Pubdate: Sun, 01 May 2016
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2016 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Kevin Schultz

CANNABIS INDUSTRY JOB FAIR DRAWS CROWD

Many Applicants Eager to Break into Budding Market

Raychel Young woke up early Saturday morning, placed her photography 
portfolio full of high-resolution prints of marijuana flowers into a 
large yellow envelope and headed to San Francisco's Regency Ballroom.

She talked to hiring managers, alongside an estimated 2,500 other 
eager applicants who passed through the ballroom throughout the day, 
hoping to embark on new careers in the marijuana industry at what 
event organizers called the largest cannabis industry job fair ever.

Thirty-two companies, ranging from industry-focused magazines to 
dispensaries to cannabis-based data and technology startups, attended 
the Join the GreenRush event, searching for candidates to fill jobs 
as budtenders, cultivators, delivery drivers, marketers and even 
software developers, in order to meet their expanding needs for 
workers as the market for legal marijuana continues to grow across 
California and several other states.

The event was the inaugural job fair for GreenRush, a technology and 
marketing company that connects already legal medical marijuana users 
with cannabis delivery systems, a sort of Eat24 of the marijuana industry.

"With cannabis as the nation's fastest-growing industry, there are a 
large number of positions opening up that we need to fill," said Jude 
Ignatius, event coordinator and director of operations at GreenRush. 
"It's an exciting venture."

Young, 19, from Foster City, showed off her portfolio in hopes of 
snagging one of those positions, specifically as a photographer for a 
cannabis sales company.

Job growth

The industry is "growing in my own backyard," Young said. And with 
that growth there are an increasing number of jobs in the industry 
that people wouldn't typically think of, she said.

For example, photographers are necessary because "it's important in 
delivery for people to see the quality they're going to get before 
they order," Young said.

David Drake, CEO of Cannabis Reports, a cannabis data and technology 
company based in Berkeley, said he has seen no shortage of candidates 
for cannabis-focused tech jobs, an area of work in the industry 
people also might not typically think of.

These tech workers can build websites, develop cannabis-friendly 
applications and do much of the same work that is seen in other new companies.

"I've been overwhelmed," Drake said. "I had about 200 applications 
for one position within 48 hours of posting it online."

Despite success finding candidates online, Drake chose to attend the 
job fair because he said it's a great way to meet passionate members 
of the cannabis community. He expected to fill several positions 
throughout the day.

Outside of the event, a line to enter the door went down Van Ness 
Avenue and wrapped around part of the block through mid-afternoon, 
with small crowds gathering inside around three rows of tables and a 
stage where informational sessions were held.

Tickets were an aptly priced $4.20, but free codes for tickets were 
available online.

Many attendees showed up to the job fair specifically to make 
connections and get into the industry before an initiative that would 
legalize recreational use of cannabis in California is expected to 
appear on the November ballet, where it is likely to pass.

Arianna DeTomasi, 20, of South San Francisco, was one of those 
people. She was looking to get into the industry in any way she could.

"I think businesses are about to boom," DeTomasi said. "I want to get 
in now, rather than later."

Pat and Luke of Schneider of Sunnyvale were also hoping to get into 
the business before possible legalization.

The husband and wife showed particular interest in the edible 
cannabis industry, which they see becoming increasingly more popular 
among the aging Baby Boomer generation, especially as legalization picks up.

"If California goes, the rest of the country will probably eventually 
go," Pat Schneider said. "You really want to be at the forefront."

Ahead of legalization

Ignatius said the possible legalization would open up a lot more jobs 
for the industry, but that it wasn't the main reason for the event.

"It's the elephant in the room," Ignatius said. "It's the looming 
outcome that everyone is anticipating. But the timing of the event 
isn't predicated on legalization. It's predicated on the very real 
staffing needs in the Bay Area right now, with the system as it exists."

Ignatius said officials in the medical marijuana industry have 
already started to beef up infrastructure and employee numbers for 
what could ultimately become an over $10-billion-dollar industry, 
depending upon legalization outcomes.

"With legalization, obviously the industry is going to expand," he 
said, "and we only expect staffing challenges to increase exponentially."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom