Workforce Development Program
Program overview
The Maryland Cannabis Administration's (MCA) Workforce Development Program, a partnership between MCA and EARN Maryland, provides a cumulative 30 hours of virtual and 16 in-person training for retail, processing and cultivation careers across Maryland's fast growing cannabis industry.
The mission of MCA's Workforce Development program is to create paths to sustainable jobs in the cannabis industry, reduce barriers to employment, and encourage mobility for Maryland's most hard-to-serve jobseekers.
In addition to receiving a grant award of $122,000 from the Maryland Department of Labor's EARN program, MCA has secured partnerships with some of Maryland's largest licensed cannabis business operators as well as two institutions of higher education with longstanding and celebrated records of innovative cannabis industry education and workforce development: Anne Arundel Community College and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
What to expect: Program phases
The MCA Workforce Development Program is presented in phases. First, participants will complete 30 hours of online coursework, followed by a two-day, in-person training session. Once all coursework is completed, participants will be issued a completion certificate. Those with a completion certificate will become eligible to be placed in internship programs with one of MCA's industry employment partners.
Participants may not participate in Phase 2 or 3 of the Workforce Development Program until Phase 1 is completed.
Phase 1: Virtual academy
The Virtual Academy is self-paced training program. Participants will have access to eight instructor-led self-paced courses taught by industry experts, licensed operators and college professors. Typically completed over a span of eight weeks, this self-paced program requires up to a six-hour time commitment per week.
Topics include:
- Dispensary basics
- Processing basics
- Cultivation basics
- Introduction to cannabis and the human nody
- Introduction to ancillary businesses in the cannabis industry
- Introduction to occupational safety in the cannabis industry
Completion of each module lesson and quiz within the Workforce Development Virtual Academy is required to complete Phase 1 of the Workforce Development Program.
If a participant is selected, enrolled, and completes the Virtual Academy, they will receive Responsible Vendor Training, badging, and fingerprinting services free of charge.
Phase 2: In-person training sessions
After completing the Virtual Academy, participants may enroll in a two day in-person course providing 16 hours of hands-on occupational training. This in-person course, will provide hands-on training in retail, processing, and cultivation techniques. As in-person training dates and venues are finalized, registration information will be shared with all eligible participants.
Hands-on training
This course provides instruction on the cannabis plant itself. The course discusses plant structure, reproduction, and genetics of cannabis. The course will go into further detail concerning the cannabis growth cycle, such as nutrient ratios, light cycles, types of fertilizers, and indoor vs. outdoor environments.
Following the lecture, participants will have the opportunity to work with hemp plants in a variety of hands-on activities. These activities will include:
- The process of making a clone from a larger plant
- Harvesting techniques for mature plants
- Bucking and trimming plants to prepare flower,
- Learn and perform the proper methods for cleaning and sanitizing equipment and facilities
This course will explore basic categories of cannabis processing, various cannabis concentrate types, components of certificate of analysis pages and how to review them, and different equipment used in processing laboratories.
Following the lecture, participants will have the opportunity to:
- Observe hemp flowers under a microscope to examine their finer components
- Measure biomass on a scale
- Wash the biomass in a spinning washing machine similar to those in processing facilities
- Collect the bubble hash made form the washing/spin cycle and measure the final weight of the concentrated product created from the biomass
- Learn and perform the proper methods for cleaning and sanitizing equipment and facilities
This course will explore various types of products in dispensaries, purchase limits for recreational customers and medical patients, roles of front-of-house staff (with focus on customer service and situations that require management), best practices for high-traffic situations, and coordination with back-of-house operations.
Following the lecture, participants will have the opportunity to:
- Review mock product descriptions and match each product type (flower, edibles, concentrates and topicals) to specific needs
- Practice difficult customer scenarios and how to navigate them
- Identify requirements in checking IDs when admitting consumers into a dispensary
- Review various terpenes, their effects, and their scents
Participants will learn about regulatory compliance, quality control, managing inventory and best in-take practices, verifying product quantities, discussions concerning product reconciliation, reporting inventory discrepancies, and waste documentation.
Following the lecture, participants will practice:
- Taking full inventory of a mock dispensary set-up (as if performing an audit)
- Locating product label discrepancies
- Recording green waste logs
A Training Academy Completion Certificate will be awarded to participants who complete the program to this point.
Phase 3: Job placement
Select participants who have earned completion certificates will be invited to apply for job placement assistance and internship opportunities within the cannabis industry.
Cost
The Maryland Cannabis Administration's Workforce Development Program is completely free.