Looking for a growers job in Colorado

[GOT_BUD?]

Interesting.

Illinois has no such problem with only 21 facilities allowed in the state to produce the bulk of the Rec and Medical. Dispensaries are supposedly paying $30/eighth wholesale, no breaks on qty. because of the taxes. It's kind of fucking ridiculous honestly. It'll be great for the producers but will suck for everybody else.

Oh, and you can't gift clones, seed or finished product to those in need. Great fucking law, Pritzker.

There were 60 Craft licenses allowed this year, and another 70 next June. Maximum canopy size of flowering plants is 3,000 sq. ft. My guy already has his app in and licensing fees set for his rec license. And he currently holds a hemp license. So there's a very real chance I'll soon be a farmer.

I'd never thought I'd utter those words.

I wanted to correct this.

I read the law itself and found out the real info as opposed to second hand info I thought I could trust.

It's 40 licenses by 7/1/2020, and another 60 by 12/21/21. 150 craft licenses maximum allowed by law.

5,000 square feet of flowering canopy with infrastructure in place to expand up to 14,000 square feet in 3,000 ft increments if "deemed necessary by the state". The 9,000 square foot expansion is discretionary. You could probably do it with hoop houses in the spring. But winter would be a no go unless maybe you're in Southern Illinois.

Northern Illinois will probably be mostly indoor.

HVAC requirements are spelled out. They want to know about your water runoff and plan for growing. How you're going to minimize your environmental footprint.

They want background checks on all stock holders and main personnel involved including relevant agricultural experience.

The licensing requirements are very specific in the information you need to provide. And if you deviate from this plan at all, they can and will yank your license.

$5,000 application fee and $40,000/yr. to hold it if awarded.

7% tax on gross receipts of sales to dispensaries.

And the main tax? Their calling it the "Cannabis Cultivation Privilege Tax". It starts on Page 308, line 20 and goes on from there with definitions and what nots. I haven't read to far into that section that because it makes my brain hurt.

 

[mexweed]

This stuff was organic soil, and really nice from what I could tell. Pay was guaranteed, and they also offered bonuses and health insurance. They grow for multiple shops around the cities north of the Denver area. They don’t own a dispensary. Their grow was old school. Nothing fancy. Reminded me of my first warehouse but smaller. They even had some tents going, but they were using them right it looked like. They had time to focus on quality over quantity. They were definitely boutique.

that's legit, I think some concentrate companies grow really good bud too, there is a big proponent of living soil organic that has a dispensary in co springs, I really hope they start to spread east

it seems like a lot of boulder shops are so competitive that it comes down to pushing the highest thc % and yields, everywhere needs to have a few 30%+ on the shelves

the place I was offered to trim for was bragging about winning cups and how it's done with this mix of locally mined mineral salts (aka the mining/fracking industry) and how I would eventually learn the 'coca cola recipe' as it was referred to, but was also told that the main boss guy is 'legitimately a little crazy'

a lot of people know someone that grows a few huge outdoor plants and they just get free weed, or they grow some themselves

 

[nickman]

I wanted to correct this.

I read the law itself and found out the real info as opposed to second hand info I thought I could trust.

It's 40 licenses by 7/1/2020, and another 60 by 12/21/21. 150 craft licenses maximum allowed by law.

5,000 square feet of flowering canopy with infrastructure in place to expand up to 14,000 square feet in 3,000 ft increments if "deemed necessary by the state". The 9,000 square foot expansion is discretionary. You could probably do it with hoop houses in the spring. But winter would be a no go unless maybe you're in Southern Illinois.

Northern Illinois will probably be mostly indoor.

HVAC requirements are spelled out. They want to know about your water runoff and plan for growing. How you're going to minimize your environmental footprint.

They want background checks on all stock holders and main personnel involved including relevant agricultural experience.

The licensing requirements are very specific in the information you need to provide. And if you deviate from this plan at all, they can and will yank your license.

$5,000 application fee and $40,000/yr. to hold it if awarded.

7% tax on gross receipts of sales to dispensaries.

And the main tax? Their calling it the "Cannabis Cultivation Privilege Tax". It starts on Page 308, line 20 and goes on from there with definitions and what nots. I haven't read to far into that section that because it makes my brain hurt.

That right there just shows me how hard it is for the little guy to get into the game...!!!...
someone like myself would NEVER be able to afford something like that ...!!!...

 

[LouDog420]

Got Bud, I think you need to do some more research. I want to see my IC brothers succeed. I have been in IL medical since its start back in 2014 (including drafting winning applications which we still manage). The program is absolutely a shit show and needs all the good producers it can get.

No one is putting seven figures investments on the line for a 4-5 page business plan (unless you're talking to someone with whom you have a pre-existing relationship and they're going to put up the capital anyways). Your financial section alone should be 4-5 pages minimum (balance sheet, income statement, P/L, cash flow, break even analysis, personnel forecast, etc).

Look up social equity applicant and see the significant scoring differences and consider whether your organization can qualify. If not, you're probably going to have a bad time, especially if you can't show legal/regulated program knowledge (seed to sale, recordkeeping, inventory tracking plan, security plan, education and training plan, facility design, etc)

You need a floor plan. For medical, that included full MEP design, and therefore coordination with engineers and all equipment specs.


Zoning is required for craft. That means applying for special/conditional use most likely where the process will be determined by the AHJ. Most likely a planning and zoning meeting then final city council vote. Those can be hit or miss depending on the opposition, I've had full bus loads of people shipped in trying to protest in other states. Also an option agreement on the property contingent upon application selection and zoning approval.


You need to look into security regs, hoop houses aren't going to work, and will still need that area fenced, monitored with cameras, alarm system, and access control if you somehow can get that pushed through. The only greenhouses operating in IL are hard sided, polycarb, via Pharmacann, IESO, and some new expansions, I believe PTS and Nature's Grace.

7% cultivator tax is there for medical also, it's always been there, nothing surprising.

No one has their application submitted or fees paid. Craft apps aren't out until Jan 1, 2020 and are due March 31, 2020, with selections by July 2020. He probably means only hemp license which is available for the low price of a $300 fee and is a 3 page app. The hemp license is a joke. The craft license will probably be in the range of 500-1000+ pages depending on what sort of taxes are required to be submitted and the complexity of the principal officers. (medical required 3 years taxes plus 400k liquid assets for dispensaries and 500k liquid assets for grows)

Just saying, I want to see my IC brothers succeed, but I think you need to do a lot of studying otherwise will end up greatly disappointed... My $0.02.

Yes, wholesale prices are between $24 - $34/eighth (even when trying to purchase 10 pounds, they charge by the eighth).



I wasn't even going to post or comment given the amount of misinformation (tremendous, not just here, but throughout the entire state). But HZ and I go back a bit and wanted him to be informed, and figure might as well post it for all to see, but here's your free one, the rest is billable


Don't believe everything you hear kids

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

that's legit, I think some concentrate companies grow really good bud too, there is a big proponent of living soil organic that has a dispensary in co springs, I really hope they start to spread east

it seems like a lot of boulder shops are so competitive that it comes down to pushing the highest thc % and yields, everywhere needs to have a few 30%+ on the shelves

the place I was offered to trim for was bragging about winning cups and how it's done with this mix of locally mined mineral salts (aka the mining/fracking industry) and how I would eventually learn the 'coca cola recipe' as it was referred to, but was also told that the main boss guy is 'legitimately a little crazy'

a lot of people know someone that grows a few huge outdoor plants and they just get free weed, or they grow some themselves

Lol. The “Coca Cola recipe.” That cracks me up too. As if each strain doesn’t have different feeding requirements and preferences.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

Got Bud, I think you need to do some more research. I want to see my IC brothers succeed. I have been in IL medical since its start back in 2014 (including drafting winning applications which we still manage). The program is absolutely a shit show and needs all the good producers it can get.

No one is putting seven figures investments on the line for a 4-5 page business plan (unless you're talking to someone with whom you have a pre-existing relationship and they're going to put up the capital anyways). Your financial section alone should be 4-5 pages minimum (balance sheet, income statement, P/L, cash flow, break even analysis, personnel forecast, etc).

Look up social equity applicant and see the significant scoring differences and consider whether your organization can qualify. If not, you're probably going to have a bad time, especially if you can't show legal/regulated program knowledge (seed to sale, recordkeeping, inventory tracking plan, security plan, education and training plan, facility design, etc)

You need a floor plan. For medical, that included full MEP design, and therefore coordination with engineers and all equipment specs.


Zoning is required for craft. That means applying for special/conditional use most likely where the process will be determined by the AHJ. Most likely a planning and zoning meeting then final city council vote. Those can be hit or miss depending on the opposition, I've had full bus loads of people shipped in trying to protest in other states. Also an option agreement on the property contingent upon application selection and zoning approval.


You need to look into security regs, hoop houses aren't going to work, and will still need that area fenced, monitored with cameras, alarm system, and access control if you somehow can get that pushed through. The only greenhouses operating in IL are hard sided, polycarb, via Pharmacann, IESO, and some new expansions, I believe PTS and Nature's Grace.

7% cultivator tax is there for medical also, it's always been there, nothing surprising.

No one has their application submitted or fees paid. Craft apps aren't out until Jan 1, 2020 and are due March 31, 2020, with selections by July 2020. He probably means only hemp license which is available for the low price of a $300 fee and is a 3 page app. The hemp license is a joke. The craft license will probably be in the range of 500-1000+ pages depending on what sort of taxes are required to be submitted and the complexity of the principal officers. (medical required 3 years taxes plus 400k liquid assets for dispensaries and 500k liquid assets for grows)

Just saying, I want to see my IC brothers succeed, but I think you need to do a lot of studying otherwise will end up greatly disappointed... My $0.02.

Yes, wholesale prices are between $24 - $34/eighth (even when trying to purchase 10 pounds, they charge by the eighth).



I wasn't even going to post or comment given the amount of misinformation (tremendous, not just here, but throughout the entire state). But HZ and I go back a bit and wanted him to be informed, and figure might as well post it for all to see, but here's your free one, the rest is billable


Don't believe everything you hear kids

Great post.

I have made a few business plans in Nevada and California medical grows, and that was really easy compared to what is required now. It was such a gray area then, and profit margins were triple what they are now. Even then my business plans were much longer than 5 pages. I knew the investors, and they still required a solid plan with start up costs, profit margins, and the math on how long it would take to turn a profit.

I am reluctant to even start a plan here with out the right business mind to work with. I am a plant man. I know how to run a team and manage a business, and I could start a retail shop with out an issue, but the process of creating a viable business plan for a legal cannabis business is very detail oriented and requires the right knowledge. It’s not just a brick and mortar. Like you said there are a million regulations and costs to navigate in agriculture. Add the controversiality of cannabis it’s even more difficult.

On top of that, I don’t think I’d even want to try to start a cannabis business in Colorado or California with out at least a solid 1.5 million dollars for a boutique grow. Preferably 3 million. With three million I could open a dispensary that owns a grow and sell our product at retail price instead of whole sale. It’s a solid way to get market share while increasing profit margins. I know I’m not going to compete with places like green solution or native roots in quantity though, so I would focus on creating a connoisseur product and brand.

 

[LouDog420]

Yep Zep, you got it. Not as easy as it once was, and especially in the more regulated programs, bullshit costs and fees add up fast. IL is more expensive than most due to extra bullshit.

Biggest issue with retail is 280E, essentially dispensaries are taxed on gross profits. We had a dispensary client pull only around $200k net profit but was taxed on $800k gross profit and ended up owing about $300k to the IRS even though that's more than the business technically made... 280E is a bitch and the biggest thing that makes retail only a challenge. Vertical integration is almost a must if wanting to do retail due to the tax issues. Otherwise set it up and flip it for a profit quick before 280E kicks in hard... Only costs of goods sold are deductible, so if you take out 500k in loans and want to pay that back... Guess what, not deductible according to the IRS (for dispo). Fucking brutal

Retail, generally $1M to get it up and going comfortably and cover operating (before anyone jumps on that, your starting inventory purchases can be 6 figures to a quarter million alone depending on offerings and startup, security/tech at 100k+, interior build out (200-300k fairly common, more for nicer storefronts), then operating expenses until reaching profitability, easily 700k-1M).

Cultivation, all depends on size, methods, and automation, but you're pretty spot on looking at $3M minimum, more comfortably $4M+... Good thing there is 280E doesn't really touch grows (all costs are pretty much costs of goods sold due to actually producing the products), and always a demand for high quality product. IL places a 5ksf restriction on flowering for initial new licensees... Trying to pay back that $3M with 5,000SF of flower is tough, especially if taking loans at venture capital rates, sometimes 20%+ which is not unreasonable in the current market...



Good vibes bud, hope you find something soon. Stay in touch, I'm sure we'll have a few things down the line towards the end of 2020/early 2021

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

Yep Zep, you got it. Not as easy as it once was, and especially in the more regulated programs, bullshit costs and fees add up fast. IL is more expensive than most due to extra bullshit.

Biggest issue with retail is 280E, essentially dispensaries are taxed on gross profits. We had a dispensary client pull only around $200k net profit but was taxed on $800k gross profit and ended up owing about $300k to the IRS even though that's more than the business technically made... 280E is a bitch and the biggest thing that makes retail only a challenge. Vertical integration is almost a must if wanting to do retail due to the tax issues. Otherwise set it up and flip it for a profit quick before 280E kicks in hard... Only costs of goods sold are deductible, so if you take out 500k in loans and want to pay that back... Guess what, not deductible according to the IRS (for dispo). Fucking brutal

Retail, generally $1M to get it up and going comfortably and cover operating (before anyone jumps on that, your starting inventory purchases can be 6 figures to a quarter million alone depending on offerings and startup, security/tech at 100k+, interior build out (200-300k fairly common, more for nicer storefronts), then operating expenses until reaching profitability, easily 700k-1M).

Cultivation, all depends on size, methods, and automation, but you're pretty spot on looking at $3M minimum, more comfortably $4M+... Good thing there is 280E doesn't really touch grows (all costs are pretty much costs of goods sold due to actually producing the products), and always a demand for high quality product. IL places a 5ksf restriction on flowering for initial new licensees... Trying to pay back that $3M with 5,000SF of flower is tough, especially if taking loans at venture capital rates, sometimes 20%+ which is not unreasonable in the current market...



Good vibes bud, hope you find something soon. Stay in touch, I'm sure we'll have a few things down the line towards the end of 2020/early 2021

For sure brother. Thanks for all the good info and I’ll stay in touch for sure. Hit me up if you’re ever in Denver too.

:friends:

 

[GOT_BUD?]

Nickman - You bet your sweet ass and half a titty they designed it with big pharma in mind. Illinois is flat broke (because of Chicago) and looking at dollar signs. They don't want a few pennies, they want piles of cash. I can only imagine how awful the final product is going to be in the dispos.

I've got friends who are excited of the prospect of buying legal weed, and I keep telling them they're going to be disappointed. I figure I'll hear from them by the second week of January.

It looks like the same thing is shaping up here in Wisconsin with Vos's joke of an MMJ law.

LouDog420 - We've already discussed it and tapped out. Going strictly high quality CBD flower grown under the sun. Though the bottom is quickly falling out of that market as well.

With my professional background, the absolute best I could hope for is middle management of some op. Even then, I have no legal relevant experience in agriculture, which seems to be a major requirement for getting hired.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

Nickman - You bet your sweet ass and half a titty they designed it with big pharma in mind. Illinois is flat broke (because of Chicago) and looking at dollar signs. They don't want a few pennies, they want piles of cash. I can only imagine how awful the final product is going to be in the dispos.

I've got friends who are excited of the prospect of buying legal weed, and I keep telling them they're going to be disappointed. I figure I'll hear from them by the second week of January.

It looks like the same thing is shaping up here in Wisconsin with Vos's joke of an MMJ law.

LouDog420 - We've already discussed it and tapped out. Going strictly high quality CBD flower grown under the sun. Though the bottom is quickly falling out of that market as well.

With my professional background, the absolute best I could hope for is middle management of some op. Even then, I have no legal relevant experience in agriculture, which seems to be a major requirement for getting hired.

I have 8 years legal market experience and 17 years total experience. They don’t care.

 

[BuzzBob56]

I've got friends who are excited of the prospect of buying legal weed, and I keep telling them they're going to be disappointed. I figure I'll hear from them by the second week of January. :biggrin.

For real! I live across the Mighty Muddy, and folk are chomping at the bit for Recreational in January. I've said many times, "Just wait to see what your Retail Prices are, especially for out-of-state Rec Consumers."

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

For real! I live across the Mighty Muddy, and folk are chomping at the bit for Recreational in January. I've said many times, "Just wait to see what your Retail Prices are, especially for out-of-state Rec Consumers."

They used to be really high here in Colorado, but now after a few years you can find better pricing. I got lucky. There is a dispensary outlet near me that sells over stock bud that growers had a hard time selling. Funny thing is though, some of it is better most of stuff I see here, and it’s not old bud. It’s all about at the one to two month from harvest point, so it is perfectly cured now. It’s only 24 dollars for an eighth, and gets cheaper in bulk. They must be buying up these pounds of cured bud for 500 bucks. It’s crazy how the ignorance of most smokers drives the market to make decent cured bud worth less money than fresh cut garbage from places like green solution.

 

[sturgeongeneral]

That's good to know about the cheap 8ths I was thinking of taking a trip to Colorado here in the next month or 2. Ive never been there so it's more for the experience than the weed.

 

[mexweed]

lots of places do price breaks for larger amounts too, there is a place that I have personally never been to but is known for having a bit better quality bud, soil and they don't spray anything during flower, when I have checked out their menu they had half ozs listed for around $70

the shop I last went to is cheap too, $45 quarters for their top shelf, they also had $40ozs of seeded outdoor, not the best weed but far from the worst, they list all ingredients too and I have seen organic before, usually just cinnamon oil and such for pests, they do have some green cleaner buds sometimes that have a strong dill to them

 

[bsgospel]

1-3M will not be enough depending on your size. Think 10-15 for safety. We're in our first year of build out on 60000 sq ft plus multiple stores. Construction/reconstruction/licenses/insurance, etc we're at two million already. I should mention though we spared no expense on systems, personnel, contractors. Went over the top on some of the indoor aspects. Like the Argus system. A good grow team can do without that but capitalist insurance policy says otherwise. The HVAC alone was a near million dollar investment itself.

And I'm a guy who wants to produce the absolute best bud possible. I want this to do what craft does. Just happens this is where I got pulled to. It's very corporate and there are some things I don't like. But I will get to grow some excellent stuff and do what I love. It can be done but have a bad ass plan, narrative, financials and so on and so on. Be confident AND smart.

 

[mexweed]

if I ever built a place from the ground up for growing I would contract people that build hospitals, specifically the rooms where they deliver babies and have to be super sealed and sterile, or like the labs where they research viruses and stuff, not an industrial warehouse that will inevitably end up with pests

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

1-3M will not be enough depending on your size. Think 10-15 for safety. We're in our first year of build out on 60000 sq ft plus multiple stores. Construction/reconstruction/licenses/insurance, etc we're at two million already. I should mention though we spared no expense on systems, personnel, contractors. Went over the top on some of the indoor aspects. Like the Argus system. A good grow team can do without that but capitalist insurance policy says otherwise. The HVAC alone was a near million dollar investment itself.

And I'm a guy who wants to produce the absolute best bud possible. I want this to do what craft does. Just happens this is where I got pulled to. It's very corporate and there are some things I don't like. But I will get to grow some excellent stuff and do what I love. It can be done but have a bad ass plan, narrative, financials and so on and so on. Be confident AND smart.

Well let me know if you’re hiring because we have the same goals. I just wanna grow the best and cleanest bud possible.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

if I ever built a place from the ground up for growing I would contract people that build hospitals, specifically the rooms where they deliver babies and have to be super sealed and sterile, or like the labs where they research viruses and stuff, not an industrial warehouse that will inevitably end up with pests

Seriously. That’s the way to do it. Hire people that build clean rooms. I built out a clean room to grow in and I don’t ever want to grow commercially in anything else. It saves so much time and money in the long run, and you end up with a superior product.

 

[DenverVaultBoy]

Latest update, FUCK Igadi.


Nepotism is a bitch, that's all that really has to be said. When every single corporate officer gets to give his girlfriend a salaried job in management, things are bound to go wrong.


My inventory manager in Northglenn got her job by dating the CFO.


Sometimes you have to penetrate the surface to find the corruption, that company had a chance to help me, and chose not to, choosing instead to throw me onto the street so they can have 20 somethings up selling the latest overly-marketed crap.



16 years in this industry and I didn't see their betrayal coming, so who knows really?

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

At this point I’ve moved up enough in my current job that I would have to get a really good offer to leave it. No entry level position and nothing under 20 an hour. Also I think I am going to relocate to the Pacific Northwest id I can afford too. It’s kind of a long shot at the moment. Not for the industry, but because I have never lived in that region and have always wanted to.