MJBizMag April 2021 - 42

The Compensation Spectrum
who have managed multiple stores,
chief financial officers and lawyers from
global companies.
Bernard noted there's a big difference
in chief financial officer pay now
compared to four or five years ago.
" As MSOs grow, get more funding and
move into new states, they need people
with public company experience. ... They
need more sophistication. And, because
of that, they have to increase their
salaries as well, " she said.
Sales and Salaries
Multiple factors independent of the
candidate influence salaries, including
how well a company's product lines are
doing. In the marijuana industry, the
degree of success along the cannabis
supply chain could have an impact as
well, observers said.
Marijuana Business Daily found that the
average price of smokable cannabis and
pre-rolls was up sharply in 2020, while
just about all other categories-edibles,
infused beverages, vape cartridges,
concentrates and others-saw declines,
stayed flat or had modest gains at best.
Compensation data from Denverbased
cannabis recruitment firm
Vangst echoes this trend. Cultivation
salaries were up 5% in 2020 compared
to 2019, according to the company.
The top posts-cultivation director
and cultivation manager-saw salary
increases of 25% and 3%, while salaries
for lower-level posts such as trimmer
decreased or stayed flat.
Retail salaries were up 3% in 2020 over
2019, Vangst reported. Salaries in the
extraction sector, meanwhile, were down
4% in 2020 compared to 2019.
Future Outlook
While extraction and manufacturing
salaries are down compared to
cultivation and retail salaries, they are
expected to bounce back as the economy
recovers, cannabis businesses expand and
consumers can afford more expensive,
value-added products such as edibles and
infused beverages, Walter said.
People with science backgrounds will become a hiring priority because of increased industry
regulation, experts said. Photo courtesy of Peak Extracts
" Specialists at a big cannabis company
will make comparable
pay-or more-compared
to specialists in other industries. "
- Dan Walter, compensation specialist and managing consultant,
BlueFire Cannabis by FutureSense
As the industry matures and delves
into more sophisticated products and
garners more scrutiny from regulators,
people with science backgrounds will
again become a hiring priority.
" Regulators are going to force more
science into this, " Walter said. " There are
already a few companies saying, 'Hey, this
is a competitive differentiator for us.' "
The right talent comes down to having
the right experience, which increasingly
means professionals who have both
mainstream experience and legalmarket
cannabis experience. Ideally,
that mainstream experience will include
tenures at small startup companies and
large, established companies.
" We do get more requests for cannabis
experience, " said Kara Bradford, CEO
and founder of Viridian Staffing, a
42 Marijuana Business Magazine | April 2021
marijuana-focused recruitment agency
based in Seattle. She said companies
often say they'd like an executive from
CPG with at least five years of food and
beverage experience before entering the
cannabis space. And on top of that, they
want the candidate to have another five
years in marijuana.
" There are a few people who can do
that, but you're going to have to pay for
them, because that's a limited pool of individuals
who have that much experience
on both sides, " Bradford said. " Absolutely
they can ask for higher salaries. "
Omar Sacirbey is a reporter for
Marijuana Business Magazine.
You can reach him at
omar.sacirbey@mjbizdaily.com.

MJBizMag April 2021

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