Greenway University, a vocational school for the medical marijuana industry, has received approval from state officials to open a campus in Denver.
School representatives say the campus is the first of its kind in the country to gain state approval for its operation.
John Karakoulakis, spokesperson for the Colorado Division of Private Occupational Schools (DPOS), told Boulder Weekly that the DPOS contacted Greenway in March after hearing about the company’s local seminars for aspiring dispensary owners via media reports.
The DPOS board voted to approve the new Greenway University campus on May 25. Karakoulakis stressed that the approval does not amount to licensure or accreditation, it simply means that the organization will now be regulated by the state and has met the minimum standards for private occupational schools set under Colorado law. He says those standards include things like showing that the institution has sufficient financial resources to operate, that it can fulfill its commitment to its students and that it is backed by a surety bond to pay back students’ tuition if it goes out of business.
And despite the university’s use of the acronym “MBA,” it has not been authorized to offer a master’s degree in business administration. Greenway’s MBA stands for “marijuana business administration.”
Greenway founder and CEO Gus Escamilla says the new Greenway campus will be located in a 27,000-square-foot facility that formerly housed a trade school on South Platte River Drive, near the intersection of I-25 and Alameda Avenue.
Escamilla says he hopes Greenway can host the first classes in its new home in July. Since last December, the university has held about a half-dozen seminars in the Westin Tabor Hotel, and the last one at that location is scheduled for June 19.
“We sold out every event,” he says.
Escamilla adds that the state legislature’s passage this spring of HB 1284, which establishes regulations for medical marijuana, has helped legitimize the industry, as has the state’s approval of his new campus.
“The state of Colorado is our new home, our new hub,” he says. “That’s the epicenter of the entire medical marijuana industry right now.”
Escamilla told Boulder Weekly that the DPOS “did an incredible job of working with us. It was a process, and we made history together. … This is truly a game-changer. It adds validity and legitimacy to what we’re doing.”
He says Greenway has been approved to offer four courses, but additional classes are being planned. He expects his current staff of nine people to grow. He also says courses will be offered at a variety of times during the week — day and night — and that an online curriculum is in the works as well.
“This industry will create a significant number of jobs,” Escamilla says. “Great cultivators and master growers are in high demand, and will continue to be.”
Greenway’s coursework covers everything from human resources management to buying product, from accounting and facility operation to botany. Escamilla is even working on a student loan program.
The university got its start in Los Angeles several years ago, when the former investment banker began considering getting into the medical marijuana industry and found a dearth of reliable information and training in the field.
“I quickly realized that there was a huge need for education,” he recalls.
Escamilla started out as a consultant, helping open more than 200 dispensaries in California. He launched Greenway last year.
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