SPRINGFIELD — Building contractors talked about air handling and wall finishes, a security professional talked about cameras and access points, and a credit union talked about loans and payroll.
Other businesses laid out their wares at trade-show booths while American international College and Holyoke Community College worked to interest students and employers in their workforce-building programs.
Later in the day, panelists spoke about human resources issues from talent retention and recruiting to drug testing.
Fairly typical for a chamber of commerce event. But the one held Tuesday at the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place was unusual in that everything revolved around marijuana.
“The Buzz About Cannabis: Marijuana in the Marketplace and the Workplace” was the first of what’s expected to be a series of marijuana-specific seminars sponsored by the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“I see it as breaking down the stigma,” said chamber President Nancy Creed. “People are seeing the opportunity in this industry. And these businesses should be treated like any other industry.”
The event drew 125 people, outpacing the 75 to 100 Creed expected. The chamber plans to have another similar event in six or nine months.
For Jacob Zieminski, founder and president of CAVU Hemp in Cheshire, Tuesday’s event represented the maturation of an industry.
“We’re doing it,” Zieminski said. “Look around. I see employers. I see businesses that need services and want to be part of growing communities.”
Zieminski was a panelist at a similar marijuana business conference last week in Worcester.
CAVU does wholesale cultivation, manufacturing and processing of hemp for CDB products. Last year he grew about an acre — that’s 1,200 or 1,500 plants — and pans to plant crops in the future.
Massachusetts voters approved adult recreational use of marijuana more than three years ago. The first two stores opened 15 months ago in Northampton and Leicester. Today, 80 recreational marijuana licensees statewide have commenced operation.
Gross sales of recreational marijuana since November 2018 top $471 million, said Kay Doyle, a member of the state’s Cannabis Control Commission and a keynote speaker at Tuesday’s chamber event.
Doyle talked about the challenges of regulating an industry that is still federally illegal, a situation that makes things more expensive and time-consuming for licensees. She said the commission has hired four more staffers to help process a backlog of more than 437 applications. Applicants often complain about how slow the process is moving.
Andy Klein of American Alarm and Communications in Auburn knows how slow approvals can be.
“It’s a highly regulated business,” he said.
His company has installed security, fire alarm, access control and video-monitoring equipment for 45 marijuana-related facilities in Massachusetts.
“The only things I can compare these facilities to are jewelry stores and banks,” he said. “That’s how tough the security has to be. And you have state regulators watching everything you do.”
For Craig Sweitzer of Sweitzer Construction in Monson, building marijuana growing facilities is a natural outgrowth of his family business’ specialty in medical facilities and dentist offices. Marijuana growing operations need specialized water and air handling systems. They must be secure, and they must be attractive.
“We’ve done clean rooms,” he said. “We have done positive-pressure rooms that keep air from infiltrating.”
Sweitzer Construction also does retail and other commercial spaces.
“It’s all the same skill set,” said son Michael Sweitzer.
The Sweitzers just completed a facility in Monson and are talking with three more potential customers.
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