MOORHEAD — Minnesota State Community and Technical College, also known as M State, is partnering with a private company to offer specialist certification in three areas of the fast-growing cannabis industry — cultivation, retail sales and cannabis extraction and production.

M State endorses the training programs, which are provided online, while enrollment and instruction is handled by Green Flower, a 10-year-old company that since 2019 has established collaborative partnerships with about 60 colleges and universities across the country.

Those schools include M State, which has physical locations in Moorhead, Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls and Wadena.

Max Simon, founder and CEO of Green Flower, said the company spent the past decade working to understand the cannabis industry in extreme detail, which he said makes Green Flower instructors highly knowledgeable on the subject.

“The programs we’ve built have basically become the industry standard,” Simon said, adding that Green Flower does the training with the “support, backing and brand” of partner schools like M State.

Because the nine-week coursework is delivered 100% online, Simon said students can progress through the programs at whatever pace they’re comfortable with.

The training through M State costs students about $750, with about 30% of that going to M State.

Since the training launched in January, about 79 students have completed the programs and about 54 are currently active in the training, according to Green Flower.

Sara Saari, who is 22 and lives in Duluth, Minnesota, completed her cannabis certification training in the area of cultivation this past April.

Saari said the program was worthwhile and she said she found the training interesting.

“I was really surprised to learn about how professional the industry is as a whole, as far as tracking the product and making sure everything is tested properly,” Saari said.

“Everything is tracked from seed to sale,” Saari said, adding that she is currently looking to find a job in the area of cannabis cultivation, though she said it may be a bit of a wait until the industry “really opens up.”

According to the M State website, the training utilizes video lectures, readings and online learning modules.

In the area of cannabis extraction, students are given step-by-step guidance on how to make things like edibles, tinctures, and topicals.

When it comes to retail sales, students are taught about how to work in a dispensary, or how to start their own dispensary business.

The cultivation certification program focuses on working as part of indoor or outdoor growing operations, as well as how someone can launch their own growing operation.

Potential salaries

According to the M State website, potential pay for jobs in the area of cultivation range from about $36,000 for a trimmer job, to about $75,000 for jobs like tissue culture technician and integrated pest manager.

Jobs in the area of retail range from about $42,000 for a staff position in a dispensary to about $100,000 for a dispensary management position and about $151,000 for a job as director of merchandising.

Salaries in the area of cannabis extraction can range from about $63,000 for a technician position to as much as $91,000 for a production manager post.

Simon stressed that anyone can take the cannabis training and he said many of the people signing up for it are individuals who see the cannabis industry as a second career.

“We really find that working adults have been the most engaged students in these programs,” Simon said.

Craig Beytien, vice president of strategic engagement for M State, said the school is very satisfied with the way Green Flower conducts the programs, adding that he would welcome the chance to expand M State’s offerings with a similar model.

Beytien said there has been discussion about offering a fourth certification program catering to individuals looking to learn more about the science behind various types of cannabis.

According to Beytien, the cannabis industry appears primed to expand rapidly in the next few years.

“Right now, it’s about a $4 billion business, including medical and recreational (cannabis),” Beytien said, noting that some estimates see the market doubling over the next four years.

“You don’t have to be a soothsayer in terms of what is on the horizon,” he said.

For more information about the cannabis certification programs and how to enroll, visit cannabis.minnesota.edu.

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