Chicago-based Cresco Labs Inc. has announced the launch of a national social equity initiative focused on promoting equality, inclusion, expungement, access, and community engagement in the cannabis industry.
Cresco began developing the first elements of the Social Equity & Educational Development (SEED) program in early 2018, focusing on a community impact incubator, social equity, and workforce education and development.
The company has already begun implementing a number of its social equity initiatives by holding a veteran’s hiring fair in Pennsylvania, developing a community work program in New York, and supporting an expungement event in Illinois for nearly 150 people with cannabis convictions.
“With the U.S. cannabis industry at an inflection point with changing public perception, political support and legalization of adult use being considered, the industry is poised to become one of the leading job creators in the country,” says Cresco Labs CEO & Co-Founder. Charlie Bachtell. “Our SEED initiative is designed to ensure that all members of our society have the skills, knowledge and opportunity to work in and own businesses in this industry.”
Bachtell believes that the SEED program will help make the cannabis industry a “highly inclusive force for job creation” as it aims to provide 20,000 people with the opportunity to find careers in the cannabis industry by 2022.
The SEED community impact incubator will provide or assist in the gathering of capital needed for licensed cultivators and dispensaries to establish and grow their businesses and eventually own the major share.
Cresco is also working with multiple colleges and state and Ivy League universities to launch cannabis-focused courses of study in agriculture and business, conduct plant science research, and create scholarships for people from communities negatively affected by the war on drugs.
Cresco looks to partner with colleges and universities to develop educational courses and pathways to jobs in the cannabis industry with internship programs, scholarships, career services, and job training and placement assistance.
