• “Working with Dama has been
    absolutely life changing.”
    Todd Winter, founder, Winter Greens

    Case study:

    Products used:
    Premier Banking • Paytender

The customer

Winter Greens is a California retail non-storefront delivery servicing the Lake Tahoe area (Truckee) and Orange County (Costa Mesa). An attorney by trade, Todd Winter (WINTER LLP) founded Winter Greens in 2018 after a decade helping licensed operators up and down the coast successfully navigate the complexities of the cannabis industry, from corporate transaction to real estate and IP transactions, to trademarks, branding, and regulatory work. In addition to running his newer venture, Winter remains one of California’s preeminent cannabis lawyers.

“I wanted to create a business and culture that would be a great example for our kids while also helping to protect our community.” - Todd Winter

Visit the Winter Green website

Winter, who has two young children, relocated to Truckee in 2016—and immediately saw room for improvement in the local cannabis scene. “I didn’t like the way people were operating outside of the then current legal framework. As an attorney I’m held to such a high standard. So I wanted to create a local business in Truckee that would be (1) legally compliant, (2) able to employ locals with a living wage in an otherwise very expensive town, and (3) bring some of the incredible brands that I represent as an attorney to the people of North Lake Tahoe. And, I wanted to create a business and culture that would be a great example for our kids while also helping to protect our community,” he said.

Soon Winter Greens was born—and operating strictly by the book.

“We don’t cut corners. We work very hard to maintain compliance with the laws.”

The challenge: banking

“I tried to navigate things with a couple credit unions while constantly scouring trying to find a bank account, but it was virtually impossible until Dama came on the scene.”

Once on the other side of the advisor/client desk, Winter personally experienced the stress of running a licensed cannabis business. Within three months of opening a bank account for Winter Greens, the new account was promptly shut down.

The closure forced Winter Greens to scramble.

"We went all cash for a really long time. I tried to navigate things with a couple credit unions while constantly scouring trying to find a bank account, but it was virtually impossible until Dama came on the scene,” Winter said.

The solution

Winter engaged with Dama and never looked back.

Winter was deep into the application process with a new credit union when he became aware of Dama. Despite the time already invested, he decided to switch direction, citing Dama’s lower fees, easier application process, and user-friendly interface as key reasons.

"Working with Dama has been absolutely life changing for me personally, and game changing for our business. Being able to sleep at night, not worrying about being shut down, my experience has been amazing,” he said.

A happy customer

Winter’s satisfaction with the attention he’s received as a Dama client is hard to overstate.

"Dama’s responsiveness and customer service is really top shelf. It’s hours, usually less, when I get a response, and any issues we have are usually dealt with in less than 24 hours.”

He added that when a trusted member of his support team got promoted, she graciously stayed on his account.

Adding a consumer payments tool

Winter also decided to try Paytender, which has since become an invaluable part of Winter Greens’ operations.

"Once you’re set up, it’s really incredible.”
- Todd Winter on Paytender

Once Winter Greens was up and running with Premier Banking, Winter integrated Paytender into Winter Greens’ POS—to great success. Text-to-pay electronic payments now account for nearly 40 percent of overall sales.

"We love Paytender, we try to get everyone on it,” he said. “Once you’re set up, it’s really incredible, and so easy to use. Everyone who uses it loves it. Our drivers love it too. The tip feature is great.”

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