiple hemp research practicums.

Mr. Hoban has worked with numerous states, and over twenty international governments in developing both marijuana and industrial hemp laws, policies, and regulations. This includes Uruguay, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, China, etc. And he has consulted with a variety of State Governments concerning the same (WA, OR, NC, KY, NJ), with a bedrock foundation of his work in Colorado on law, policy, and regulation. He has served on the Marijuana Advisory Committee for the City of Boulder, CO; the Advisory panel for the Colorado Department of Agriculture, the Marijuana Advisory Panel for the City and County of Denver, various of the State of Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division rulemaking committees, and the Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors for the First Judicial District Bar Association.

In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors at Athletes for Care, the Advisory Board at New Frontier Data, and was a National Cannabis Industry Association 2017 Board of Directors Nominee. Mr. Hoban maintains membership with many organizations, including the Denver Bar Association, the Colorado Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, the National Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, the National Hemp Association, the Hemp Industries Association and the Colorado Hemp Industries Association.

In 2019, Mr. Hoban was a founding member of the U.S. Hemp Grower’s Association, the first national trade association to provide a unified voice for American hemp farmers. In addition to his work on law, policy, and regulatory matters, in 2017, Mr. Hoban worked with the oldest industrial hemp institute in the world, the Institute of Natural Fibers and Medicinal Plants in Poznan, Poland, to facilitate the first and the largest import of OECD certified, “farm bill compliant” industrial hemp seed in the history of the United States. The importation of this 30-metric ton intercontinental shipment of bulk seed that was procured from Europe was a joint effort that required working alongside state and federal agencies. This was in the service of propagating and producing certified hemp seed to supply the needs of farmers here and Colorado and across the United States in an effort to develop and foster the growth of the industrial hemp industry at the first link of the supply chain – genetics/seed.

The Hoban Law Group had a position on a subcommittee of Colorado Governor Hickenlooper’s Amendment 64 (Marijuana Implementation) Task Force, and HLG also finished third among ninety-five applicants to be the State of Washington’s I-502 (adult Use Marijuana) implementation, consultant.

Mr. Hoban and the Hoban Law Group had a hand in working with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) when Colorado first passed the Hemp Foods Policy which was later adopted as a statute. Today, the Hemp Food Policy and hemp foods legislation (HB18-1295) has allowed Colorado to be a clear leader in hemp derivative production and serves as a model for the FDA and other equivalents around the country.

The Experience and Qualifications of Charles Feldmann & Feldmann Nagel Cantafio, PLLC

Charles E. Feldmann serves as a Trusted Adviser for the cannabis industry’s largest and most profitable businesses on an international scale. He assists his legal and consulting clients in all their corporate operations, licensing, intellectual property, joint venture, transaction documentation, private placements/investor relations, licensing, rules and regulation, IPO’s, statutory authority, compliance, legislative and governmental relations, litigation, partnership and enforcement appeal.

He uses his experience as a Marine Corps federal prosecutor, DEA Drug Task Force Commander, and state narcotics prosecutor to assist his clients in establishing strict regulatory compliance protocols at both the state, federal and international levels. His expertise has been instrumental to his clients achieving DEA-Level compliance standards regarding evolving US state and federal rules and regulations and ensuring strict international compliance for his client’s marijuana and hemp import and export businesses.

Mr. Feldmann has worked with marijuana and hemp clients in almost all the US states. His expertise has been sought out by various state legislative branches for new medical and recreational marijuana regulatory programs. In 2007 Feldmann was named Colorado Super Lawyer for being one of the top attorneys in Colorado. He was also appointed to the American Bar Association’s Steering Committee for the Cannabis Law and Policy Task Force.

Mr. Feldmann and Mr. Nagel recently partnered with Ralph Cantafio, a respected and seasoned attorney with over thirty years of legal experience. Ralph’s practice focuses on Oil and Gas Law, as well as a wide scope of commercial transactions and litigations. Not only is Mr. Cantafio a partner of Feldmann Nagel Cantafio PLLC with offices throughout Colorado, but he is also a Lecturer (Adjunct Professor) teaching in the Global Energy Management Program educating graduate students at the University of Colorado, Denver. Mr. Cantafio teaches Environmental, Regulatory, Legal, and Political Environment in the Energy Industry as well as Land Use and Energy Contracts. With two professional oil and gas certificates in Petroleum Land Management and Energy Finance from the University of Denver, numerous professional affiliations, publications as well as numerous industry presentations, Mr. Cantafio’s knowledge of the oil and gas industry is extensive and lends a hand to understanding the potential of hemp as a global, agricultural commodity.

FNC’s partners’ depth of experience and meaningful networks has allowed FNC to build a team of attorneys consisting of Federal and State Prosecutors, former law enforcement and judges, and Certified Fraud Investigators. FNC’s diverse leadership ensures its clients achieve maximum compliance with all rules and regulations in the hemp industry. As an emerging industry, there are a number of significant and complex hurdles—particularly at the Federal level—that entrepreneurs and businesses face. FNC’s business lawyers are extensively familiar with local, state, and federal laws, and stay on top of the ever-changing industry.