John SchroyerThe Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission this week announced it had finally filled the long-vacant job of executive director, with a Dec. 18 vote by commissioners to hire Travis Ahern, who was originally a runner-up in October before the commission’s first choice declined the position.
Ahern, the town administrator of Massachusetts hamlet of Holliston since 2020, is slated to begin his new job March 3, according to a press release from the CCC. He interviewed last year for the executive director job, but commissioners initially offered the position to David Lakeman, a cannabis regulator from Illinois, in October. Lakeman formally declined the job last month.
Ahern also has government experience as policy and finance director for the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority Advisory Board, finance director for the town of Danvers, and financial analyst for the town of Weston.
“My initial focus as the agency’s new Executive Director will be to leverage the subject matter expertise within the organization, from staff and Commissioners, to help the organization deliver on its mission of providing a safe, equitable cannabis marketplace in Massachusetts,” Ahern said in the release.
CCC Chief People Officer Debbie Hinton-Creek has been running the agency as acting executive director since the office lost its last full-time executive director, Shawn Collins, in 2023. The CCC has been roiled by other high-level departures since then, including the firing of former CCC Chairwoman Shannon O’Brien, and was in such dire straits last year that the Massachusetts Inspector General recommended that a receiver be named by the legislature to run the agency.
“Ahern stood out to the search committee among the 170 professionals who applied for the opportunity to lead the Commission,” CCC Acting Chairman Bruce Stebbins said in the release. “I am confident he will shepherd the agency and regulated cannabis industry into a new phase of maturation as we approach next steps for finalizing on-site social consumption in Massachusetts and tackling other reforms.”
Ahern will lead a staff of 140 at the CCC and will also act as administrative head of the five-member commission, per state law.
