Green Flower and GF Institute Announce Natura to Join, Promote Cannabis Education with Industry-First Credential

VENTURA, Calif. and SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Newly founded GF Institute (GFI) and cannabis education leader Green Flower announced today that Natura and Natura's VP of Business Development Josh Schmidt are joining GFI as Founding Members of the inaugural Steering Committee.

GF Institute's mission is to build a truly skilled and talented workforce that promotes professionalism, credibility, and equity in cannabis. Formed specifically to develop and deploy standardized training and credentials, GFI is overseen by an independent Steering Committee, comprised of more than 30 leading cannabis employers who ultimately support, guide, design, and approve the program curricula.

"The GF Institute Standardized Credentials empower players all over the cannabis industry to innovate and develop new products. Standardized education initiatives in our industry primarily serve to free up operational bandwidth, which in turn enables managers to focus on core competencies and running their respective businesses, instead of coming up with training programs they build themselves completely from scratch," said Schmidt.

Because the industry has continued to see such sustained growth and demand for a protracted period of time, candidate and applicant pools are growing smaller and smaller as regional cannabis markets across the United States age and mature. This leaves many leading cannabis employers looking to recruit talent from other industries, even drawing interested applicants with little or absolutely no formalized cannabis knowledge from which to draw to meet the rigorous demands of their new career path. As a result, the cannabis industry continues to face a host of potentially costly problems that stem from a lack of training, including high turnover, poor customer service, unsafe or inconsistent products, costly compliance mistakes, or worse.

"The cannabis industry's rapid growth in recent years puts a spotlight on the clear need for the creation of real, meaningful, research-tested standards like what GFI will provide for our industry's workforce," said Gil Christie, the inaugural chairman of GF Institute. "Natura 's leadership and innovation in our field provides GFI with a unique perspective as we work every day to revolutionize how cannabis employers consider and approach workforce development like never before."

GF Institute offers three cannabis credential programs, available the industry as a whole for the first time today, each specifically purpose built to equip new cannabis professionals with the skills and functional cannabis knowledge required to be successful in some of the industry's highest-demand positions:

-  Dispensary Associate Certificate (DAC)
-  Cultivation Technician Certificate (CTC)
-  Manufacturing Agent Certificate (MAC)

Each credential program takes 12-16 hours to complete, is available 100% online, and consists of 2 units with summative exams at the end of each unit. The first unit is cannabis health, safety, and compliance, modified slightly for each individual job role to cover specific on-the-job expectations, and covers everything brands need and want to satisfy mandatory training requirements in cannabis. The second unit is a skills-based training, designed to give new cannabis professionals a foundational level of knowledge and skill in each key area of the industry.

On successful completion of a credential, an individual is automatically granted membership to GF Institute, which will offer its members exclusive access to continuing education content, networking and career development opportunities, and more. Additional credentials and benefits applicable to other high-demand roles will continue to be developed and released in the future to ensure the cannabis credential program is always relevant and applicable to both employers and employees alike.

To encourage industry-wide adoption of the Certificates, GF Institute is inviting every Licensed Cannabis Operator across the United States to become a Founding Member by submitting an application before the deadline on December 31, 2021. Founding Members are granted access to deploy the certificates across their organization as an additional part of Green Flower's enterprise learning and development platform. Non-members must purchase each certificate program separately, so interested parties should submit applications to take advantage of this time-sensitive, limited opportunity offer.

For more information on GFI cannabis credentials or the standardized certificate courses, visit the GF Institute website where visitors will find additional materials available, including course syllabi and complete program documentation.

About Green Flower:
Founded in 2014, Green Flower is the industry leader in cannabis education, empowering thousands of consumers, regulators, and professionals with the knowledge they need to succeed in the emerging cannabis industry today.

Green Flower's content and technology platform powers the cannabis programs of top universities and colleges across the country, provides customized learning and compliance solutions for cannabis businesses of all sizes, and equips individuals with the skills and credentials necessary to make an impact in the modern cannabis industry.

Contact: Adam Summers
e: [email protected] p: 708.223.2336

SOURCE Green Flower