You know the Green Rush is in full swing when several cannabis companies make the Inc. 5000 list of 2017’s fastest growing private companies in the nation.
Among them were Marijuana Business Daily, a Denver-based media and events company, ranking in at number 528 with an 843 percent revenue spike over the past three years; Your Green Contractor, a construction firm coming in at number 535 with an 839 percent growth in revenue; MJ Freeway, a Denver-based cannabis compliance software company ranking at number 1,506 with a 270 percent growth in revenue; Apeks Supercritical, a cannabis extraction equipment company coming in at number 2,248 with a 163 percent spike in revenue growth; and Dope Magazine, a Seattle-based media company ranking at number 674 with a 673 percent spike in revenue over the past three years.
“Recognition in the Inc. 500 list is a testament that the hard work of advancing this industry is paying off,” Cassandra Farrington, CEO and co-founder of Marijuana Business Daily, said last year when her company was also included in the Inc. 5000. “I’m confident that future years will showcase even more cannabis companies — and deservedly so.” And she was right.
By 2025, the global medical marijuana market is projected to be valued at $55.8 billion, according to Grand View Research. Moreover, Arcview Market Research predicts that around the beginning of 2018, when the adult use cannabis market goes into effect in places like California, sales in the Golden State, as well as in Canada and Massachusetts, will accelerate the growth of the industry. According to Arcview, these market developments will expand 2016’s $6.7 billion market by a 27 percent CAGR (compound annual growth rate) to $22.6 billion in 2021.
Back in February, a report from New Frontier Data predicted that the cannabis industry would create more than 250,000 new jobs by 2020, which is more than what the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted for job growth in the manufacturing industry. In fact, the BLS predicted that by 2024, manufacturing jobs would decline by 814,000.
With the exponential growth of the cannabis industry — including the money and jobs it brings to the country — business leaders are hoping that, despite Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ threats, the federal government will leave weed alone and let the industry continue to growth and thrive.
