Green Flower, the leading education provider for the cannabis industry recently announced the inaugural launch of professionally developed certificate programs in partnership with six public and private higher education institutions across the nation. The innovative, six-month courses are designed to quickly prepare professionals to fill the growing skills gap needs of the companies in the legalized cannabis industry.
Each partnering university powered by Green Flower uniquely stands out as a market leader to offer cannabis training:
- Northern Michigan University’s Continuing Education & Workforce Development — the first institution in the country to offer a cannabis-related degree, Medicinal Plant Chemistry bachelor’s degree in 2017. Additionally, an Indoor Agriculture associate degree is starting Fall 2020.
- MT Aloysius (PA) — a faith-based Catholic private school in Cresson, Pennsylvania, ranked in the top 40 for regional colleges north by US News & World Report.
- University of California, Riverside, University Extension (UCR Extension) – the continuing education branch of UC Riverside, a public research university that serves more than 25,000 students and a top 100 ranked public school. UCR Extension’s mission is to transform lives through lifelong learning.
- University of San Diego — a top 100 ranked private, faith-based Catholic school is committed to fostering learning pathways in industries like cannabis where there is demand.
- Northwest Missouri State University — a regional public university offering a broad range of programs on its Maryville, Missouri, campus as well as continuing education and non-credit programs at its Northwest-Kansas City location.
- A University of Wisconsin System public institution to be named in the near future.
Job opportunities in cannabis are growing rapidly. CNBC recently reported, “the marijuana industry looks like the fastest-growing job market in the country.” ZipRecruiter recently announced that cannabis jobs have increased 693% year over year and 79% quarter over quarter.
“The business of cannabis is one of the fastest-growing new market opportunities in the world that is desperately needing more well-trained talent,” said Max Simon, Founder and CEO of Green Flower. “These schools starting their programs now will have a large first-mover advantage in their state or region and will not only help their students get great jobs, they will be seen as thought leaders and industry pioneers.”
The programs Green Flower offers to universities are in four study areas: The Business of Cannabis, Cannabis Agriculture & Horticulture, Cannabis Law & Policy, and Cannabis Healthcare & Medicine. Programs are divided into three eight-week courses, which students can complete on a flexible schedule through weekly modules. Participants will complete a portfolio project that allows them to demonstrate their sector-specific knowledge. Instruction is provided by top experts in the cannabis industry. Receiving a certificate from these programs will secure students with the necessary skills to land in-demand jobs.
“Green Flower is an innovative partnership that offers a cutting-edge, yet realistic approach to delivering a solid cannabis education for those looking to switch careers or perhaps enhance their current one in a matter of months,” said Steve VandenAvond, Vice President for Extended Learning and Community Engagement at Northern Michigan University. “As schools are looking for opportunities to embrace relevant alternative programs in the wake of COVID and as the unemployment rate spikes, the cannabis industry is growing. We are excited to debut these robust online programs. Our efforts are always to move quickly and address high-demand careers that involve non-credit training.”
A number of Green Flower partner schools are building for-credit options around the certificate programs that give students an in-depth understanding of the business of cannabis from growing to retail and marketing and include legal, clinical, and regulatory issues as well. More importantly, receiving a certificate from these accredited universities in these sectors will link to a rapidly growing business and employment network including a national recruitment company that places thousands of job seekers a year. Currently, Green Flower has an employer network that consists of cannabis companies headquartered in California and Florida including Parallel, Cookies, Jushi, and ACS Labs, along with global recruiting firm, CannabizTeam that places nearly 2,000 candidates into jobs annually.
“The Green Flower certificate programs have long been considered the best in the cannabis industry. It is exciting to see their successful curriculum expanded to include these new partnerships with leading colleges,” said Liesl Bernard, CannabizTeam President and CEO. “I know many of our clients across the U.S. will place high value on job candidates that have completed the new Green Flower Media college courses and can demonstrate a strong understanding of cannabis business at the start of their careers.”
Enrollment for these programs is open now and a total of 18 programs will launch nationwide by the end of August. For more information, please visit: http://www.greenfloweredu.com.
