
This story originally appeared in the July/August edition of Cannabis Business Times. To subscribe, click here.
It’s not unusual for new cannabis cultivation operations to need assistance in what can be a very challenging business. The same holds true for those in existing markets, who are expanding and could use guidance.
Regardless of what kind of help they need, business owners can find a broad spectrum of consultants to guide them. Consultants and management companies can assist in areas such as license application, staffing plans, facility design, system implementation, security setup, standard operation procedures (SOPs), cultivation procedures and strategies, OSHA compliance and state-specific regulatory compliance, among many others. Costs associated with third-party advisors can vary as much as the range of services they offer — from expensive upfront fees, to partial ownership, to deferred incentives and everything in between.
James Lowe, co-founder and president at MJardin Management, cautions that most of these subjects can vary greatly from state to state, so it’s important to be educated on state-specific matters — or to hire someone who is.
“Before marijuana was legal, the people who were growing and selling it, obviously, were doing it underground. There was no regulation, no quality control, no employee or HR needs to focus on,” says Drew Youpel, director of operations at Milestone Safety Group, a safety and risk management consultancy. “Now that legal marijuana has taken off at such a rapid pace, you have all the regulations and the burden of figuring out how to do this the right way.
“Now it’s pretty much like any commodities-based business, like corn,” he adds, and, therefore, in addition to the plethora of industry- and state-specific regulations, cannabis businesses face the same federal standards and compliance issues as those businesses in other industries. “All of the regulations are already in place. The marijuana industry needs to get compliant right now. It can’t be ‘down the line.’ There is no grace period,” he says.
To read the full article in our July/August edition, click here.
It’s not unusual for new cannabis cultivation operations to need assistance in what can be a very challenging business. The same holds true for those in existing markets, who are expanding and could use guidance.
Regardless of what kind of help they need, business owners can find a broad spectrum of consultants to guide them. Consultants and management companies can assist in areas such as license application, staffing plans, facility design, system implementation, security setup, standard operation procedures (SOPs), cultivation procedures and strategies, OSHA compliance and state-specific regulatory compliance, among many others. Costs associated with third-party advisors can vary as much as the range of services they offer — from expensive upfront fees, to partial ownership, to deferred incentives and everything in between.
James Lowe, co-founder and president at MJardin Management, cautions that most of these subjects can vary greatly from state to state, so it’s important to be educated on state-specific matters — or to hire someone who is.
“Before marijuana was legal, the people who were growing and selling it, obviously, were doing it underground. There was no regulation, no quality control, no employee or HR needs to focus on,” says Drew Youpel, director of operations at Milestone Safety Group, a safety and risk management consultancy. “Now that legal marijuana has taken off at such a rapid pace, you have all the regulations and the burden of figuring out how to do this the right way.
“Now it’s pretty much like any commodities-based business, like corn,” he adds, and, therefore, in addition to the plethora of industry- and state-specific regulations, cannabis businesses face the same federal standards and compliance issues as those businesses in other industries. “All of the regulations are already in place. The marijuana industry needs to get compliant right now. It can’t be ‘down the line.’ There is no grace period,” he says.
To read the full article in our July/August edition, click here.