GROWING A WORKFORCE

WHAT: SUNY Adirondack was selected with partners Schenectady County Community College, Columbia-Greene Community College and Fulton-Montgomery Community College to receive a $1 million in funding to create and enhance credential programs and course offerings that provide pathways to employment in the cannabis industry.

WHERE: SUNY Adirondack’s farmlands and greenhouses

THE PROJECT: Each partner in the grant will focus on a specialty within the cannabis field. SUNY Adirondack will focus on how to best grow cannabis plants, and small business and entrepreneurship in the cannabis industry.

WHY: The goal is to prepare students for jobs in the fast-growing cannabis industry, which New York State Department of Health estimates will grow to between $1.7 and $3.5 billion annually. According to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, a $1.7 billion industry could generate an economic output of $4.1 billion and 30,700 jobs, and attract hundreds of millions of dollars in capital investment.

HOW: SUNY Adirondack will offer five new still-in-development courses, including:

• how to grow hemp;

• how to harvest and prepare hemp for processing;

• history of cannabis in society;

• business-centered classes

The courses will be electives in SUNY Adirondack’s Agricultural Business degree program. They will also be offered as a certificate program.

About Hemp

The strain of cannabis that will be grown at SUNY Adirondack is CBD hemp, which is low in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the principal psychoactive element in marijuana. Hemp must have less than 0.3 percent THC and is tested by state officials to ensure compliance.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the value of hemp production in the U.S. in 2021 was $712 million, with more than 54,000 acres planted.

Fifty-two percent of hemp producers report farming as their primary occupation.

The global hemp industry is forecast to be valued at $16.75 billion by 2030.