EASTHAMPTON — Want a job in the pot industry? A medical marijuana dispensary that is aiming to open by the end of the year is holding a job fair on Saturday.
“We’re looking for people who are passionate about what marijuana provides to the community, people who are looking for alternative care,” Hampden Care Facility operations manager Ian Kelly said.
The fair will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at the Zing! Table Tennis Center at the Keystone mill building, 122 Pleasant St., Suite 111.
The dispensary is looking to hire four to eight people for its harvest and package team, and another four to six people to work on marijuana-infused projects, or MIP, and processing. Pay ranges from $12 to $15 an hour. The jobs are open immediately.
A position on the harvest and package team involves packaging and labeling as well as work in cultivation, which includes trimming and weighing cannabis, according to the Hampden Care website. Culinary experience is preferred for working in the kitchen and lab producing edible marijuana products.
Lead cultivator Dan Cunningham said a general interest in cannabis and the medicinal qualities of the plant is a “big plus.”
“We are looking for people who are truly interested in producing quality medicine,” Cunningham said.
If the job fair brings in a lot of talent, more people could be hired. Attorney Stephen Reilly, who represents the business, said they’ve received several resumes already and encourages those who have applied to come out and meet some of the staff.
Hampden Care currently has 14 employees, with most working on cultivation, and expects to have a total of 50 to 60 employees working in cultivation, operations, retail and security.
The business has yet to open, but it has plants growing in its so-called “bloom rooms” at its roughly 39,000-square-foot space at the Keystone mill building. The retail portion of the shop, Reilly said, will be a “high quality store,” with the interior by Oxbow Design Build of Easthampton.
“I think we’re really lucky to be in the Pioneer Valley because there is such a rich farming community here to work from,” Cunningham said.
Although Massachusetts voted to legalize recreational marijuana last November, regulations are still in the works. Hampden Care will explore recreational marijuana when regulations are put in place by the state.
Regulations are expected to be in place by mid-March 2018, with sales beginning in July.
The company also plans to open a dispensary in Springfield next spring.
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.