By Kim London, assistant professor of Business Administration, SUNY Adirondack

If you’re looking to learn more about cannabis agriculture in New York, you’ll want keep a few factors in mind: who has the best learning facilities? Who has partnerships in the cannabis industry? And, above all: where can you find real-life perspective from people who’ve had their hands in the dirt?

As an assistant professor of Business Administration at SUNY Adirondack, I know our college and the partners in the CannaBusiness Education Hub can meet those criteria. At SUNY Adirondack, our areas of focus are cannabis business and entrepreneurship, and cannabis and hemp cultivation. All of our business administration classes are taught by faculty with experience in agriculture, bringing a hands-on perspective into the classroom. Our students have access to facilities spanning the agriculture industry, including greenhouses, high-tunnels, and farms fields. In addition, SUNY Adirondack’s curriculum works well in connecting students with local cannabis producers.

Beyond our campus, the CannaBusiness Education Hub colleges provide further industry connection: SUNY Schenectady’s School of Hotel, Culinary Arts and Tourism offers avenues into the culinary cannabis industry, as cannabis-based dining and food purchases play a growing part in New York tourism (this is one of the areas that has me most excited). Columbia-Greene Community College is training the next generation of retail cannabis professionals as more and more dispensaries open up in New York. And SUNY Fulton-Montgomery is training the next generation of lab technicians who oversee production of cannabis product.

As more new business opportunities in cannabis take shape, our faculty will be poised to teach from experience all along the cannabis supply chain. We have proven to be a leader in this groundbreaking new sector of SUNY education – and the potential for growth has me, SUNY Adirondack and my CannaBusiness Education Hub colleagues looking forward to what is next!