SUNY Jamestown Community College plans on developing a cannabis accreditation program in light of recently announced funding by New York state.

“New York’s new cannabis industry is creating exciting opportunities, and we will ensure that New Yorkers who want careers in this growing sector have the quality training they need to be successful,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “Diversity and inclusion are what makes New York’s workforce a competitive, powerful asset, and we will continue to take concrete steps to help ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate in the cannabis industry.”

Hochul announced $5 million in funding Monday for SUNY and CUNY community colleges to support the development of short-term credential programs and college courses that provide students with a pathway for employment in the highly-profitable cannabis industry.

JCC currently does not have any form of cannabis accreditation program. It is part of a group of four colleges with Erie, Genesee and Niagara, with JCC falling under the leadership of Niagara Count Community College.

“We have received $1 million as a consortium over three years,” Holger Ekanger, JCC’s vice president of workforce development, said. “The four of us are working together.”

Ekanger said while JCC does not have a cannabis program, Niagara already has developed programs for its students.

“They already have a presence both with programs on the academic side and programs on the workforce development side,” he said.

JCC will follow Niagara’s lead in the coming months and will have its first meeting next week with the other three colleges. The four colleges will discuss plans for the future of the program.

“We’re gonna leverage a lot of the work that they have done,” Ekanger said. “We are basically starting off very small, very careful, and to see what opportunities that this new market will mean in terms of a program that we can offer.”

Ekanger said the first phase of the grant will help the college determine what the cannabis market looks like in the region. The four colleges will research who is growing, processing, producing and supplying the plant. JCC’s leadership hopes that by researching these factors, they can determine who to partner with as they develop a program.

“In the state of New York, by 2025, they are predicting that there will be 50,000 new jobs in this state associated with this industry and revenue that is exceeding $7 billion,” he said.

While Ekanger said the opportunity is exciting for JCC, he said the college has work to do.

“We have a lot of this groundwork to cover first to make sure that we understand who we need to partner with, what are the opportunities and where do we leverage some of that funding to develop those programs,” he said.

Ekanger said the grant also provides students with funds that can help offset the cost of taking cannabis accreditation courses.

“We support economic and workforce development, job creation, and providing students with skill sets matched to what employers need,” Ekanger said. “Given that this industry will be so big in the future, I think it provides students yet another area to get engaged with.”

Despite expectations of a profitable industry and funding for college accreditation, Ekanger said the college also faces some challenges.

“The challenge we have is that every industry sector is screaming for people,” he said. “So there’s a challenge when there are so many jobs out there to add yet another industry who will be needing workers as well.”

Additionally, the college faces the challenge of navigating the dangers of increasing substance abuse in the region.

“We will be very cautious,” he said. “We are in an area that has a lot of drug abuse and substance abuse problems. We have to be careful that our programs do not contribute to that problem.”

While Ekanger said the college is aware of the challenges, he believes the potential benefits are greater.

“Our role is really trying to foster that economic and workforce development and to explore the industry itself,” he said. “This is a growing area.”

Ekanger said cannabis can be useful in medically treating people with chronic pain, while hemp oils developed from the plant can be used to treat people with diabetes, arthritis and cancer.

“All of these areas are really incredible opportunities for individuals that want to get into this,” he said.

JCC will start by looking at the extraction process in the cannabis industry.

“That means that we need to really understand who’s in this marketplace, where they need individuals, and what type of skill sets that we need to focus on,” Ekanger said.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist said the state’s funding of cannabis accreditation will have a major impact on the community.

“We very much encouraged JCC to apply,” Sundquist said. “It was really great to see them work with other community colleges to be a hub for the cannabis industry. I remember speaking to the Office of Cannabis Management and recommending that Jamestown Community College could be a hub for them, and it’s clear that they also agreed,” he said.

Sundquist hopes the city can become a manufacturing center and provide the “backbone” of the cannabis industry.

“The city and the administration has been very positive to entice and bring in the cannabis industry.” Sundquist said. “We see this as a manufacturing site.”

While the mayor acknowledged that Jamestown has an issue with drugs and substance abuse, he said cannabis has not been an issue.

“The drug issues that we see in the city are not cannabis related,” he said. “The city itself has not had a large amount of cannabis crimes. The drugs that we are having a problem with are the illegal ones.”

Sundquist said the cannabis industry could potentially help the city tackle issues with other drugs.

“I do see this as an opportunity to utilize funding to invest in solving the drug issue that we have here in the city,” he said. “It’s another source of revenue to support the work that we do.”

The mayor believes JCC’s plans to develop cannabis accreditation programs will positively impact Jamestown’s manufacturing capabilities.

“Jamestown has always been a manufacturing hub,” Sundquist said. “To see that continue is really a wonderful thing for the city. What we’re doing is really shifting our focus from an industry on furniture to new markets.”