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The long-awaited New Jersey Cannabis Training Academy (NJ-CTA) for entrepreneurs and professionals was launched with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Trenton.
The NJ Cannabis Training Academy has 5 levels of classes that are available online now. The first three levels are available to the public.
Those who live, have their business in, or plan to hire people from Impact Zones harmed by the War on Drugs will be able to access the higher levels 4-10.
So, 5 levels of education were launched today with 27 courses and 38 instructor videos, 8 hours of videos, and course booklets.
It is available in Spanish as well as English.
More levels will come out in the future.
NJ Business Action Center (NJBAC) Executive Director Melanie Willoughby explained their role in helping local business entrepreneurs succeed.
“Today, we officially added the cannabis education and technical assistance program!” she exclaimed to applause.
“We started planning this program in early 2022. Our goal from the start was to provide a workable online no-fuss program that’s available 24 hours a day to 7 days a week to New Jersey residents aged 21 and above who are interested in obtaining an adult-use cannabis license,” NJBAC Deputy Director Penni Wild said.
“Governor Murphy’s intention has been… to ensure New Jersey’s cannabis industry is diverse and include,” she declared.
The classes will educate someone on the legal knowledge and many hurdles at the town level and the associated problems like pricey, difficult-to-obtain real estate, and shady landlords.
“It underscores NJBAC’s commitment to help small businesses navigate complexities,” Wild exclaimed.
She noted it should help conditional license holders struggling to convert to the annual license needed to open.
Wild said it would also inform government officials on how hard it is to get a legal New Jersey cannabis license.
NJ-CTA Executive Director Tauhid Chappell has been developing the program for a while under for the NJBAC.
“This is the most comprehensive cannabis education program ever created,” he said. “We’re not done yet. The business program will evolve and continue to expand.”
Chappell explained that 25 qualified instructors were chosen from 250 applicants. He noted they spent thousands of hours vetting experts.
“This is the most comprehensive program out there,” he said. “It’s at no cost to the public.”
“This has never been done before in the country. We really do hope to be the model,” Chappell said.
He told Heady NJ that 1300 people were on the waiting list when it was launched.
Chappell has blamed red tape for delays with the program. They have also rolled out the program as a Grand Opening with pre-recorded classes ready to be taken along with quizzes. So, it’s not a soft opening or slow rollout.
He noted they wanted to create a comprehensive educational program as well, which took time.
Chappell spoke at the Real Cannabis Entrepreneur Conference last year, which is happening again this weekend. He had a background in journalism and cannabis advocacy before joining them.
NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC) Chair Dianna Houenou noted the great difficulties with opening a legal cannabis company.
“Today’s launch of the New Jersey Cannabis Training Academy marks an important step forward in making that challenge a little less daunting for our cannabis entrepreneurs,” she explained.
Houenou said the NJ-CTA reflects how “New Jersey prioritizes equity in the cannabis industry.”
She explained the Academy will offer comprehensive lessons on topics, like navigating the NJCRC’s process.
Houenou said she reached out in 2021 to launch the NJ Cannabis Training Academy for struggling entrepreneurs.
“Being an entrepreneur in any industry has its challenges. But starting a cannabis business, you face unique hurdles,” she noted.
“We at the Cannabis Regulatory Commission see the hopes and dreams of those canna entrepreneurs every day and we applaud every step to bring us every step to making those dreams come true,” Houenou declared.
NJCRC Vice Chair Sam Delgado noted how it will help social equity, underground legacy to legal businesspeople, and diverse entrepreneurs.
“There is a lot of misinformation out there. Regulations change on an annual basis. The Statues (laws) are very difficult to interpret,” he noted.
Delgado said the NJ-CTA would help businesspeople understand and educate cannabis entrepreneurs without having to hire costly consultants.
He added it would help foster locally owned businesses.
“Best of luck,” Delgado said.
NJCRC Executive Director Christopher Riggs said the launch of the NJ Cannabis Training Academy was an important milestone.
“We’ve been committed to supporting state-sponsored technical resources. We view the Academy as supporting directly in support our mission… to support diversity and inclusion in the cannabis industry,” he declared.
“Far too often, the people negatively impacted by the prohibition of cannabis are kept out of this industry due to a lack of resources,” Riggs explained
“This is a first of its kind,” he noted.
Wild said the program should help end the practices of predatory consultants.
“We know people have suffered from that,” she admitted.
Wild noted the problem of access to capital or money for all cannabis entrepreneurs and praised the NJ Economic Development Authority (NJ-EDA) for their work on providing grants to cannabis companies.
NJ-EDA Chief Community Development Officer Tai Cooper noted the need for a lot of money to open a licensed cannabis business. She added they got companies more money than they initially thought they would.
“We found a way to make it into a yes,” she said. “We have awarded over $20 million… to over 90 canna-businesses.”
However, she acknowledged that it was not enough money.
“We have a long way to go. But the work is not easy. Our goal is to make New Jersey the most diverse and equitable State to grow, to buy, to smoke, and sell cannabis!” Cooper declared to applause.
Many worthy companies did win cannabis grants in the first round. But unfortunately, Heady NJ found some companies, while minority or women owned, that were not based in New Jersey that won the first round.
The second round went to social equity applicants who, by their qualification need to be New Jersey residents. But the list of winners was not made public.
Cooper told Heady NJ that the issue was that social equity applicant information is protected by state regulation. So that is why the names of the winners were not released to the public.
NJCRC Diversity and Inclusion Office Director Wesley McWhite III said the NJ-Cannabis Training Academy would help the people his office was designed to empower.
“The academy will help level the playing field,” he declared.
WM said it would help communities disproportionately impacted by marijuana prohibition and give them “a real set at the table.”
“We are creating pathways to meaningful careers,” McWhite argued.
“I want to express my sincere gratitude to the legacy community and the legacy pioneers,” McWhite said. “Pioneers have left out of not just the industry but conversations about the canna industry about our rules.”
He said they have been working on this since 2022 and have been advised by leading underground legacy to legal operators and experts from across the U.S. on the subject.
So, the State has invented a sort of school. They have developed a 25-page PDF course catalouge.
There are 10 levels of classes which get very detailed and technical. They get into areas you would not normally think needed to open a business from the start. For example, cannabis companies need very detailed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
“This is what I’ve been head-down, knee-deep, in for the last 16 months,” Chappell explained in an email.
This will likely be a cornerstone of New Jersey cannabis education now, especially for entrepreneurs. Some senior executives and professionals might be interested as well. But the first 10 levels are geared toward opening a business versus running a business.
The launch of the New Jersey Cannabis Training Academy has been long awaited by many.
The need to help struggling local cannabis entrepreneurs has become apparent for a very long time.
It is part of the cannabis industry where social justice and equity goals and aspirations are hitting the fan of the cold facts of business.
This past January 2024, they announced the teachers for the cannabis education program. They announced a lot of teachers with a range of experience and success.
Some of the teachers were announced before their companies got off the ground.
Chappell was named Executive Director of the Cannabis Training Academy in June 2023.
The NJ Senate grilled the NJCRC on the NJ-CTA and other topics at an oversight hearing last year.
The NJ BAC also had a table at the CWC cannabis industry convention in New York City last June, as well as other cannabis events in the area.
Noted attorney and advocate Jessica F. Gonzalez was named the cannabis training academy consultant in January 2023. Officials at the ceremony cited her help but noted she could not be there.
The program was funded by adult-use cannabis sales tax revenue.
It will likely cut into the profits of lawyers and consultants who have produced mixed results for their clients at a great cost.
Guidance and an eco-system that includes access to capital is a marker of a thriving industry.
“}]] The long-awaited NJ Cannabis Training Academy (NJ-CTA) for entrepreneurs and professionals was launched with a ribbon-cutting. Read More