Drew Greco, Founder of GreenStar Cultivation Services – Interview Series

One aspect of the cannabis industry that is key to successful cultivation and post-harvest processes is the size of the production facility itself. While it may seem obvious that a cultivation facility that’s nearly 100,000 sq ft would have more widespread issues than one that barely breaks 10,000 sq ft, there are still plenty of logistical issues that are more specific to smaller facilities.

For a deeper look at the issues that cultivation facilities of different sizes face and the current state of the Nevada cannabis industry, mycannabis.com had the pleasure of speaking with Drew Greco, Founder of GreenStar Cultivation Services.

What subjects in construction and architecture did you mainly study while attending Pitt Community College? How did those lessons later become useful in the cannabis cultivation roles you’ve held and large-scale facility management in general?

I attended Pitt Community College in Greenville, NC where I took a residential construction management program. Almost everything I learned has some translation to managing large-scale cultivation facilities. Architecture and Estimating classes have translated directly to my consulting business, these classes gave me the knowledge to be able to read blueprints and help with materials estimates for facility design whether that be a brand-new build or a facility upgrade. The basic plumbing, electrical and carpentry classes gave me the skills to be able to fix most problems that may arise when managing a cultivation facility.

What courses did you take through Oaksterdam University, and how did they provide you with a better understanding of efficient and successful cannabis cultivation?

I attended Oaksterdam University in 2015. I took the Cultivation Level I and Level II courses when I attended. These classes gave me a solid baseline of plant health and performance. The courses at that time were mainly designed for home-growers, so the biggest benefit I got from attending was the connections I was able to make, from the classmates I met to a couple of the teachers, there are still many people I am in touch with to this day!

Prior to founding GreenStar, what roles did you first hold in the cannabis industry, and how did you witness the industry evolve in those early years?

I moved to CO in 2011 and immediately started working at a hydroponics shop. This was an incredible learning experience because I got to pick the brains of all of the growers coming in to buy grow supplies. From there I started at a cultivation facility as a trimmer and was quickly promoted to a grower position. I bounced around to 7 different cultivation facilities in Denver from 2014 – 2018. I have done everything from cleaning floors to cleaning out reservoirs, construction to plant work and finally began managing a facility in 2017. The cannabis industry has changed immensely from those early days! The biggest change I have seen is the automation and control platforms that have been developed to make cultivation more efficient. The other big change has been the price compression for cultivations. From $3000 lbs in 2014 to $500 lbs in 2018, it was a drastic change and forced a lot of cultivators to shut down. These days, efficient processes, workflow and automation are keys to a profitable cultivation business.

What in particular encouraged you to create GreenStar Cultivation Services? What were some commonplace cultivation issues you noticed that you wanted to solve with GreenStar?

In the 10 years before starting GreenStar Cultivation Services, I saw a lot of cultivation facilities fail because of poor design and wasteful spending. I was seeing more and more facilities fail within the first year of operation because they had been mis-led on the design of the facility and the equipment needed to operate and maintain it. I wanted to help people save money by advising them properly on how to design a cultivation facility for the most efficient workflow, as well as provide choices for the equipment and controls.

What have been some of the best cultivation success stories that you and GreenStar have made possible?

GreenStar Cultivation Services has worked with multiple cultivation facilities across the country to improve yield, flower quality and culture. I include culture because I believe that at least 50% of the facilities that are failing are because of employee culture. My coaching background has allowed me to help with building teams that can be successful after my contract is over. There is a saying I have heard numerous times: “People>Plants>Profit” if you take care of and empower the people, they will take care of the plants and then you will profit!

What are some logistics and frequently occurring problems that larger facilities (100,000 sq ft or more) have to consider and deal with that smaller, craft cannabis facilities don’t have to nearly as much? What are the best solutions to all those issues?

Scheduling and adhering to the schedule is the biggest difference between large-scale and craft cultivations. Large scale cultivation facilities are production based, so a consistent flow between growth stages and consistent harvests are key to success. If there is no harvest schedule it is impossible to predict income and make educated decisions. If there is no cloning schedule, harvest dates will be missed, and income predictions will be skewed. Also, just the plant counts alone for larger facilities change the way things are scheduled at scale. A craft grow can cut a few hundred clones in a couple hours with 1 or 2 people, but a large-scale grow that needs to cut 1,000’s of clones takes more manpower and possibly multiple days to complete the task. This is where scheduling and adhering to the schedule can make or break a facility.

As someone who’s worked in multiple state markets, from Massachusetts to Nevada, what are the biggest differences in rules and regulations between all those state markets? Do some state markets have advantages over other states?

On the cultivation side, each state has a different approved pesticide list. Each state has a different threshold for microbials, heavy metals, and pesticide that is allowed in the finished product. I am very happy to have experience working in MA and NV as they have the strictest regulations for these things, so I know that the flower we grow will pass regulations in any other state! On the retail side there are some differences in regulations as well, NV does not allow deli-style service at the dispensaries. This means all products must be packaged and consumers cannot smell or touch the product before buying it. I believe this has led to consumers buying products based on THC% and harvest dates. This hurts the cultivators and the industry as a whole because we are not encouraged to grow any low-testing strains and encouraged to rush the dry and cure stages to get products to the shelves faster. I would like to see more deli-style dispensaries, as I believe this will bring back a lot of amazing strains that test lower but still have amazing effects.

As someone who worked in the Las Vegas cannabis industry for 5 years, I wanted to ask what advantages you see the Las Vegas cannabis industry having over other cities and state markets you’ve worked in. Does the major tourism the city experiences, for both business and pleasure, provide an added advantage to the city?

I do think that the tourist traffic has a slight advantage over other states, but NV even makes that hard by not allowing dispensaries on the strip. Tourists have to uber to stores, or shop online and get it delivered. I think it would increase sales and tax revenue if shops were allowed on the strip.

My favorite part about the NV cannabis industry is the size and the people. The cannabis industry here is very small, so it has been much easier to meet other industry workers and form bonds between other cultivators in the state. There are only 40-something cultivators in the whole state and the majority of those are in Las Vegas, so everyone knows each other and there is a great group of cultivators pushing clean high-quality products.

What are some exciting future plans you have for yourself and GreenStar? How do you see the Nevada industry evolving in the future?

I am actually getting ready to launch GreenStar Flower this year! This has been a dream of mine since before moving to CO. I will have my own brand of flower, cultivated by my team and myself. I am really looking forward to working with breeders to curate some unique genetics for the Vegas market!