We sat down with Alex Hogan, founder of ChemHistory, to talk about how the lab got off the ground and what he sees for the future of Oregon Cannabis.
What inspired you to start a Cannabis lab?
My son has his master’s degree in biochem and was selling lab equipment. He approached me and said, ‘Dad, there’s this great opportunity in Oregon to test Cannabis.’ I had always thought that Cannabis should be legal, so it just clicked. Not really knowing anything about the laboratory business, we just packed up and drove here. That was in the spring of 2014.
How quickly did things come together after you decided to go for it?
It was the stars aligning. My wife and I had businesses at the time, but this was too good to pass up. We were talking about it one night and three months later we were here, up and running.
What crazy foresight you had in 2014!
Then, it was pretty much just like jumping into the fire. It’s been a ride. It was really fun in the beginning because it was such a wild business. There were so many entrepreneurs in Oregon that were going for it that it was just a really fun, exciting time.
It seems like you’re remaining focused on the Oregon market.
Yeah. My main thing is that I don’t have the desire to start a lab anywhere else. I just want to have one kick-ass lab here in Oregon.
Where do you see the future of the Oregon market when the borders open up?
It’ll be much like the beer industry, you’re going to have super cheap beer, and then you’re gonna have craft beer that connoisseurs enjoy. I think Oregon is set up to take over the craft end of the market.
It seems like ChemHistory is well positioned to support that.
I think we will be a legacy lab for the next 10-20 years. Truly, I think that what has allowed us to stay in the market is being honest and having integrity. Our motto for the companies is, ‘Do your best.’ If you do that, then everything else takes care of itself.
