Cameron Ward, Vice President of Workers Comp at CannGen, has been a pillar of innovation in the cannabis insurance space since the company’s inception. With a marketing degree from the University of San Diego and extensive experience in the industry, Cameron has played a pivotal role in designing the first dedicated Workers Compensation program for the cannabis, CBD, and hemp industries on a nationwide scale.
His work has been instrumental in addressing the unique challenges faced by businesses in this rapidly evolving sector, providing them with the tools to navigate compliance, mitigate risks, and ensure the well-being of their workforce.
Through his leadership, CannGen has expanded its vision beyond insurance to include CannGenHR, a comprehensive HR platform tailored specifically for cannabis businesses. By combining expertise in compliance, payroll, tax administration, and employee benefits, CannGenHR is setting new standards in efficiency and support for an industry often underserved by traditional solutions. In this interview, Cameron discusses the innovative strategies behind CannGenHR, the importance of partnerships like AlphaStaff, and the future of cannabis-focused HR solutions.
Ganjly: CannGenHR is designed specifically for cannabis, hemp, and CBD businesses. What unique HR challenges do these industries face, and how does CannGenHR address them effectively?
Cameron Ward: The primary challenge that all cannabis businesses face is banking. This remains, despite delayed promises from legislators to address this unfair environment, the largest challenge. While many financial institutions have stepped up to service the industry, they burden operators with high fees and complex compliance requirements. In terms of HR and payroll systems, most platforms act as an intermediary between the company and paying its employees and taxes. Larger HR platforms have unexpectedly dropped cannabis clients for this reason – leaving clients on the hook for keeping their employees paid and facilitating their own tax payments. CannGenHR spent over a year building relationships with financial institutions that are comfortable with the cannabis industry. In doing so, operators don’t need to hide the business they are in and can rest assured that they aren’t going to be dropped out of nowhere and that CannGenHR will be there to support them.
Another way that CannGenHR is helping cannabis companies is by providing them access to insurance products specifically designed for their businesses. For instance, CannGenHR offers workers compensation policies with predefined risk classes that are aligned with cannabis operators. Employers can properly classify their staff and know that the correct policies are in place. We also offer this in a pay-as-you-go format, which helps alleviate annual cost burdens, freeing up capital.
Finally, with built in compliance designed for the cannabis, CBD and hemp industries, leveraging CannGen’s deep understanding of state and federal cannabis compliance laws, CannGenHR does all of the work for operators, ensuring they remain compliant, in a historically difficult environment.
Ganjly: The partnership with AlphaStaff brings significant expertise to CannGenHR. How does this collaboration enhance the platform’s ability to support cannabis operators compared to traditional HR solutions?
Cameron Ward: The partnership between AlphaStaff and CannGen brings together best-in-class expertise to form one solution, the main differentiator of the product. Pairing AlphaStaff’s deep understanding of HR practices, their technology applications, and nationwide network of HR operators with CannGen insurance, the leading underwriter in the cannabis industry (CannGen has single handedly created insurance markets for cannabis, CBD, and hemp companies for a decade and a half) forms a truly expert company. Think proven traditional industry HR leader combined with unmatched cannabis industry expertise. Pairing the two creates one of the most full-spectrum solutions to hit the market to-date. Another example of “cannabis going mainstream”.
Ganjly: Pay-go billing on workers’ compensation policies is a standout feature. Can you explain how this system improves cash flow for businesses and mitigates challenges like unpredictable end-of-year premium audits?
Cameron Ward: Traditionally, businesses pay a large lump sum estimate at the start of a workers’ comp coverage period. Pay-go billing allows employers to pay these premiums incrementally over the period based on actual payroll figures. Cannabis businesses are often strapped for cash so this solution helps ease the burden by spreading out payments and is more accurate since it’s based on actual figures, not estimates, reducing audit risks. While this is becoming more common for the industry, not all industry-specific platforms support this feature.
Ganjly: White-glove service with a guaranteed 4-hour acknowledgment is a unique offering. How does this personalized support benefit cannabis businesses, particularly in comparison to self-service platforms?
Cameron Ward: 90% of HR solutions on the market offer ticket-based systems for HR support. CannGen, on the other hand, provides clients with a dedicated client success representative, who is trained in HR policies, to assist with all aspects of the HR business function. While some larger companies, such as ADP and Paychex, offer similar services, those services are extremely expensive and many times refuse to work with cannabis companies.
Most cannabis, CBD, and hemp companies are start-up to mid-sized and do not have entire departments to handle the countless HR issues that can arise from running their businesses. This is where CannGenHR stands out. Think of CannGenHR as your outsourced HR team, there to assist with everything from workers compensation claims and onboarding, to unemployment claims to employee benefits. Resources available to customers via a human representative who understands the complexities of the cannabis industry.
Ganjly: CannGenHR integrates payroll, tax administration, benefits, and compliance under one platform. What efficiencies can cannabis operators expect to gain by consolidating these functions through CannGenHR?
Cameron Ward: These are functions that business owners have come to expect in the modern era; however, many platforms operating in the cannabis industry are either new, with many bugs, or legacy and offer a clunky solution. CannGenHR leverages AlphaStaff’s digital platform to combine these functions into a one-stop dashboard with the look and feel of a modern digital application. Another reason why AlphaStaff jumping into the cannabis industry is such a big deal.
Ganjly: Since its inception, CannGen has been a pioneer in insurance for the cannabis space. How has your experience developing the first dedicated Workers Comp program shaped the creation and goals of CannGenHR?
Cameron Ward: Creating CannGenHR was a natural progression for CannGen. As you noted, CannGen was the first underwriter to offer a cannabis specific workers comp policy, along with many other insurance products, and evolving to offer an HR solution that leverages CannGen’s experience in navigating this industry was a natural one. While CannGen does not work directly with operators, but rather through brokers, providing solutions to help this burgeoning industry is core to the mission of CannGen and CannGenHR is this vision in action.
Ganjly: The cannabis industry is constantly evolving. How does CannGenHR adapt to the ongoing changes in state and federal regulations to ensure businesses remain compliant?
Cameron Ward: As with insurance, remaining nimble to adhere to the evolving regulatory environment of cannabis is essential to survival, not just as CannGen, but for its clients. CannGen employs countless compliance officers, legal experts, and regulatory specialists whose sole job is to ensure the company’s policies and products remain compliant in the environment of today – and tomorrow.
Ganjly: The pricing model for CannGenHR is described as competitive without compromising quality. How do you balance affordability with the robust features and services the platform offers?
Cameron Ward: This is one of the hardest aspects of building such a robust solution – in an environment where every dollar matters (cannabis). The primary way we can do this is through scale. CannGen services operators in every legal state in the US, working with some of the largest MSOs, down to some of the smallest operators. Leveraging CannGen’s vast footprint to launch CannGenHR allows us to keep costs low for operators, while offering best-in-class solutions. And that is where AlphaStaff comes in. Instead of building from the ground up, we decided to find a partner with similar scale that we could adapt for this industry – another way we are able to keep costs low.
Ganjly: Looking forward, how do you see CannGenHR contributing to the broader success of cannabis, hemp, and CBD businesses, and what future developments can users expect from the platform?
Cameron Ward: Protecting operators, plain and simple, from a web of risks. CannGen, as an insurance underwriter, is constantly developing and deploying new policies that match the risk categories of the modern cannabis operator. We offer products that no other company could such as crop insurance for cultivators and product recall insurance for manufacturers. These products protect operators who are already navigating one of the most complex business environments of today in ways that are specific to their needs. Now same with HR. We have a solution that is built for these companies and will continue to adapt to the changing landscape, to support our clients in their quest to build this budding industry. Every day brings new challenges and CannGen and CannGenHR are up for the challenge.
Cameron Ward’s dedication to empowering cannabis, CBD, and hemp businesses goes beyond just offering insurance or HR solutions—it’s about building a foundation for an industry that continues to face unprecedented challenges and opportunities.
By addressing regulatory complexities and creating scalable, affordable solutions, CannGenHR exemplifies the forward-thinking approach necessary to support these businesses as they grow. As Cameron and CannGen remain committed to evolving with the industry, their work is paving the way for a safer, more compliant, and thriving cannabis market.
