Northern v. Southern Cali: What would ya’ll say is more promising if I am looking to work in extraction for a type 7?
I recently came down to SoCal and only moved half my stuff from the Bay Area before the company that hired me went under. Tryna figure out which direction I should go. Thoughts on Oregon, Nevada and Washington are also welcome.
California is super saturated with extractors
Are you stuck in ca??? It’s seems that at the moment other states are looking more promising
I am not “stuck” in California exactly. But this is where I have lived for over 20 years, half my family is here, and I love Cali with all my heart.
This does bring up another question I have had on my mind for any one who might know, but particularly any one who has hired people before.
I have worked super hard over the last few years to learn literally every aspect of hash making. Distillation, isomerization reactions, cold water processing, crystallization, every kind of solvent, solventless, active, passive, blah blah. I managed a farm for two years as a master gardener. Does this make me more valuable to an employer or will I just look more expensive and get passed over for some one who does one thing well?
I guess what got me on this track was saying it is saturated with extractors. My immediate thought is, “Yea, but I am really good at it.” Meh. Maybe I should move to the Midwest. lol
Oklahoma!
What equipment do you have experience with? What is your desired pay? There’s a company on here offering 30 an hour in Arizona. Lots of opportunities on OK just make sure your ducks are in a row before making that leap. Get a contract to protect your self
I am halfway through that thread and already need a drink. 
Maybe I will just go back to school.
Thank you for the reply.
I have worked on a number of short path stills, a huge passive BizzyBee, a hot propane extractor by Illuminated, an ETS, that sort of stuff. I have a degree and took chem. Usually I have made 20-25/hr but in Cali that’s poverty pay. lol
You seem experienced enough to grab a good gig bro put your resume out there!
Don’t limit yourself to ca
Thanks! So far I am getting from all these wonderful replies that I should probably think about looking places other than the PNW. Understandable.
Harbin, I will miss you.
It’s definitely far different from the bay area. But they have a good setup and lots of work. And definitely pay decent (starting) and the housing is cheaper there, too
I worked in the extraction industry for four years and have held jobs from lab director, extraction manager chemist, worked for iso 17025 labs etc. in oregon and California. Have worked for small mom and pop type startup where there owners were from the 215 era, all the way to MSO and venture capital startup in CA
i found extractors to be a dime a dozen. They were never hard to find regardless of the state i was in. Its commoditization of labor and there’s some highly unrealistic expectations for what some think they should get paid.
The ones that stood out to me were the very few that had some regulatory experience in a gmp type industry or maybe they had some education or a combination of both.
Extraction is production work. I don’t like using the word ‘lab’ to describe the environment because a lab is a place where you develop hypothesis and run controlled experiments to test the hypothesis.
Most extraction is the equivalent of factory work with semi-skilled labor operating a machine for which a process has already been developed. Literally following a procedure that many could do. Not unlike any other industry.
This in itself doesn’t justify high pay imo because they market has demonstrated there is a surplus of people willing to do this. Just like any other skill, if there are a high number of of people with that skill and a comparatively lower number of available positions, the pay will reflect the supply and demand.
On the other hand, if a person can run the machines, do troubleshooting, and truly understands gmps, process validation, process control , develop a new process, understand safety protocols and standards that person deserves a higher wage because they bring far more value than someone expecting six figures because they can operate a closed loop.
I do think much of this will can and will be automated in the coming years. 1) it will lead to less product and process variation and 2) it will be safer especially when working with volatile hydrocarbons.
I think going to school and studying engineering or chemistry makes a lot of sense and is a wise long term investment. The education gives you the background to understand the processes and will help with troubleshooting. It will also keep you from unnecessarily going down rabbit holes from well intentioned, but ignorant internet advice. It will give you the intellectual framework to attack problems instead of using brute force trial and error approach.
The truth is. Just like every other field, market saturation on the labor side will only increase and the competition will be more fierce. Right now it seems the opportunities are in the midwest and east coast, but eventually it will be like out here in CA or OR or WA where the jobs will pay 15-20 an hour with probably no benefits. As state markets mature, the labor saturation goes up and employers can get away with paying less.
I can’t think of any other industry where this doesn’t happen. But with the education, it opens more doors and opportunities for you, but it alone is no golden ticket. As much as I hate to admit it, the large MSO type orgs will continue to take more and more market share because they can wether rhe financial storm and operate at a loss for years. Its the same thing Amazon.com has done and now they are highly profitable.
There really isn’t much money in THC — people think I am crazy when I say this but look at these states where its been legal for some time now. Flooded with products, and its great for consumers! I loved in Oregon I could get so much product for my money. But as a business it is very hard to standout, let alone pay all the fines and fees associated with being a licensee — and can’t write off business expenses. The money is in ancillary products and services — much better returns doing something where you aren’t touching the plant, while being able to do tax write offs. And those that think otherwise probably have never actually worked for a licensed business in the first place. After its all said and done, the margins aren’t that great for the risks. States like NJ, CT, NY, FL the MSOs make money hand over fist because those markets are more like cartels in that there are artificial limits to competing, only a handful of licenses are issued in the first place. I hate it because its garbage product for rip off prices. But I can only see them getting bigger.
For every hash star on IG, there’s probably 10 or more people getting shit on in the industry. This site also represents a small fraction of the industry as a whole. My advice, get the education and try going into a leadership role. Can make descent money that way. And worst case scenario, if unable to land a role you still have an education that can help you in other industries. Truthfully I have noticed an uptick in folks that had some manager or lead extractor role that have been out of work for a long time now waiting for that next gig, but I think it will be an uphill battle for them without education.
If you are set on Ca, they really like butane here and I think the highest concentration of jobs is in socal. But you could probably use the ca cannabis license search from the cdph to get an idea.
I worked for four years out of college as a lab tech for a GMP biopharm company. I basically mixed chemicals and did a lot of sterile filling under a flow hood. Oh and dishes. Lots of stinky, stinky dishes. We were GMP and working on getting ISO at the time. Does that count as the sort of GMP experience you are talking about or do you mean actually working in a compliance or QC type position?
I have sourced and set up whole labs (I will say lab because testing hypotheses and experimenting is always a big part of extraction. Just following an SOP will guarantee inconsistent results). I own a bunch of my own equipment. I could build an extractor from spare parts at a brewery and chewing gum. Are there a lot of me, or just a lot of people who know how to turn knobs and not blow themselves up? Do you think I should shoot for a lead tech or management job? I have very little management experience, but I can build and run the whole process stream from seed to packaged retail product by myself. I also unfortunately have very little experience on the regulatory/compliance side.
Just apply to jobs you see and see what happens 
Fair enough.
I can look over your resume and help you tailor it if you want
Someone who gets/has a degree expects a fair compensation. I haven’t even bothered applying to extraction jobs, I’m about to leave my current Analytical lab position for a job closer to my field in biochemistry which long term is where the money is. That’s just my 2 cents.
Learn how to run an HPLC. That is the move.
Hah! look at my comment right under yours. I think there is a LOT of money in testing. But, you make a good point, as long as you are someone’s employee, they set the scale.