starting salaries for head growers and assistants???

jackelope

Active Member
hi all,im legal in AZ and have been offered a position as head grower in a commercial space for one of the prospective dispensaries here in the state...i'm meeting tomorrow to see the space and discuss the finer details but i have no idea what someone in my position would expect to make based on a salary??...any help from anyone who has more experience would be great...thanx..
 

jackelope

Active Member
the man is right! they want to start me around 4k and say we can renegociate after each harvest with no real cap...thanx for the input friend...
 

OGEvilgenius

Well-Known Member
I'd watch closely the amount produced and what they are spending. If you're in the warehouse, you should be able to figure it out. Then find out what they are charging dispensaries or w/e. 4000 a month seems likely on the low end...
 

jackelope

Active Member
i'm sure its on the low end,but there are no dispensaries here yet and the wharehouse is just now being outfitted...this is pretty new in az and i believe i'm one of the people getting in on the ground floor that are not from cali or colorado...they were talking about 6 figures if i can prove myself...and i can.
 

panhead

Well-Known Member
Right hand man ? An assistant ?

How large an operation are you talking about where all this manpower is needed.

I ran the main grow for our local co-op for the last 2.5 years by myself,i ran 8 seperate 4ft x 8ft flood tables,took care of 16 strains of mothers in soil,took all cuttings & maintained the cloners,changed 8 seperate 55 gallon rez's every 10 days,maintained all ph levels as well as nutrient levels ect.

The only time i needed help was one day a week to harvest a table & trim,while the trimmers were at work i would clean & restock the table,the harvest day myself & 3 other people trimming worked 7 to 10 hours,the other 6 days i spent between 2 to 4 hours a day maintaining the op.

If your going hydroponic i can show you how to stream line & automate the system so all you need to do is flip a switch to drain the rez's right into the buildings waste water lines & turn a lever to refill the rez's.

Anyhow about compensation,you should be compensated according to the amount you grow not hours spent,a fair amount would be 5% to 10% of the resale value of the product you grow for them,paying in percentages gives the grower incentive to produce more & better quality.

A typical 4 x 8 flood table should pull right about 5 lbs at harvest,at a club price of $10 a gram your looking at $23,000 per table on their end, every week,,i'd be dammed if i put that kinda profits in anybodys pocket for less than 5% to start,once shit got really poppin i would want the full 10%.

Dont be in a hurry to take their offer if it isnt large,i was a part owner of a co-op & i know 1st hand how much profit even the smallest clubs are pulling in,the figures are staggering,get your fair share,without the grower all they have is a building,remember one thing,they asked you so that means they need you right now but most likely that wont last,every club i know about allways ends up having family do the growing once they learn how & the pro grower is given the boot so make sure you get all you can.
 

jackelope

Active Member
Right hand man ? An assistant ?

How large an operation are you talking about where all this manpower is needed.

I ran the main grow for our local co-op for the last 2.5 years by myself,i ran 8 seperate 4ft x 8ft flood tables,took care of 16 strains of mothers in soil,took all cuttings & maintained the cloners,changed 8 seperate 55 gallon rez's every 10 days,maintained all ph levels as well as nutrient levels ect.

The only time i needed help was one day a week to harvest a table & trim,while the trimmers were at work i would clean & restock the table,the harvest day myself & 3 other people trimming worked 7 to 10 hours,the other 6 days i spent between 2 to 4 hours a day maintaining the op.

If your going hydroponic i can show you how to stream line & automate the system so all you need to do is flip a switch to drain the rez's right into the buildings waste water lines & turn a lever to refill the rez's.

Anyhow about compensation,you should be compensated according to the amount you grow not hours spent,a fair amount would be 5% to 10% of the resale value of the product you grow for them,paying in percentages gives the grower incentive to produce more & better quality.

A typical 4 x 8 flood table should pull right about 5 lbs at harvest,at a club price of $10 a gram your looking at $23,000 per table on their end, every week,,i'd be dammed if i put that kinda profits in anybodys pocket for less than 5% to start,once shit got really poppin i would want the full 10%.

Dont be in a hurry to take their offer if it isnt large,i was a part owner of a co-op & i know 1st hand how much profit even the smallest clubs are pulling in,the figures are staggering,get your fair share,without the grower all they have is a building,remember one thing,they asked you so that means they need you right now but most likely that wont last,every club i know about allways ends up having family do the growing once they learn how & the pro grower is given the boot so make sure you get all you can.
the op is 20,000 square feet and 10% is what i make at home as a sub-contrator!...you got everything else on the money...the plan is severeal teams of two or three guys running two or three methods...i would be happy to learn anything you have to say...you obviously know what what your talking about...also haha..i'm replacing there guy from cali,got to put in much more work before i'm family
 

minnesmoker

Well-Known Member
At 40 hours a week, that's roughly 23 an hour... But, in growing and managing a grow (just like managing anything) you can expect to put in 60+ hours week. At 60 hours a week, you will be making 15.50 an hour. Not a bad wage, but, you should be getting paid a little bit of hazard pay, in addition to a premium for managing a "new industry" shop. If you are salaried, look for something in the 5500-6500 range, and justify the starting pay by pointing out the number of hours that will be needed in setting up the new shop, working out the wrinkles in the operation, and setting up the operational cycles -- germination/initial cloning, setting up mothers, setting up the cloning operation for consistent product, quality assurance procedures... All of that should fall on the actual manager, but, should also be overseen by the head grower.
 

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
What are your qualifications? Botany degree? Horticulture? Plant biology? Business? PhD? How much experience do you have? How much have you made in the past in the same line of work?

From an HR point of view it's a pretty simple question to answer if you're treating this as a legitimate legal job on par with other legitimate legal jobs.

In the current market a horticulture degree will net you 35-45k/year to start and top off around 65k/year. Plant biology or botany starts around the same but can top out around 120k for research positions after you've worked in the industry for a while. PhD in a relevent field and you're looking at a high start, around the same top, but more job stability.
 

rocknratm

Well-Known Member
What are your qualifications? Botany degree? Horticulture? Plant biology? Business? PhD? How much experience do you have? How much have you made in the past in the same line of work?

From an HR point of view it's a pretty simple question to answer if you're treating this as a legitimate legal job on par with other legitimate legal jobs.

In the current market a horticulture degree will net you 35-45k/year to start and top off around 65k/year. Plant biology or botany starts around the same but can top out around 120k for research positions after you've worked in the industry for a while. PhD in a relevent field and you're looking at a high start, around the same top, but more job stability.
usually this would be true. But alot of people have no formal training and are bad ass growers (my philosophy degree doesnt help at all lol).

Id want some base salary promised, and depending on results (yeild and quality, theres a testing place in cali idk about near you) a certain percentage or bonuses, or sliding scale or something.

If you work your ass off for a year, I'd want 100k at least. ideally 150k+
 

kpmarine

Well-Known Member
What are your qualifications? Botany degree? Horticulture? Plant biology? Business? PhD? How much experience do you have? How much have you made in the past in the same line of work?

From an HR point of view it's a pretty simple question to answer if you're treating this as a legitimate legal job on par with other legitimate legal jobs.

In the current market a horticulture degree will net you 35-45k/year to start and top off around 65k/year. Plant biology or botany starts around the same but can top out around 120k for research positions after you've worked in the industry for a while. PhD in a relevent field and you're looking at a high start, around the same top, but more job stability.
I don't think too many horticultural jobs carry an implied risk of a federal felony charge, so that may skew the pay scale slightly.
 

RawBudzski

Well-Known Member
Not many Horticultural jobs are blooming & turning into a multibillion dollar per year business.

I can't wait for the mmj scene to mellow out, they will be looking for all the experienced growers. So learn now before the Job wave comes !
 

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
Monsanto, Scotts (MiracleGrow), Genentech, Gallo, PhilipMorris... compared to a small dispensary... yeah... I'm not familiar with any multi billion dollar MMJ companies.

If you are growing just for a dispensary there is very little to no risk involved for the grower as long as nothing is in his name - no more risk than a budtender or an accountant that worked for the dispensary. But seriously, there are a ton of people that can grow and would love to do it for cheap which means your position should pay LESS... And with little experience, no qualifications or background, you expect to make 150k+ a year to start? You realize that's more than most doctors make in CA right? Seems pretty fucking greedy to me.
 

RawBudzski

Well-Known Member
Monsanto, Scotts, Genentech... compared to a small dispensary... yeah... I'm not familiar with any multi billion dollar MMJ companies.

If you are growing just for a dispensary there is very little to no risk involved by the grower as long as nothing is in his name - no more risk than a budtender or an accountant that worked for the dispensary. But seriously, there are a ton of people that can grow and would love to do it for cheap which means your position should pay LESS... And with little experience, no qualifications or background, you expect to make 150k+ a year to start? You realize that's more than most doctors make in CA right? Seems pretty fucking greedy to me.
Not a company, but MMJ in general is becoming a multi-billion /year industry.

While re-newing my rec last wk, my doctor gave me advice & encouraged me to get into the MMJ scene even more.
He said he has been in the mmj industry for 12 years now, never had to deal w/ growing pot yet sells countless legal mmj/hemp products over the web.
 

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
But just because it's a large industry doesn't mean you should immediately get paid more... Doesn't work that way for anything else - it's kind of like saying Walmart makes billions so if I work for walmart I should be overpaid.
 
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