Founder, Michigan Cannabis Trail
Andrew McFarlane is the founder and CEO of the Michigan Cannabis Trail. In 1995, he founded Leelanau Communications, Inc, a web development, marketing and media company with nearly one hundred clients.
Founder & CEO
In late 1995, Andrew started Leelanau.com, a web development and marketing firm that also functions as a local information portal & travel information site for the Traverse City region. In the intervening 25 years, Andrew has managed hundreds of projects large and small including work for Michigan State University, Michael Moore, and countless businesses and nonprofits.
Media Manager
From 2005 to 2017, Andrew worked with Michael Moore and a team of volunteers. His role has included developing and overseeing the web and social media presence, leading the festival’s content teams at various points, and with Morgan Burke-Beyers building, managing and refining a process for capture, archiving, and sharing original content from the annual summer event including live, online interviews.
Director
In 2006, Andrew was hired to serve as Director of the 501c-b Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail, Michigan’s oldest and largest wine trail. When he took over, the Trail was in the red, but at the close of his tenure in 2013, revenues were nearly $1 million. He spearheaded a renaissance of the organization that included managing multiple annual events along the trail, the creation of a wine event packaging program, and a media campaign that helped to raise the profile of the region’s wines and Michigan’s wines in general. He also coordinated countless promotional pours and served on the MIchigan Wine Council.
Co-Creator
Working with Laura Herd, Andrew created an enduring festival celebrating the confluence of wine, art, food, and music. Headliners in the final two years were Rusted Root and Sixto Rodriguez of the movie Searching for Sugar Man. The crowd in the final year was the largest concert crowd in Traverse City history.
Communications Coordinator
From 2007 to 2009, Andrew managed communication and outreach for The Grand Vision, a five county collaboration seeking bringing together residents, transportation futuring experts, local and regional designed to build a transportation network to reflect the wishes of residents. The Grand Vision was the most successful per-capita citizen engagement around transportation.
Personal highlights include being the father of two adult children, decades of restaurant experience, serving as president of a school board for eight years, and being diagnosed with prostate cancer and subsequently making it disappear solely via medical cannabis treatment. As a result of his experiences, Mr. McFarlane has developed a facility for working with culinary & community development efforts, including event development.
He lives in downtown Detroit.
Use the form to the right to email Andrew. You may also send an email to farlane@michigancannabistrail.com.
