Page 47 - INC Magazine-November 2018

avoiding a heist tracking everY PennY
Banks and Security Point­of­Sale
Because cannabis is still illegal Software
federally, most banks cannot accept Product is flying off the
money from plant­touching businesses. shelves at dispensaries,
dispensaries are generally limited to but owners need to track
cash­only transactions, also making inventory and determine
them a target for theft. how much tax each dis­
pensary owes the state.
t Credit unions—like Safe Harbor in Colorado—
tend to be state­chartered, which can give them t More than three dozen POS If cannabis
a better regulatory shot to serve cannabis busi­ software companies have were legal at
nesses. Two Denver­based firms, Iron Protection emerged, including MJ Freeway the federal
Group, founded by former Marines who served in (Denver), BioTrackTHC (Fort level, revenue
Afghanistan, and Blue Line Protection Group, Lauderdale), Flowhub (Denver), from a 15%
founded by former police officers, are the go­to and Green Bits (San Jose), sales tax from
cannabis security firms. which help manage inventory, 2017 to 2025
process cash, and assist with would amount
to $46 billion.
record­keeping and compliance.
Source: New Frontier Data

filling the Job boom
Recruiting firms
With the marijuana indus­
try still emerging from
the shadows of illegality,
demand for labor across
all skill sets is high. Some
work is seasonal, so farms
want to be able to recruit
staff weekly, without hav­
ing to hire and fire them.

t Vangst, founded in Denver
in 2015, is one of the fastest­
growing cannabis­focused
recruiting firms. It persuades job
candidates from industries like
fashion to make the leap, and
offers an on­demand temp
workforce in four states. Portland,
Oregon’s GreenForce connects
farms with people in cultivation
and flower trimming.

letting the sun shine in
led lighting
Growing outdoors is difficult,
because there are so many
uncontrollable variables,
including pests, temperature,
humidity, and sun. as a result,
outdoor­grown weed is usually
less consistent in levels of thc
and other, medicinally impor­
keePing kids out tant cannabinoids.
Packaging companies
each state where cannabis is t Many growers choose to grow
legal has its own childproof­ If cannabis were indoors or in a greenhouse—or a
packaging requirements. legal in all 50 combination of the two—both of which
states, this require LED lighting. Austin­based
would support
t The result is that packaging in excess of Fluence Bioengineering leads the pack
companies like Kush Bottles, Sun 654,000 jobs; of cannabis­specific LED lighting
Grown Packaging (both in California), this number companies, along with Emeryville,
and Pollen Design (New York City) are would increase to California–based Lumigrow, Austin’s
booming. Kush is the largest, having Illumitex, and Sweden’s Heliospectra,
made nearly $20 million in the first 1 MIllIon which makes “tunable” lights that fade
half of 2018—already more than its in and out like the sunset and sunrise.
entire revenue from 2017. The com­ By 2025
pany sells child­resistant glass jars, SOuRCE: 2018 REPORT BY NEW
vape pens, prerolled tubes, and a FRONTIER DATA
reusable child­resistant “exit bag”
that dispensaries can brand.
I L L u s t r at I o n b y c e Ly n b r a z I e r ● ● ● n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 8 ● I n c . ● 7 7