After graduating from high school in Ohio, Garett Fortune enlisted in the Army, a decision that would shape his life forever and in many ways help the serial entrepreneur launch the made in America, cannabis packaging company, FunkSac, almost 20 years later.

His tour of duty included Army special operations in the early-to-mid 90’s (including two tours of Somalia where he was based in Mogadishu). It was in Somalia that the idea for OdorNo, one of the companies Garett would found many years later, germinated due to the Army’s need for odorless body bags. After leaving the military, he helped launch several companies, including a couple of consulting and software ventures that he and his partners eventually sold and worked as a consultant and software executive before starting Capital G Ltd, in 2009, the parent company of Commodigy, OdorNo, and in 2013, FunkSac.

Commodigy was started in September 2009 as a nationwide trading exchange for recyclable materials. In 2012, Garett and some of the engineers he had gotten to know over his 12 years as a software executive began work to design an odorless bag that could be used for a variety of purposes. The formulation they came up with resulted in an odorless bag that was perfect for dirty diapers, whether for babies or aging adults, a bag for pet waste and even a bag to store waste when camping and backpacking to keep carnivores away. The product was so good that in one test with Grizzlies, they couldn’t smell salmon refuse.

A little over a year later, tragedy struck his family; Garett’s brother was diagnosed with a rapid and fatal form esophageal cancer and Garett began researching cannabis to help him deal with his disease.

During this time, he quickly discovered that there were no federal standards for cannabis packaging and quite a few applications for his OdorNo product line to serve the rapidly expanding Cannabis Industry, including dispensary exit bags, child resistant bags, and odor less bags for storing cash and cannabis in safe’s since banking was virtually non-existent. And it fit right into the strategy behind Capital G, the company believes in a simple yet revolutionary concept: that waste, the last thing (or series of things) we bag and dispose of, should not be the most environmentally costly – and inefficient – action we make, either as individuals or representatives of private business.

Garett was able to raise almost $2 million dollars to start FunkSac, with $1.5 million coming from local investors that had done well by his previous start-ups and another $300k from Arcview’s investor network. FunkSac began test marketing its new cannabis line in Colorado in 2013, they introduced the first Child resistant exit bag to meet ASTM international and US Product Safety Commission Poison Prevention Packaging Act standards. They used FDA approved materials for their line of Colorado compliant odor barrier bags as well as the Funk-zip odor barrier bag.

All products are manufactured at their Ohio manufacturing facility and product materials are sourced from US suppliers to assure specs meet FDA criteria. Garett believes that the Commodigy recycling business will also provide efficiency in sourcing approved materials for FunkSac products. They currently have Distribution centers in Colorado, San Diego, CA and Ohio to meet demand, both domestic and international.

FunkSac has tried a couple of different distribution models since its inception including channel driven whole selling through distributors and direct sales. Garett tells me that due to the lack of performance of distributors, their next investment will be in creating a dedicated sales force to meet and serve customer needs directly, they currently use their website as a marketing tool to drive sales as well.

Garett is also very focused on helping the state-by-state regulated Cannabis Industry proactively meet FDA guidelines before they are eventually mandated and is an outspoken advocate on the need to not only create national standards for the cannabis packaging industry but also eco-sustainable best practices.

What was clear to me during our interview is that Garett is never short on ideas and is quite nimble in adjusting and improving his mix of products and companies to meet evolving market needs. He tells me that the company will almost triple revenues in 2015 and that they won’t stop until FunkSac establishes itself as the #1 packaging solutions company in the industry. And… like Bob Gibson, the former St. Louis Cardinal Hall of Famer, flame throwing right-hander of the 60’s and 70’s he isn’t shy about telling his competitors to try to hit

Company Name: FunkSac

Year Founded: 2013

Ownership Structure: Private

Management Team/CEO: Garett Fortune; Founder and CEO, Johnny Donofrio, EVP

Headquarters: Rocky River, OH

Website: www.funksac.com

Industry Segment/Category: Packaging & Supplies

Current Markets/States Served: Legal Domestic & International markets

Current Number of employees: 9

Market Strategy/Goal: The packaging company of the cannabis industry; Goal is to be #1 in packaging

2014 Revenues: $950,000

2015 YTD Revenues: Estimated $3.2 Million

Current Product Mix: Child resistant packaging, Tamper evident packaging, and security packaging

Expansion Plans: Growing a national team as well as international distribution

Financing strategy: Majority of start-up funding has come from local Ohio investor with a portion coming through The Arcview Group.