The Hemp Services Directory is Live!

As the hemp industry grows and develops, it becomes increasingly difficult to

navigate without the proper resources. Harrison Grant, a graduate student, recently

wrapped up a project for the Pennsylvania Hemp Steering Committee which takes a

step towards finding a solution to this problem. Alongside Ron Kander and Cynthia

Petrone-Hudock, two leadership members of the PA Steering Committee, Grant created

a directory of all the permitted hemp growers, processors, and testing labs in

Pennsylvania. This comprehensive list of resources will help people in the industry

takes steps towards making their businesses successful.

The directory is formatted as a spreadsheet with columns labeled with the name,

location, and contact information for each business and the types of services they

provide including turnaround time. The directory will be updated continually to provide the most recent information available.

In an interview with Harrison Grant, he discussed some of his findings from his

data analysis of the research for the project. Grant explained, “The most surprising thing

that I learned was the kind of accreditations that a lot of these businesses have.” He

further explained that the accreditations vary by the type of business, but some of the

businesses focus on accreditations from international bodies while some focus on

national groups. For example, labs strive for accreditation from the International Accrediation Service. Other businesses in the hemp industry seek accreditation from national industry groups like the US Hemp Authority or government agencies like the FDA or USDA. This information is continually being updated in the directory.

The main goal of this project was to build a database that people could use to

navigate the hemp industry and connect with other hemp businesses. The spreadsheet

is made efficient through the use of filters, which narrow the results the viewer is

searching for. For example, the viewer could use the filters to find results for labs in

Bucks County, PA with an ISO accreditation. In an interview with Grant he discussed the

process of sifting through the research data and choosing what was most relevant and

how to best present the information. There was a great deal of thoughtfulness put into

this database in an attempt to strengthen PA’s hemp industry and begin to bring down

the barriers associated with the hemp industry. Grant explained in the interview how

valuable the experience of connecting on a direct level with the people behind these

businesses was because they can provide firsthand information which is important in

research and data analysis.

The database is live on the Pennsylvania Hemp Steering Committee’s website

under the Resources tab. The availability of this tool to hemp businesses is one step

towards growing and strengthening the hemp industry.

The Pennsylvania Hemp Summit Returns for 2022

Imagine walking into a convention center, bustling with investors, various companies, legislators, and researchers, with ample business opportunities at your fingertips. This is the experience of the attendees at The Pennsylvania Hemp Summit. The annual summit is held by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and Team Pennsylvania, an economic development non-profit that is highly interested in the economic potential of industrial hemp for the commonwealth. Kelly Kundratic, who works for Team Pennsylvania, gave an interview with the PA Hemp Steering Committee addressing the 2021 virtual PA Hemp Summit and the plans for the 2022 summit.

The Pennsylvania Hemp Summit provides educational information to its attendees to increase the shared knowledge on industrial hemp, the industry’s future, and economic potential. The aim is to create a space where professionals can discuss

innovative solutions to the industry’s struggles and to increase investments and

partnerships within the industry. Attendees of all knowledge levels are welcome. Kelly describes the summit as, “...driving the industry forward out of a recognition that there really wasn’t a space for this type of state and regional-level collaborative discussion before.” She mentioned that their first summit was held in person in 2019, and it was very successful. They planned for four hundred attendees, but when those tickets sold out quickly, they expanded to their limit which ended up being six-hundred plus attendees.

In 2021 due to COVID-19, the summit was moved to a virtual format. There were five informational sessions. According to Kundratic, the hemp-derived THC session, “...was probably one of our most popular sessions because the guidance around Delta-9 (THC) is not really strong at the federal level at this point. There’s a lot of waiting on what’s going on with regulation and enforcement of hemp-derived THC, though it is prolific in the market.” The session featured physician Dr. Sherry Blumenthal, Kay Doyle who works closely with the policy side of the hemp industry, and EmmaRose Strohl, a PA lawyer from the firm Barley Snyder.

The PA Hemp Summit in April 2022 is a continuation of the 2021 virtual convention. The components of the summit that were too difficult to replicate virtually are being held in person April 26th and 27th, 2022. These components include the tradeshow, the reception, and a new addition to the summit which is a “Shark Tank”-style Investor Pitch competition. The pitch competition is currently accepting applications until 11:59PM ET February 25th, 2022 in either of their two categories; innovative hemp products and innovative hemp concepts.

Kundratic explained that the innovative hemp concept category is, “...a solution or concept aimed at addressing a contemporary issue in the industry. These ideas are solution based, not physical inventions or products, in order to discover better ways of building and advancing the industry.” Kundratic explained that the innovative hemp product category is what you would think in a normal pitch competition, it's for, “... promising new hemp products made of a significant portion of hemp material, and it has to be in a stage that can be demonstrated to judges.” The finalists of the competition will present their ideas at the summit, and the winners will be announced at the reception.

The full 2022 PA Hemp Summit will take place November 8th and 9th, 2022 in Lancaster. This event will include the summit, tradeshow, and reception. A new feature of the November event is vendor sales. The integration of sales into the event allows businesses to see a visible return during the summit.

Registration is open for both the April and November events. There are exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities available, and if an individual is interested in speaking at the November event, they can submit a proposal to do so. COVID-19 protocols for the events are available on the website. For more information on the PA Hemp Summit, visit https://pahempsummit.com.

Expanding and Diversifying the Hemp Industry in Pennsylvania

Throughout history, the hemp plant has been recognized as a sustainable, renewable source of raw material with a host of industrial and consumer applications. Currently, hemp is underutilized as a raw material due to decades of laws and policies prohibiting, or severely limiting, its industrial use. As these laws and policies change, the use of hemp as an industrial raw material will continue to increase due to interest in sustainable, high-value consumer and industrial products made from domestic renewable resources.

In Pennsylvania, the expanding interest in hemp is evident from the number of permits the Commonwealth has issued over the past few years. The number of growing permits has increased from 16 in 2017 to 324 in 2019. This year, 510 growing permits were issued and, for the first time, 68 processing permits were also issued. More than 100 of the growing permits were specifically granted for growing fiber varietals. Clearly there is strong interest in expanding and diversifying the hemp industry in Pennsylvania. The challenge is to support this expanding agricultural and manufacturing industry by developing:

• a basic material science understanding of the hemp plant as an industrial raw material.

• engineering processes to transform hemp biomass into new material forms with unique mechanical and physical properties.

• new high-value products with well-defined markets that utilize hemp-derived materials.

• business models and supply chain simulations for hemp-derived product businesses.

• a systems-level understanding of the sustainability of the hemp industry (technically, environmentally, economically and socially).

• the infrastructure necessary to support an expanding, sustainable hemp industry.

Academic institutions, government agencies and the hemp industry must work together to develop an integrated system of new materials, processes, products and business models necessary to grow and sustain a robust hemp industry. In addition, the education, training and workforce development infrastructure necessary to grow the human capital needed to support the hemp industry must be incorporated into the integrated system.

To facilitate these collaborations, I am currently chairing the PA Hemp Steering Committee, a group of more than 80 stakeholders from industry, academia and government. The mission of the Steering Committee is to advance the hemp industry in Pennsylvania and provide counsel and guidance to the PA Department of Agriculture (PDA) on this important emerging opportunity for the Commonwealth. The Steering Committee is managed by a Leadership Team made up of two co-chairs from each of four subcommittees, namely:

• Farmer & Processor Education & Outreach Subcommittee

• Supply Chain & Market Development Subcommittee

• Research Opportunities & Needs Subcommittee

• Policy & Regulation Subcommittee

The Leadership Team also has representation from the PDA to facilitate communication between the PDA and the Steering Committee.

Recently, the Steering Committee responded to the USDA Interim Final Report (IFR) during the open comment period to advocate for changing policies and procedures around issues such as:

• full-plant composite sampling and testing protocols.

• national processing permits to better establish chain-of-custody.

• measurement of uncertainty and negligence levels in testing.

• the time window between sampling and harvest.

• policies for removing materials from a farm (for drying, processing, disposal, etc.).

The Steering Committee is also advising the PDA as they develop their 2021 permitting policies and procedures. If anyone wants to participate in or provide feedback to the Steering Committee, please contact me directly and I will make sure you are added to our distribution list and your concerns are directed to the appropriate Subcommittee or directly to the PDA. In the coming months, the Steering Committee will be establishing a website to facilitate communication with all of the stakeholders in the PA hemp supply chain.

Pennsylvania companies currently make oils, textiles, CBD, and even construction and insulation materials from hemp, just to name a few products. Pennsylvania is uniquely positioned to develop robust local supply chains within the Commonwealth that will be able to capture much of the value in these emerging industries. I believe by working together we will be able to position Pennsylvania as an industry leader in local supply chain development. The panel discussion entitled “Grow Local, Process Local, Buy Local - Building Our Supply Chains” at the 2020 PA Hemp Summit was an excellent time to learn more about capitalizing on these local economic opportunities, sharing information across the state, and building partnerships with diverse business owners.

As you can see, I feel the exciting future of the hemp industry in the Commonwealth is bright. However, we all need to work together to broaden and enhance the growth of this industry and ensure that value is captured by everyone involved in the supply chain, from the farmer to the processor to the product designer and manufacturer. I believe that, together, we can make Pennsylvania a hemp industry leader in the United States.