NECANN's New York Cannabis Convention, being held Friday and Saturday in Syracuse, is an opportunity for hundreds of members of the rapidly growing cannabis industry to network and learn from each other. 

“The idea of the show is to gather the New York industry and community together for networking, education and just for the normalization of the cannabis industry," said NECANN President Marc Shepard. 

It features different types of businesses. The green wave after New York legalized cannabis more than three years ago has come quicker than a lot of people imagined. 

“There’s hundreds, if not thousands, of ancillary business opportunities related to a new rollout of an industry that has a retail component," he said. "There’s opportunities for anybody in any background if you’re looking to change careers.” 

For some, however, it was slow growing after months of hangups establishing dispensaries. Ezra Parzybok, the owner of Blue Skies Unlimited, said because of how the state rolled out the industry, a lot of his clients are in limbo, waiting for approval. 

“I don’t have a thousand clients in New York. I have clients, but they’re all stuck in line," he said. "We’re ready, we’re ready to build out, to submit documents or the next step, but the state isn’t ready for them.” 

It's a frustrating situation.

“For me, I feel like the rollout’s actually been fairly slow," Shepard said. "If people in the state vote on it, which that’s where most of the legalization is coming from, or the lawmakers say it’s legal, then let's get a way to make it safe and in place, like alcohol and other adult activities.” 

There have been efforts to address what has been called inefficiencies within the industry, including staffing changes at the state Office of Cannabis Management. In August, the agency said it was understaffed but was actively weeding through hundreds of adult-use retail license applications and would soon have a a direct contact for applicants. Even with a bumpy rollout, the state’s cannabis industry is still growing rapidly.

“It’s making connections, introducing ourselves to people and then going on and seeing what their facilities are like, their businesses are like. How can we learn from one another, help each other?" said Ryan O'Donnell, sales manager for Chimera Integrations.

“We gotta have conventions," Parzybok said. "We have to have to way for people to exchange ideas.”