A full-service staffing firm for the marijuana industry
After Colorado voted to legalize recreational marijuana, Shannon Foreman realized businesses in the industry would need temporary staffing solutions. She saw the opportunity and took a leap, launching Denver-based Hemp Temps on May 1, 2013.
With $2.5 million in sales last year, the company now has seven internal employees, about 115 temps, and just opened a new office in Colorado Springs. Hemp Temps CEO Foreman talked with Associate Editor Sharon Thomas about the challenges specific to the industry and what’s ahead for the company.
What was your history before starting Hemp Temps?
Before Hemp Temps, I had trimmed marijuana plants for a while here in Colorado. Prior to that, I worked in the hair salon industry. This is my first experience in staffing.
What types of temp jobs do you fill?
We work with dispensaries, growth facilities, kitchens and packaging companies. We try to cater to whatever job they would need, whether it’s growing, trimming, bud tending, secret shopping, packaging, kitchen assistance; we try to encompass all of it. We also offer temp to hire to these clients.
What’s the competitive landscape?
There are a few competitors out here, but we are the only full-service staffing agency for the marijuana industry.
What’s it like to work at Hemp Temps?
We try to make sure that the staff that we have wants to be here and wants to do the best that they can for Hemp Temps. So we really try to make sure that everybody’s happy every day with everything they’re doing, and if they’re not, we try to get to the bottom of it immediately.
How do your clients find you?
We have a website. We also have a sales team that goes out and tries to find new customers. We also advertise on THC Jobs, 420 Jobs, Canna Careers, MMJ Job Finders; we are on the major circuits.
Is it challenging recruiting temps?
We find there’s two types of candidates: There are the people who move here and think, “Oh, man, I’m just going to get stoned all day at work,” and then you have the real people who want to be involved in the industry and want to see it grow.
Clearly, we try to weed out the people who are just here for the next best thing and look for the really solid people.
Though reliability is still an issue. If a customer needs 15 people, chances are once you staff 15 people, only 10 will show up. And that’s a challenge we deal with on a daily basis, because there’s always those people who don’t show up — no show, no call.
How reliable are your clients in terms of payment?
For the most part, we have a great customer base. But there are those that sometimes have a little bit of an issue paying, either they don’t have the revenue they say they do, or the bill is higher than they think. We invoice within five days of being there and we expect payment five days later; it’s been pretty solid. The only issue that we have is banking. It’s a cash business and it can be a struggle to get the money in the bank, but other than that, we have great customers that pay on time.
Despite its legalization in many states for medical use, we still hear of law enforcement raids on marijuana facilities. Have you experienced that?
We haven’t dealt with that directly. A lot of our clients undergo MED [Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division] inspections to ensure they’re compliant.
We did have a client that was raided about a year ago or so, but our temps weren’t there; we parted ways with that customer and moved on.
How do you ensure compliance aside from the MED inspections?
We make sure that they’re current on their MED licensing. And our sales team does on-site inspections to look for things that are indicative of compliance. Is the product clean? Is it regulated? Are there METRC tags on all the plants [RFID tags used to track the plants]? The little things can cause really big problems and we try to pick our partners specific to the compliancy.
Do you find your temps are concerned about that?
Absolutely, and we have temps that are in continuous contact with us when they are on a jobsite, so if they find anything that could be a hazard, whether it’d be powdered mildew, bud rot, doors open that shouldn’t be open, plants that have tags that are being taken off, they contact us immediately. Our sales team will go down immediately and talk to the owner of the facility, and worst case scenario, we’ll pull our team right out and sever ties with that customer.
What would you say to someone who’s looking to start a similar staffing firm?
There’s a lot of saturation, especially in Colorado, so I wouldn’t recommend anybody doing it here. And it’s been a rough road with the people challenges specifically. I don’t want to deter anyone from doing it, but I’d say just be prepared for the hoops you’re going to jump through.
Did you find it difficult to get the insurances that you need as a business?
Liability insurance is difficult to come by. Workers’ comp was extremely hard to find because there’re only two companies out there who offer it. And right now, if an employee tests positive for marijuana, workers’ comp won’t pay, so it’s kind of like you’re paying out for nothing because you’re not going to be able to use it. But here in Colorado, at least, laws will be changing to allow coverage even with positive marijuana drug test results.
Do you have plans to expand further?
Yes. We’re trying to figure out how we can take this out of the state.
Are you only focusing on states where recreational marijuana has been legalized?
At present, we’re focusing on medical. We know there’s going to be a need for temporary staff, whether it’s for medical or recreational marijuana, so lack of recreational legalization is not a factor.
