John Banister had a crew of workers packaging cannabis at a marijuana manufacturing business. Another crew was helping with a harvest at a cultivator’s site. Banister also had workers trimming and making joints at another cannabis facility.
It was a typical Thursday for Big Leaf, a 6-month-old company that provides skilled labor and consulting to marijuana growers and manufacturers preparing to get their product to market.
“The one thing we do best is trimming weed,” Banister said. “Trimming weed is the foundation of the company.”
The business started as a side gig for Banister, a carpenter with nine years of experience working in the marijuana industries in Colorado and California.
Banister said his carpentry business was successful, and he started in Alaska’s marijuana industry at first to help friends with the daunting task of processing marijuana at harvest time.
“I always said, ‘Call me when it’s time to cut it down and make the money,’” he said.
The sideline helping harvest marijuana got busier and busier. When it came time for Banister to choose between the carpentry business and the marijuana business, Big Leaf won out.
“It was a big leap of faith for me,” Banister said.
He has a handful of clients and 20 full-time and part-time employees. He recently branched out into Anchorage.
Banister always has
liked the sense of urgency associated with processing marijuana after it’s grown.
“I was never a cultivator,” he said. “I don’t have the patience to stand there and watch it grow. I like the action. Trimming — you’ve got a lot of people. You’ve got a lot of action.”
The goal is for Big Leaf to grow slowly. Banister fears that by growing too fast, quality would be compromised.
“They (cultivators) want people they can trust and they know are going to come in and get the job done,” Banister said. “Reputation is all we have to go off of.”
The 32-year-old wore a hoodie with the message Fuzzy Budz, a retail store in Anchorage. A marijuana leaf adorned his cap.
Banister is originally from Pittsburgh and has been living in Alaska for four years. He is the father of a 1-year-old girl. Her mother is Gracie Raymond, his office manager.
The service Big Leaf provides is “not rocket science,” he said, but experience has taught him some efficiencies and ways of doing things to get the highest-quality result in the shortest time.
Banister does business with Black Rapids, Frozen North Farms and Alaska Cannabis Cultivators. For some of the marijuana sold at local stores — GoodSinse, Frozen Budz and Grass Station 49 — Big Leaf had a hand in getting it there.
“My job at the end of the day is to make sure we are getting done quickly,” Banister said.
He advertises in the trade magazine Alaska Leaf, and gets business by word-of-mouth.
A lot of the work performed by employees of Big Leaf is repetitive factory-style work. Trimmers sit with a pair of scissors, carefully manicuring clumps of cannabis. Starting pay is $13 an hour.
Banister said a good trimmer can process a pound of marijuana in a day.
“We’re always looking for qualified people,” Banister said.
His company is based in a nondescript warehouse in South Fairbanks that he shares with a cultivator.
What Banister charges for processing marijuana varies, he said. Every marijuana grow is different.
“Every cultivator — they all have their own ways of doing it,” Banister said.
He sees the marijuana industry in Alaska beginning to mature.
“A lot of people are starting to get through that hump in that learning curve,” he said.
credit:420intel.com