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The CAURD Coalition and Lehman College announced a new social equity roundtable program aimed at bringing everyday New Yorkers interested in the cannabis industry closer to the legal fold.
The workshop will be held on August 3 and will admit 50 applicants free of charge. It’s designed to teach candidates interested in joining the cannabis workforce practical job skills such as bud-tending, accounting basics, and which part of the supply chain could match their interests.
“When the MRTA was passed we realized that this was really incredibly important and significant and that this presented an extraordinary opportunity, given the social justice aspect of the legislation,” said Jane MacKillop, Dean of Lehman College’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
The program also coincides with a push from schools to see if cannabis, which is expected to bring in thousands of jobs across the state, can be a new avenue toward college and higher education.
“We see that a lot of people who are able to get degrees and education are more likely to succeed and we see this program as a continuation of that,” said MacKillop. “This partnership is exactly what we were looking to do.”
Lehman College, a CUNY school, will provide the space, materials and technical support to run the one-day workshop. The CAURD Coalition, a tradelike association focused on retail dispensaries, will bring in industry experts to teach.
Lehman has received funding from the Department of Labor in order to host businesses accelerator style courses. In April, the school held the Cannabis Workforce Development Workshop, a 10-week course designed by Cornell University.
“This program is meant to teach basic skills, to show people the different parts of the supply chain and the knowledge you need,” said Jayson Tantalo, co-founder of the CAURD Coalition. “Whether that’s applying for a license or finding an ancillary job.”
Conversations between the CAURD Coalition and the Bronx school began earlier this year when the parties saw an opportunity to break down stigma both around marijuana and what it means to be justice-involved.
MacKillop found that some adults in the Bronx were wary of applying to college or even stepping onto a campus.
At the same time, Bronx residents are some of the best at running and operating small businesses –– with nearly 80% of the companies in the Bronx classified as small or medium businesses, according to MacKillop.
The college hoped that a course on entering the legal market, taught by justice-involved individuals from the CAURD Coalition, could have the greater effect of bringing more students on campus.
“Our goal is to help people set up businesses and get licenses, whether that be ancillary jobs or dispensaries,” said MacKillop. “Second, we’d like people to think about getting a degree, seeing the college and figuring out if that can be a place for me.”
The CAURD Coalition says the program is a way to reach out to the Bronx, which is home to a fountain of untapped retail and employment opportunities but also, historically, some of the most aggressive and racially disproportionate policing within the five boroughs.
“We often think that as justice-involved individuals that we don’t belong on college campuses, but CUNY has made it clear that that’s not true,” said Tantalo, who was arrested in 2014 for cultivating cannabis and now runs a successful small business outside of the coalition. “I used to sit in a library thinking about what I could do with my life. If I had these resources back then, I don’t know where I’d be today.”
Head here to register or learn more about the program.