Science Based. Data Driven.

Lance Torgerson

Chief Executive Officer

Lance has been a lifelong entrepreneur and philanthropist. He founded Noralta Lodge in 1997 and grew the business from 15 to 8,000 rooms before selling to Civeo Corporation in 2018. In 2015, he purchased majority ownership in Vantage Living – a seniors housing business operating in British Columbia and Alberta. This business experienced significant growth before being sold in 2021. Lance has recently invested in a number of opportunities across multiple sectors including the hemp sector with Vantage Hemp Co. Lance participates in various philanthropic activities, charitable work, and impact investing. He is extremely active within his local community and has a passion for improving quality of life.

Harvinder Johal

Chief Revenue Officer

For over 20 years, Harvinder Johal has been an inventive leader in the healthcare and technology space. Driven by creating value through culture, science, and innovation, he has been an active investor in multiple businesses within the industry. Through all his investments, he is looking towards a science-driven and data-based approach for consistent and premium pharmaceutical, medical and business operations backed by expert knowledge. As a seasoned professional, Harvinder is known for leveraging technology for scaling and monetizing opportunities.

Deepank Utkhede

Chief Operating Officer

Deepank has 22 years of experience in formulation and process development with a proven track record for solving difficult to formulate and manufacture products within aggressive timelines. He has extensive experience developing robust and commercially scalable manufacturing processes.

He has worked extensively in the pharmaceutical industry developing various dosage forms — topicals (dermal and ocular), orals (capsules and liquid), parenterals (aseptic and terminally sterilized) — and drug/device combination products with extensive experience in the area of lyophilization, liposome and emulsion technology. Deepank is also well versed in GMP/FDA regulation.

Christian Santi

Director of Sales

With over 25 years experience in sales, business development, marketing, and operations management from in a variety of different industries, Christian is no stranger to leading global supply chain organizations. 

With past titles ranging from Chief Operating Officer, Director of Channel Sales & Product Development, Exec. Vice President, and most recently Director of Sales for companies such as Socati Corp, Ferrin-Tech, and Boulder Botanicals & Bioscience Laboratory, Christian’s background is second to none. 

Additionally, Christian has incredible expertise in building and leading high-performance sales teams and providing client needs analysis with a consultative approach as well as an extensive background in sourcing from China and India.

Justin Warman

Operations Manager

Justin is the Operations Manager at Vantage Hemp. He has over a decade of production and quality control experience in the cannabis industry brings a natural passion for science. With a degree in biochemistry and chemistry from Colorado State University, he has applied his knowledge to realize ideas from concept, through process implementation, to final products. Over the years he has developed an expertise in different extraction methods, distillation and analytical methods with keen insight into production optimization. Justin has been active in the development of the cannabis industry across the United States, and has been nationally published for his contributions. He brings to Vantage an extensive tool set for the production of high quality cGMP CBD products.

Laura Eder

Director Regulatory Affairs & Quality Assurance

Laura is the Director of Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance for Vantage Hemp.  She has more than 17 years of experience in the life-cycle management of pharmaceuticals and medical devices with her Regulatory Affairs Certificate (RAC) since 2012. Through her time spent in the world of pharmaceuticals, she has developed a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of FDA regulations. Laura is passionate about educating people and assisting them on their journey of compliance and is excited to be part of the Vantage Hemp team leading the CBD industry to new levels of compliance.

Jose Calleros

Facility Manager

Jose brings almost a decade of technical and industrial maintenance experience. This experience involves activities around production and equipment improvement. Jose has spent 6 years as a maintenance technician in the renewable energy industry, as well as 3 years in the oil and gas industry as a technician. Jose has obtained his Associates of Applied Science degree with an emphasis on electronics and has attended various PLC and control voltage courses to continue training including ABB robotics service certifications.