James Holley

National health and safety leader with more than 10 years of experience guiding regulated manufacturing, distribution, warehousing, and operational teams. Directs multi-state safety strategy across California, Arizona, Michigan, Massachusetts, and New York; translates complex federal, state, and local requirements into practical programs, SOPs, training, and measurable action plans. Experienced in regulatory inspections and formal abatement responses, OSHA recordkeeping, workers' compensation coordination, executive reporting, incident investigation, risk assessment, and technical writing.

Led risk-control initiatives contributing to more than $1 million in insurance savings.

National Manager of Health and Safety at Dreamfields Inc. / Jeeter Brands (2023-05 – Present)

• Direct national health and safety strategy, governance, goals, and performance expectations for manufacturing, production, warehousing, distribution, and corporate operations across five states.
• Design, launch, review, and continuously improve enterprise programs covering lockout/tagout, hazard communication and SDS management, respiratory protection, hearing conservation, PPE, machine safety, ergonomics, fleet safety, emergency response, chemical sanitation, and cabinet X-ray radiation safety.
• Interpret federal OSHA, Cal/OSHA, MIOSHA, ADOSH, and other state and local requirements and convert regulatory text into concise SOPs, training materials, inspection tools, acknowledgments, and frontline procedures.
• Lead facility audits, risk assessments, task-based hazard assessments, incident investigations, and corrective-action planning; identify immediate, contributing, and system-level causes and track actions through closure.
• Represent the company during regulatory inspections and enforcement matters; prepare corrective-action responses, abatement evidence, OSHA/MIOSHA recordability analyses, formal notices of contest, and requests for agency reconsideration in partnership with Legal, Compliance, HR, and operations leaders.
• Oversee OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping and reporting, including review of incident documentation, recordability decisions, annual submissions, and executive communication of recordable trends, claim exposure, and priority risks.
• Partner with workers' compensation carriers, third-party administrators, occupational health providers, and vendors on triage, claim review, loss information, noise dosimetry, audiometric testing, return-to-work coordination, and risk-reduction initiatives.
• Develop executive-level safety reports and briefings that translate technical and non-technical data into clear business priorities, budgets, performance measures, and action plans.
• Train, mentor, and influence direct and indirect safety, compliance, production, facilities, security, distribution, QA, and HR stakeholders; reinforce leadership accountability and a people-first safety culture.
• Manage health and safety budgets and vendor strategies; risk-control improvements have contributed to more than $1 million in insurance savings while strengthening operational compliance.

Compliance Manager at Dreamfields Inc. / Jeeter Brands (2022-04 – Present)

• Created and implemented the company's foundational health and safety program, including role-specific training and lesson plans for Production, Manufacturing, Warehousing, Distribution, IT, Security, and leadership teams.
• Manage and mentor a team of 12 compliance officers, establishing expectations for regulatory interpretation, inspection readiness, documentation quality, issue escalation, and consistent execution across operations.
• Develop and maintain end-to-end compliance frameworks, policies, procedures, reporting systems, issue-management processes, and document-control practices for a highly regulated cannabis enterprise.
• Lead inspections with regulators and law-enforcement agencies, respond to requested corrective actions, and maintain technical SOPs supporting manufacturing, distribution, inventory control, METRC, and Business Dynamics processes.

Manager of Operations / Safety & Compliance Officer at Emerald Family Farms (2020-10 – 2022-04)

• Owned and operated a consulting practice that helped smaller cannabis organizations transition into the regulated recreational market, balancing licensing, operational readiness, safety, and compliance requirements.
• Applied for and secured 10 recreational cannabis licenses covering processing, distribution, and manufacturing operations.
• Conducted operational and compliance assessments; wrote SOPs, established policies, implemented inventory controls, and supported METRC compliance for newly opened facilities and cultivation sites.
• Advised owners and leaders on practical corrective actions, training needs, process controls, and sustainable systems for regulated operations.

Head of Cultivation and Distribution at Mothership Farms (2010 – 2017)

• Led day-to-day cultivation, processing, packaging, inventory, and distribution operations and directly managed a team of 15 employees while coordinating work across departments, farmers, vendors, and service providers.
• Developed and maintained SOPs for intake, sorting, testing, packaging, distribution, equipment operation, inspections, inventory control, and seed-to-sale traceability.
• Implemented METRC during the transition to California's state track-and-trace system and maintained accurate product, activity, and SKU controls across wholesale and retail operations.
• Conducted regular facility walkthroughs and safety inspections, corrected operational deficiencies, and promoted open communication and continuous improvement across teams.
• Oversaw cultivation from nursery and cloning through harvest and processing, including more than 3,000 pounds of cannabis production.