Between October 2017 and May 2018, 180 employees in the cannabis industry completed an Employee Engagement & Satisfaction survey, created by Needle Consultants, LLC. The survey was promoted and sponsored by the National Cannabis Industry Association. The intent of the survey was to obtain national baseline data regarding cannabis companies’ engagement of their employees and, potentially related, workers’ overall satisfaction with their employers. The narrowly designed survey collected data on employee satisfaction, employee desires around benefits (traditional and nontraditional), and employee opportunities to engage in communities, as well as gathering general, anonymous demographic data. What follows is a summary of the data and some conclusions.

Needle Consultants, LLC is a Denver-based Corporate Social Responsibility consulting firm. Marc Ross, Needle’s Chief Instigator, is a 25-year attorney, with experience in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Mr. Ross helps to build purpose-driven businesses, specializing in community and employee engagement, strategic philanthropy, and sustainability. He is the former founder and Executive Director of Rock the Earth, a national environmental advocacy organization that works with the music industry, as well as former in-house environmental counsel to Alcoa Inc. He holds certificates in Corporate Social Responsibility from the University of Colorado, Leeds School of Business and Sustainability Leadership and Implementation from the University of Denver, Daniels College of Business, a Juris Doctorate from the Penn State Dickinson School of Law, and a Bachelors degree from the Pennsylvania State University.