Page 8 - BusinessWest August 17, 2020

there’s anything remarkably special about canna- bis in that regard.”
Another apt comparison is the financial crisis of 2008, when the fundamentals of the economy were coming apart — a different story than in 2020. “Now, the economy is tanking because there’s no consumption, and the labor force is contracting.”
Those investing in the cannabis sector, how- ever, are looking beyond that; they know demand for these products is likely to remain high — no pun intended — in the long term.
“This may be as good an investment as any- thing,” Marrero said. “We’re still seeing invest- ments going forward at the local level; it’s a very positive outlook, even during the pandemic.”
Creating a Pipeline
The proliferation of cannabis businesses across the region, with the promise of more to come, means jobs, and that potential isn’t lost on area colleges and universities.
First, Holyoke Community College (HCC) and the Cannabis Community Care and Research Network (C3RN) announced the creation of the Cannabis Education Center last fall, to provide education, training, and other business resources to individuals in the region who want to work in the cannabis industry.
HCC and C3RN are designated training part- ners through the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission’s (CCC) Social Equity Vendor Train- ing program, which was designed to provide pri- ority access, training, and technical assistance to populations and communities that, traditionally, have been negatively impacted by the drug war.
Soon after that, American International Col-
chemistry of cannabis.
“It’s hard for people who work full-time in the
cannabis industry, which is such a demanding field, to make time,” she added, but quickly noted that they recognize the need to create a pipeline
“
to connect students with an industry
where there’s a lot of room for
employment growth. The idea is to
connect students with experts in the JENNIFER BARRY industry.”
lege (AIC) dipped a toe into the sector by launch- ing a three-course certificate program called Micro-Emerging Markets: Cannabis, offering an overview of cannabis entrepreneurship, business operations, and law and ethics.
This fall, AIC is launching a master’s program in Cannabis Science and Commerce — with a one-year online program or a two-year hybrid model — that takes a deeper dive into prepar- ing students to work in this field, said Jennifer Barry, AIC’s director of Continuing Studies and Spe- cial Projects.
We want to provide opportunities
She cited some striking sta-
tistics — 15% job growth in the
legal cannabis industry in 2019,
$404 million in legal cannabis
sales in Massachusetts that
same year, and 245,000 full-time-equivalent jobs created nationally by early 2020 — to explain why the program is necessary.
of talent in the region so the sector can continue to grow and avoid a skills gap. In that way, she noted, this master’s program is a win-win — help- ing graduates access a solid career while helping area businesses grow.
“That’s the real benefit of our program,” Barry continued, noting that it’s the first program in the U.S. that blends business, science, and the legal aspects of the trade. “What we’ve found, speaking with cannabis professionals, is you have to under- stand the chemical components of the plant to be prepared to sell it, package it, speak about it intel- ligently in the field.
“We want to provide opportunities to connect students with an industry where there’s a lot of room for employment growth,” Barry told Busi- nessWest. “The idea is to connect students with experts in the industry.”
To that end, the program will be taught collab- oratively by faculty members, cannabis-industry professionals, and occasionally guest lecturers, either in person or by video.
“We’re taking the academic rigor of an AIC course normally taught by faculty members and keeping it current and relevant by pulling in industry experts,” she explained, noting that classes cover topics from law and policy to the
“That’s why we have a chemistry course, and one that talks about cannabis from seed to sale, how it makes it
through the pipeline,
giving students a
Cannabis
Continued on page 9
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8 AUGUST 17, 2020
FEATURE
BusinessWest