POUGHKEEPSIE- The Dutchess Community College’s new Cannabis Retail Management microcredential launched fall 2023. The inaugural cohort was honored at an end-of-semester ceremony held on the College’s main campus on December 13.
New York’s cannabis market is expected to generate $4 billion over the next five years, despite the slow rollout. Last year, in anticipation of what this opportunity would mean for the state, SUNY awarded a three-year $1 million grant to the Hudson Valley Education + Workforce Consortium (HVE+WC), a group of six community colleges led by SUNY Orange, to develop course offerings aligned with the skills employers need.
DCC faculty members Professor Mark Condon (Biology) and Assistant Professor Maureen Gittelman (Hospitality & Tourism) worked together with the Consortium and local industry professionals to develop the curriculum, which provides focused, comprehensive training to meet the demand.
Sixteen students – with interests ranging from retail to cultivation – went through the program. In addition to learning and building their professional networks, several said that their commitment to community and education were what drove them to study Cannabis Retail Management at DCC.
Angela and Stephanie Barone are a mother- and daughter-in-law duo who enrolled in the program together. The family ran Hyde Park Brewing Company for 27 years and received their adult-use cannabis license in April.
“As we were getting organized and thinking about opening our dispensary, we really wanted to get equipped with as much knowledge as we could,” Angela shared. “We want to be on the cutting edge and know the most up-to-date information.”
Stephanie said, “Since it’s such a new industry, we thought about how this certification from Dutchess could help us build our workforce. If I want my supervisors to take these classes, I want to know exactly what it is they’re going to learn.”
Timothy Mazyck, a 59-year-old student…
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