The wonderful thing about this industry is that while the cannabis plant is the most important part, it isn’t the only part.

The cannabis industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world today, but especially in the United States. As more and more states begin legalizing marijuana, the need for workers continues to go up. Marijuana Business Daily estimates that jobs in the industry will jump from 240,000 to 295,000 in 2020 alone. This represents a 50% increase over 2019’s industry growth, which estimated the year to start with 165,000 jobs and end with 210,000. MJBiz Daily considers those in the industry to be those who work directly with the plant like budtenders, all the way up to ancillary positions like lawyers and consultants.

Many people are leaving their current fields to join the rapidly growing cannabis industry, and a lot of them are taking their existing skills with them. Registered nurses become cannabis nurses and begin educating patients, retail managers transition to dispensary managers, traditional horticulturists join cultivation teams, and tech workers become part of a cannabis software team. The wonderful thing about this industry is that while the cannabis plant is the most important part, it isn’t the only part. The cannabis industry relies on truck drivers to transport product, security teams to ensure employee and product safety, content creators to create content that meets FDA guidelines, and more. Without these positions, the cannabis industry could not get itself off the ground.

Vangst is the cannabis industry’s leading recruitment platform, and they are hosting a virtual cannabis job fair next month. They already have over 3,000 job seekers and more than 50 leading companies looking to connect with each other. Job seekers can expect to talk with people from top companies like Cresco Labs, Flowhub, LeafLink, and Native Roots. The virtual fair begins on October 21st and goes until the 22nd.

Just because this is a virtual event doesn’t mean it isn’t worthwhile. While it isn’t what most are used to, Vangst is coming up with innovative techniques to allow job seekers and employers to get the most out of their experience, even through a virtual setting. They are offering two different educational tracks to follow, the Main Stage track which features educational content and panels from some of the leading voices in the industry. The Vangst track is specifically for cannabis recruitment topics, including resume and interview prep, career specific Q&As, and industry speak. In addition to these two tracks, job seekers can connect with employers through their virtual booth, as well as virtual networking hubs.

One of the most unique aspects of the virtual career fair is Vangst’s partnership with The Last Prisoner Project, an organization that fights to end unfair prison sentences for nonviolent cannabis offenses. The event will host a social equity networking space intended to empower job seekers to connect with unique social equity and employment programs offered by employers, volunteer, and advocacy groups that are present at the event. Social equity job seekers will also receive wait priority from job seekers in order to put them at the front of the line.

In addition to Vangst’s partnership with The Last Prisoner Project, they have also partnered with Mission Green (an extension of The Weldon Project) and California Cannabis Coalition. The Last Prisoner Project’s founder, Steve DeAngelo, will kick-off the two day event with a social equity panel on “How Employees, Entrepreneurs, and Advocates Can Participate in Social Equity Programming.” Vangst is truly trying to drive home the point that the cannabis industry has a place for everyone, and aims to make employment as accessible as possible to all people.

Vangst is not the only company to host a virtual event due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since people began staying home more, there have been tons of virtual events taking place. MJBizCon, which is said to be the largest cannabis conference in the world, recently canceled all of their in-person events and moved to a five-week digital conference and trade show instead, starting on November 2nd and finishing up with their original dates of December 2nd-4th. Even before the decision was made to cancel the in-person events, attendees had the option to opt for a fully online event.

“We organized this virtual career fair in the hopes that it will introduce job seekers to the full range of available roles within cannabis,” said Vangst CEO Karson Humiston. “We want to provide exposure to every type of opportunity – from plant-touching to ancillary, cultivation to tech, and everything in between – and give them the tools they need to join this growing industry, no matter what their path is.”