NINA MOINI: As the cannabis industry grows in Minnesota, there is a need for more skilled workers. Two Minnesota colleges are expanding their programs to help teach people the ropes of the cannabis industry. Starting next week, St. Cloud State University will have their first cohort of students enrolled in a new cannabis certificate program.

Minnesota State Community and Technical College, or M State, which has schools across Northwest Minnesota, will also be expanding their offerings. M State was the first two-year college in greater Minnesota to offer cannabis education. So both schools are partnering with the company Green Flower to offer the courses. So joining me now to learn more about this is the CEO of Green Flower, Max Simon. Hi, Max.

MAX SIMON: Hi there.

NINA MOINI: Thank you for being here. Also very happy to have Sean Collins, who’s the director of Workforce Development Solutions at M State. Thanks so much for your time this afternoon, Sean.

SEAN COLLINS: Yeah, great to be here.

NINA MOINI: Max, I wanted to start with you, if I could. Would you tell us a little bit about Green Flower and the types of courses you offer?

MAX SIMON: Yeah, Green Flower is a decade old cannabis education leader. And we develop programs that help people enter the different sectors of the cannabis industry, because there’s all these different places where people can play a role and need dedicated training to be able to enter the industry.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, tell me a little bit about– I see there are five pathways here, because people are probably like, what am I exactly studying? Tell me what those are.

MAX SIMON: Yeah, the cannabis industry is a lot more complex and interesting than most people realize. Yeah, these five sectors. There’s cultivation, which is growing plants in the ground. There’s a product development sector, where you’re actually taking products from the plant material and making them into edibles, and topicals, and medical products.

There’s a retail and sales program, which is all about the customer-facing and sales-facing side of the industry. There’s a medical cannabis program because at least 50% of the people that are coming to cannabis today are coming from medical and health and wellness reasons. And then there’s a compliance program, because it’s a very heavily regulated industry. And every cannabis company on Earth requires a compliance expert to navigate the challenges of running a legal industry.

NINA MOINI: Wow, that’s fascinating. Sean, why was this something that you wanted to offer at M State. Is there a lot of interest?

SEAN COLLINS: Yes, there has been a lot of interest. And M State really wanted to offer this program because it is an emerging industry. But similar to industries like the alcohol industry, there’s a lot of compliance that needs to happen, a lot of legal things that need to be followed.

And so since cannabis is legalized and here to stay, we wanted to be the organization that can actually provide that solid training for the workforce. So that they can go in and be confident in their jobs, and also do this legally and follow all the regulations that are needed.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, I’m hearing so much about regulations from both of you guys and all the nuances of the industry. And I wonder, Max, if that’s why people can’t just take, I guess, regular business classes? Or do you think that’s part of it?

MAX SIMON: Definitely a part of it. There’s a lot of stigma related to cannabis and a lot of misinformation. But when you get down to the science, the business, the compliance, the operations, it’s a very complex industry.

It really is heavily regulated. It’s a difficult plant to grow. It’s a difficult substance to work with in product development. And such a huge variety of different people come to cannabis for so many different reasons. And so this is why this specialized training is so important, because to work in this industry, you really need to understand the industry.

NINA MOINI: And to your point there, does that impact who is teaching the courses?

MAX SIMON: Absolutely. So all of these programs are literally taught by people that are operating businesses and working inside of the industry. We realized that we couldn’t have theoretical teachers or people that were just looking at it from the outside. You needed people that were there doing this work on the inside. So every program is actually facilitated by these instructors who come from the cannabis industry and are operating in it in a daily basis.

NINA MOINI: And I wonder, Max, if from when you said you started 10 years ago with these efforts, what has that evolution been like? What a 10 years.

MAX SIMON: I mean, the amount of acceptance, adoption, legalization, and progress that cannabis has had over the last decade is literally staggering. And to see now that this is something that’s so commonly accepted, that’s so widely used, and that is growing so quickly, it’s a fun thing to be a part of today.

NINA MOINI: Sean, why do you think this appeals to students there in greater Minnesota, too?

SEAN COLLINS: I think a lot of it has to do with the younger generation that has grown up with cannabis being more in the public eye. So the subject has been a lot more open to the public eye. As he mentioned, there is a bit of a stigma with cannabis. But we do think the younger generations don’t have that same stigma.

And so being able to provide this training to these younger generations to get into the field, and especially into a field that is growing and is actually paying good wages, that’s really important to us. And so, yeah, it’s been a great partnership with Green Flower. They provide fantastic training. And we love working with them and providing actual good, solid training that is getting people jobs as soon as they complete these courses.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and Sean, tell me a little bit, if you would, about this idea of the certification. Because we know that some trends show in higher education enrollment struggles in different areas. But this isn’t as huge of a commitment in time. Tell me about this idea of the industry certification.

SEAN COLLINS: Yeah, so we are seeing a bit of a trend away from four year degrees. That’s why community and technical colleges like M State are actually seeing an uptick in enrollment for some of these more hands-on things, two-year programs.

But then on the other side, outside of the credit side of the school, on the non-credit side, which is my side of the house, we’re seeing a lot of people that are just trying to get into valuable industries quickly. And so industry recognized certifications are very, very important in that.

And so by a student attending these courses and having the certification, they can go to an employer and say, hey, I am already trained and come off– come out of there with a good job offer and the requisite skills needed to do that job. The fact that it’s an accelerated course really, really helps out also with the growth of the industry, because the industry is not waiting for someone to get a two-year degree just to enter the industry.

NINA MOINI: Fascinating. Just before we have to go, I did want to ask you about this, Max. Last month, the President Donald Trump, set in a motion and a process to move marijuana from a Schedule I drug, which includes, like heroin, LSD to Schedule III drug, which, again, puts it in a lower risk category for folks who don’t know. What impact do you think this will have on your company and schools that want to offer this type of education program?

MAX SIMON: Yeah, it has a huge impact because it really signals that this is an industry and a substance that isn’t as scary as we once thought it was. But it also creates a much more friendly regulatory environment for companies to be able to grow.

It creates a lot more access for research. And it really sends a loud signal that this is something that we should look at as a more favorable, and positive, and beneficial substance to society, whereas historically, it’s only been looked at and treated as something that’s bad for you.

NINA MOINI: And Max, do you think there ever would be like a two-year or a four-year degree type of program for people who are interested in that?

MAX SIMON: I do. But I also– these programs are only 16 weeks long. And we find that people that are looking to just get into the industry, and get jobs, and switch their careers, really love this short form credential. And so I think that these shorter certificate programs really work well to serve the industry as it is today.

NINA MOINI: One more question for you, Sean. Do you feel like there are jobs out there for people who go through this 16 weeks? Is it like, oh, boom, I’m going to get a job right away?

SEAN COLLINS: In fact, I actually had a former employee at my previous employer who left our employer to go take one of these courses. And he was hired pretty much immediately after completing the course. He did the retail specialist side. And he was hired by a dispensary here in town pretty much immediately. And he was actually making– he came from an IT position. And he was actually making a wage that was equivalent to that position he left.

NINA MOINI: Wow lots developing, lots growing there. [LAUGHS] Thank you both so much for your time and for coming by Minnesota Now. We hope you’ll come back sometime.

[PHONE RINGS]

Oh, looks like you got to take a call. All right, thanks to both of our guests, Sean Collins, the director of Workforce Development Solutions at M State, and Max Simon, the CEO of the cannabis education program Green Flower.