A nonprofit organization that helps formerly incarcerated citizens re-enter society and a local community college have partnered with cannabis education programs to provide seed-to-sale learning opportunities in the fast-growing industry.

United Returning Citizens already has placed one graduate of the Cleveland School of Cannabis with a local state-licensed cultivator for work, and Eastern Gateway Community College has had five students graduate its certificate program in partnership with Ventura, Calif.-based Green Flower.

Both programs offer relatively quick pathways into the industry. Here’s what you should know about them, and the personal story of a woman who spent time in prison on drug-related charges to get out and flourish with an education.

UNITED RETURNING CITIZENS

Initially designed exclusively to help people re-enter society after being incarcerated, many of URC’s programs now serve the greater Mahoning Valley community, from entrepreneurial guidance to programs that empower women to URC Grows, an agriculture-based educational and employment program that provides education, employment and social justice for individuals who have been incarcerated for marijuana-related charges.

The cannabis program with CSC serves as an entry point into the industry for entrepreneurs and professionals.

So far, two have graduated the program and one woman has been placed at Riviera Creek, a medical marijuana cultivator in Youngstown. Another three people are taking courses now, Dionne Dowdy-Lacey, URC’s executive director, said.

The agency’s relationship with CSC goes back about two years and the partnership with Riviera Creek started in 2022.

Successfully completing the educational program is life changing, she said.

“It gives them hope and gives them some self-stability, some self-sufficiency … knowing you can have that or do something that you love to do, I think that is just a winning situation for anyone,” Dowdy-Lacey said. “Anyone doing something they love to do and getting paid for that is just awesome.”

URC applied for and received a grant from The Hawthorne Collective, a subsidiary of the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company that focuses on minority investments in areas in the cannabis industry.

The three-year grant was for $200,000, Dowdy-Lacey said, noting it costs almost $15,000 per student for URC.

CSC, based in Independence, offers a variety of programs, from cannabis horticulture, extraction and dispensary courses, as well as courses in CBD and hemp. Upon completion, there is also help with job placement.

The courses are 150 hours each, and the school has an executive program that contains a combination of core classes from across the various courses that is 300 hours.

Kevin Greene is vice president.

The significance of graduating and placing one student from URC with a firm in the Valley can’t be understated.

It shows “there is a direct road map to helping individuals who have been affected by the war on drugs, specifically cannabis itself, that have had convictions, that have served time and are now re-entering society and are in a position to succeed,” he said.

“The reason why I say put into a position to succeed is because the cannabis industry is going to give them so much opportunity to grow a real career. I say that because working with re-entry organizations in the state of Pennsylvania as well … I have seen many individuals come out and re-enter society, but not be able to attain quality jobs with upward mobility that is going to change their circumstances for the future,” Greene said.

Dan Kessler, CEO of Riviera Creek, said his company and URC were introduced through a consultant, and after meeting with Dowdy-Lacey to learn about the program, “we are thrilled to be a part of it.”

“It was an exciting opportunity,” Kessler said. “We loved the idea of being able to bring formerly incarcerated citizens in once they have gone through the full training and the state provides the approval to bring them in as employees. It’s such a win-win.”

PERSONAL STORY

Bianca Pressley, of Youngstown, was told about URC through a friend while she was staying in a Community Corrections Association-run halfway house in 2019. It wasn’t until about two years later she was presented with the opportunity to attend the Cleveland School of Cannabis.

She enrolled in the school’s 300-hour executive program that combines core classes from across various courses, from horticulture to business to law and policy, graduating in August 2022.

Pressley, who said she served about 2.5 years in prison on drug possession charges, was drawn to the industry because of her interest in urban agriculture and plants and because of her entrepreneurial spirit; she said she’s working to open a holistic wellness center.

“I loved it,” said of the schooling, which she did fully online.

She started her job at Riviera Creek in January as part of the post harvest team, which processes the medical marijuana after its done drying. Her goal with the company, however, is she wants to be a grower.

Her success, Greene said, shows education is empowering and creates a path for others to follow.

“This is the road that I can travel to get to that goal because this person has been in my shoes, and that I think is inspirational, that individuals will see that there is a great opportunity and roadmap I can take,” he said.

EASTERN GATEWAY

Five people so far have graduated Eastern Gateway’s program, but Art Daly, senior vice president and chief development officer for the college, said the plan is to pump that up, and sooner rather than later.

“We’ve had a ton of interest and we continue to enroll students, but they are enrolling at a small clip,” he said. It’s probably a couple different reasons why. I think on our end we haven’t promoted it as well as we need to and we’re going to be ramping that up … We just let it take off at first, let it grow organically, but we think we need to pus some horsepower behind it to get that grow a little more.”

The eight-week courses, which are offered fully online, are for cultivation technician, manufacturing agency and dispensary associate certificates. They are part of the community college’s career accelerator program.

“Our goal is to hopefully in the future is to have an educational center where we grow and manage the horticultural part of this, and doing it at both our Youngstown campus and our Steubenville campus,” he said of the hands-on aspect needed for students.

Daly believes the school will align with a partner in the near future to start the process of opening the training centers. The hope is for it to open in early 2024 if not the end of 2023.

“That’s going to open a lot of doors,” he said.

Once completed, graduates will have access to Green Flower’s partnership with careersincannabis.com, a job placement platform for the industry.

The community college also offers an associate degree in business management with a cannabis certificate. Its scope includes cannabis policy and law, management and customer service and understanding the medical purposes of the plant.

It launched in 2022, Daly said.