HCC Cannabis Education Center Announces Industry Roundtable, Spring Training Programs

HOLYOKE — The Cannabis Education Center at Holyoke Community College (HCC) will hold an online cannabis-industry roundtable for employers on Friday, Nov. 20 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. over Zoom.

Featured presenters will include representatives from Elevate Northeast, HCC’s community and workforce training partner, and officials from other Massachusetts-based cannabis businesses and organizations. They include Cara Burnham-Crabb, director of Education, Elevate Northeast; TaShonda Vincent Lee, director of Community Outreach, Elevate Northeast; Beth Waterfall, executive director, Elevate Northeast; Gene Ray, vice president of Laboratory Operations, Garden Remedies; Tim Shaw, chief operating officer, MariMed; and Marion McNabb, CEO and co-founder, Cannabis Community Care and Research Network.

Discussion will focus on workforce challenges, business outlook, and training needs of cannabis employers as well as the services, supports, and programs offered by the Cannabis Education Center. Breakout rooms will concentrate on specific industry areas, including cultivation, culinary, medical, retail, and processing.

To register for the roundtable, visit hcc.edu/cannatable-11-20.

The Cannabis Education Center has also announced its spring training programs for people who want to work in the cannabis industry. The center will offer an intensive, two-day Cannabis Core Training program over Zoom on Jan. 23 and Jan. 24, 2021. Students who complete the core training can then register for spring 2021 classes in one of four cannabis industry career tracks: Cultivation Assistant (Feb. 6-21), Extraction Technician (Feb. 27 to March 14), Culinary Assistant (April 3-18), and Patient Services Associate (May 1-16).

The cost of the two-day core training session is $595. Each career-track program is $799. To register for the January Cannabis Core Training class, visit hcc.edu/cannabis-core.