David Morrow, renowned for founding Warrior Sports and selling it to New Balance in 2004 for an estimated $50 million, has successfully transferred his entrepreneurial and manufacturing skills to the cannabis industry. Since co-founding Lume in 2019 with Robert and Donald Barnes, the company has become Michigan's largest cannabis producer with a 225,000-square-foot facility in Evart that grows about 30 tons of cannabis annually. Lume operates with rigorous biosecurity measures to protect its crops, producing a range of products including flower, joints, edibles, vapes, and THC drinks, which it retails across 40 dispensaries statewide.

Lume generated $190 million in revenue in 2025 with a 42% profit margin, despite Michigan's competitive cannabis market characterized by low prices, a thriving illicit market, and a high 24% wholesale tax. Unlike cannabis companies aggressively expanding across multiple states, Lume has focused on dominating the Michigan market, which Morrow terms the “Napa Valley of cannabis,” while preparing for eventual interstate cannabis sales. This patient strategy aligns with Morrow’s confidence that once national distribution becomes legal, Lume will aggressively expand its market presence.

Morrow’s past experience with Warrior Sports, where he scaled the business from a dorm-room startup to a $20 million revenue company before selling to New Balance, gave him the foundation to build Lume’s high-tech cultivation and manufacturing operations. The $45 million Evart facility, designed by Gallagher-Kaiser Corporation, is built for consistent, scalable production insulated from climate variations, using low production costs and efficient processes to maintain a competitive edge. Industry peers admire the facility’s forward-looking design, which positions Lume for regulatory compliance and national expansion.

Lume's origin reflects Morrow’s deep roots in entrepreneurial manufacturing and innovation, shaped by a family background in metal industry business and a history of athletic competitiveness. The partnership with the Barnes brothers, who owned Belle Tire and started a small cannabis company, sparked Morrow’s leap into cannabis in 2019. Since then, Lume has rapidly expanded to over 1,400 employees and 40 dispensaries, achieving a stable, substantial supply chain and production scale, signaling that Morrow’s vision of becoming a national cannabis powerhouse is well underway.