Posted: 12:08 PM, Jan 29, 2020
Updated: 6:32 PM, Jan 29, 2020
By: Nick Starling 41 News
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Medical marijuana cultivation sites and dispensaries are looking to hire employees to get their businesses up and running.
This comes as the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services approved 60 cultivation sites and 192 dispensary locations.
As of Monday, DHSS approved more than 31,000 patient and caregiver applications with another 2,200 awaiting review.
According to the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association, they predict the industry will create 4,000 jobs and generate an economic impact of $500 million on the state's economy.
One of the companies hiring is Clovr. They were approved for two manufacturing licenses and are looking to hire 10 to 15 employees.
"Since we can't ask for a lot of cannabis experience, we mostly look for if you've worked in the commercial kitchen, if you have machinery, mechanical experience — sales is a big one," said Bethanie White, director of marketing for Clovr. "Really anybody that has attention to detail, and can follow some standard operating procedures, and can bring kind of an outside non-cannabis experience that is relatable to what we're doing within manufacturing is huge."
There are a few hurdles if anyone who wants a job in the medical cannabis industry. The potential employees need approval from the state, a process which includes a criminal record check, background check and fingerprinting. It applies to everyone from employees to board members.
"We're already under a microscope so to make sure we have people who are on the up-and-up and who pays attention to detail and are ready to work hard, that's very important," White said.
With the spotlight on the industry comes the need to protect the product and the employees, White said.
"As soon as somebody realizes that you have cannabis within your walls, they're going to try to get in, so you're just trying to minimize how quickly and how much and how often they can get in," White said.
To help the new companies fill positions, there's a career fair in Kansas City on Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley, from 9a.m. to 5p.m.
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