East Colorado SBDC hosting hemp seminar

GREELEY — The East Colorado Small Business Development Center is hosting a two-day conference educating small-business owners on how they can participate in the budding hemp industry.

Harvesting Hemp will take place Feb. 8 and 9 at Aims Community College. The seminar is part of the Leading Edge Strategic Planning Series. Leading Edge delivers comprehensive training to small businesses and has courses to help startups and existing businesses with finance, marketing, management and other skills.

Lisa Hudson, director of the East Colorado SBDC, said the decision to have a seminar on hemp stemmed from a desire to have subject matter relevant to agriculture-heavy East Colorado.

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“Over the last year, year-and-a-half we’ve seen an increase in this industrial hemp industry,” Hudson said. “We heard from farmers who wanted to transition their current crops or start new crops that were industrial hemp.”

Hudson said the Harvesting Hemp class will cover a variety of topics, starting off with an industry and market overview. It will also include topics such as business planning and navigating the liabilities and regulations of hemp. There will be a panel with industry experts talking about what they would have done differently when they first started. A buyers panel will include those who make purchases discussing what they’re looking for. Other topics include creative financing, what the Farm Bill means and what to think about when it comes to hiring and employees.

The two-day class is open to anyone interested in hemp, including current farmers or just people who are looking to become entrepreneurs in a growing market.

Registration costs $175 and includes meals, coursework and additional materials needed for the class. Registration is now open and limited to 40 people.

“This is the first time the SBDC has covered this topic in Colorado,” Hudson told BizWest. “It’s exciting.”