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PRESS RELEASE

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — December 1, 2020 – ´óÏó´«Ã½ (´óÏó´«Ã½) will launch a new Bachelor of Science degree in Cannabis Entrepreneurship in fall 2021. The program, which spans the entire process of building a business within the cannabis industry, is the first degree program integrating cannabis science and business entrepreneurship to be offered in the Northeast.

´óÏó´«Ã½’s Cannabis Entrepreneurship program brings the worlds of science, business, economics, and entrepreneurship together to evaluate the rapidly growing and evolving landscape of the cannabis industry. Students pursuing this major will explore the foundations of entrepreneurship to learn how to create and launch a business (or work within an established company) that develops non-psychoactive cannabis products from seed to distribution. The program, which explores the various CBDs (cannibidiols) found in the cannabis plant, biomass for use in textile industry, biomaterial fabrication, and other economically fast growing related industries, provides opportunities for students to be competitive in various aspects of the cannabis industry, such as plant cultivation, CBD extraction processes, and cannabis product retail.

“Legal cannabis generated approximately $10.6 billion in 2018 and according to Fortune, is estimated to be close to $100 billion before the end of the decade,” said Magnus Thorsson, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Business. “We are beginning to see that conventional business practices are a key to the success of the cannabis industry. Growers and distributers are increasingly looking for specialists with a background in entrepreneurship and supply-chain-management to keep ahead of growing competition. Our industry contacts confirm that they need accountants and business managers with knowledge of botany to run their expanding operations.”

Although cannabis will not be grown as part of the program, students will utilize plants that have similar growth characteristics such as tomatoes, coleus, hops, and sundew. Each science course has accompanying active learning laboratories. Cultivation laboratories equipped with grow tents, grow lights, air purification systems, and environmental sensors will give students hands-on experience measuring and optimizing plant growth. Courses in the program include but not limited to, Cannabis Law & Policy, Introduction to Cannabis Entrepreneurship, Small Cannabis Operations Business Management, Plant Cultivation I (Soil, Soil Substitutes and Disease Management), Plant Cultivation II (Hydroponics, Aquaponics, Tissue Culture, Genetic Manipulations, and Extractions), and Growth and Sustainability for Small Business. 

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Founded in 1914, ´óÏó´«Ã½ is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution with more than 12,000 graduate, undergraduate and online students at its four campuses in Providence, Rhode Island; North Miami, Florida; Denver, Colorado; and Charlotte, North Carolina. An innovative educational leader, the university offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in arts and sciences, business, hospitality, nutrition, health and wellness. It also offers undergraduate programs in culinary arts, dietetics, food innovation, design and engineering. The university’s impact is global, with alumni in 127 countries pursuing careers worldwide. For more information, visit jwu.edu.