Wendy A. Berger '93 MBA

CEO and Founder of WBS Equities, LLC

Wendy A. Berger is CEO and founder of WBS Equities, LLC, which she established in 2014. WBS Equities specializes in ground-up construction, renovation, development, sale lease back transactions and acquisition of industrial buildings for food and beverage manufacturers and distributors. She has grown the business into a nationally recognized leader in this niche area. In addition to the firm’s focus on real estate development for food and beverage manufacturers and distributors, Berger has over 30 years of real estate experience in brokerage, finance and structuring complex transactions.

Outside of WBS Equities, Berger is a serial entrepreneur with decades of experience in strategic planning, execution and exits for rapid growth start-ups. She loves being a part of the explosive growth phase of companies and working alongside founders to provide strategic leadership and guidance to help create dynamic and forward-thinking organizations.

Berger serves on the board of directors and is chair of the compensation committee, and previously chaired of the executive committee of Green Thumb Industries, Inc. (GTI) (CSE: GTII) (OTC: GTBIF). Green Thumb is a national cannabis consumer packaged goods company and retailer that manufactures and distributes a portfolio of branded cannabis products. The company also owns and operates rapidly growing national retail cannabis stores. Headquartered in Chicago, Green Thumb has 17 manufacturing facilities, 77 retail locations and licenses for more than 120 retail locations and operations across 15 states. Established in 2014, the company employs approximately 4,000 people and serves thousands of patients and customers each year.

In 2000, Berger was employee number 11 at Orbitz, the travel web site founded by Continental, American, Northwest, Delta and United Airlines where she was director of enterprise planning. Prior to Orbitz, Berger co-founded and was COO of Neoglyphics Media Corporation in 1994, which was one of the country’s first web site development firms.