Matthew J. Karminski

Building New Jersey's first government-run online cannabis technical assistance program from the ground up (and through Salesforce 😅 ) takes WORK and a LOT of people. The content we're organizing and finalizing for the Department of State is coming together and I can't wait to reveal more. Be sure to follow The New Jersey Cannabis Training Academy and keep it on your radar. The level of information, knowledge and experience we're bringing to the table with the help of our 25 instructors is DEEP. I'm excited for current and prospective cannabis entrepreneurs to really understand the cannabis licensing application process and the industry at large, and I hope our free online program saves people some tears and headaches as they think about starting their journey in securing a license and opening their doors for business (or determine a better pathway to enter the industry if owning a license is not in their cards!). Even more, I know operators who are already online could leverage the NJ CTA for their employees as a form of continuing education. This was hammered home by many conditional and annual license holders during my experience at MJ Unpacked in Atlantic City. Truly, I hope business owners let their staff know about the NJ CTA once we launch so their staff can understand the deeper intricacies of acquiring, and keeping, a license, and why things like laws, SOPs, regulations and compliance are critical for staying open for business. Personally, I think it will also bring more empathy to the table from a staff perspective. When I was a budtender in Philadelphia, a lot of my colleagues didn't understand why we operated our dispensary the way we did; they didn't know the laws, or regulations or compliances that license holders had to adhere to. We needed something like the NJ CTA to exist in Pennsylvania. But it didn't. Hoping other states model what we're building to help the industry at large. Stay tuned. We're loading... https://lnkd.in/eG--w3m2

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Tech start ups are often founded by college friends, but this is not your typical start up story: Rossell Studer and Daisy Tinsley Barnett were indeed college friends (in fact they were roommates at #bostonuniversity) but that was many years ago. Fast forward through careers, marriage, children and the stranger-than-fiction twists in turns in life, here they are decades later building a start-up together. Why would two women their age want to lean into all the hard work and hustle that comes with building and launching a start up, you ask? Because... 💡 They identified a problem that needs solving and we can't get it out of our heads. 🧠 They realized we our experience and wisdom are incredibly powerful and valuable assets. ⭐ They know the importance of being customer obsessed + building talented & collaborative teams + seeking advisement from experts. 🚀 They're dreamers and believers - always have been, always will be. These women grew their careers at a time when women faced more obstacles, were given fewer opportunities and lacked professional role-models. Although they may be older than your average start up founder, they're just getting started! They've agreed that, "no matter what happens, this will be an incredible experience and we will never wonder, 'what if we had tried and succeeded?'" Photo: Boston Commons, circa early 1990s. Go Terries! Boston University #femalefounders

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Embrace Summer for Mental Health Growth 🌞🌿 Summer is here, and many children in NJ have the next 8 weeks off. While it's common to think of summer as a time to rest and relax without the demands of school and sports, there's an alternative perspective to consider for both children and parents. At the Center for Wellness, we believe summer is the perfect time to develop skills and make progress in mental health that will support us throughout the year. Instead of overwhelming our schedules during the school year, summer provides the opportunity for teens to stay active with peers and build distress tolerance skills while they have the time and energy. 🧠💪 Parents can also benefit from attending our Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) during this period, as the lighter schedules mean fewer demands like sports practices and packing lunches. 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦🏅 Consider summer programming as an option—it could be a life-changing experience for you or your child. 🌟✨ #MentalHealth #SummerWellness #CenterForWellness #IOP #MentalHealthMatters

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Tired of being bored by sitting inside to break the summer heat? Become a free member at The Educators Link and browse our free articles and take some recorded courses! Offering NYS CTLE credits and CEU credits. #educatorslink #baumandbeaulieu #edchat #edtech #teacherpd #teachersofinstagram #nycschools #teachersfollowteachers #teacherlife #profdev

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Let’s talk about the pay gap in New York State! Did you know that Black women in NYS earn just 75 cents for every dollar earned by white men? This disparity is real, and it’s not just about numbers - it’s about the value we place on people’s work and contributions. Equal pay is a matter of fairness and justice. We need to work towards a world where everyone is paid equitably, regardless of race or gender. It’s time to close the pay gap! Let’s raise our voices and demand equal pay for equal work. Together, we can create a more just and equitable society for all. #EqualPay #PayGap #Justice #Equality #blackwomenequalpayday #wnycosh #workersrights #blm

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When you layoff 1,000 people, you have a good reason Like UPMC... FY 2023: ($174M) cash used in operations ($198M) operating income +$1.2B total liabilities ($31M) net income Ouch Oh, wait, what's this? $1.1B cash +$1.3B total assets $494M operating EBIDA $8.2B unrestricted cash and investments And my favorite... $8.9B investments purchased $8.8B investments sold There's always more to the story Including this one But the fact remains, there is money to be invested Maybe just not in people P.S. If you liked this mini-breakdown, you'll love The Healthcare Breakdown, where I breakdown the business of healthcare so you can see what's really going on Check it out here: https://buff.ly/47NeASx See you out there!

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Pictures sure do speak 1,000 words! With the dazzling sunshine in our faces, The Packer Collegiate Institute's representation at the annual 2024 NYSAIS Diversity Symposium - Connecting Across Differences: Tools and Approaches for Productive Civil Discourse, spanned a wide range of school-wide divisions and departments. File this away - The sunshine was a reminder of the sparks of joy in team building, finding camaraderie with each other, and how coming together fosters the notion of being agents of change. We did the work today by collectively culminating our time with civil discourse, inherently grounded in The Packer Collegiate Institute's mission. There's always room for more, room for growth, and perhaps that's how we keep moving forward. What an awesome opportunity for opening doors figuratively and literally; to share knowledge, listen, support, and learn from each other with actionable outcomes to cultivate belonging.

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🌟 Join Connecting NJ's essential education session for expecting parents! Learn about the impact of tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol use during pregnancy on both you and your baby. Empower yourself with knowledge to ensure a healthy start for your little one. Register here: https://lnkd.in/eh-ukRBx 🌼👶 #PregnancyHealth #Webinar #HealthyBaby #InformedParenting #MaternalHealth #Pregnancy #HealthyPregnancy #Alcoholandpregnancy

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New Choice: How Joy and Creativity Fuel Growth and Healing Through Improv is an online applied improvisation workshop I am offering on Wednesday May 8, 2024, 6:30-8:30 pm EST. It will provide 2 contact hours of Continuing Education for NYS Social Workers, (and a CE certificate for anyone outside of that professional group who needs one). Improv is an art form that realizes our potential to engage with the unknown - which can be messy, intimidating and stress-inducing - in a playful way driven by spontaneity rather than fear and dread. Research shows improv to: Boost well-being through the joy and spontaneity that arises from engagement with it; Be an effective and fun approach to cultivating greater tolerance for uncertainty;  Expand the capacity to find undiscovered gifts and possibilities even when going through difficult and stressful aspects of change: Explore dimensions of being human in a fun, fascinating way and foster self-acceptance and empowerment; Discover the power of spontaneity as a renewable inner resource. The mental health benefits of improv skills and practices will be discussed and a handout with research identifying the evidence that supports the exercises we do in the workshop will be provided. Please contact me with any concerns or questions. Register on this Google form: https://lnkd.in/eHYSuSxk

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First year of law school in the books. Truly could not have asked for a better group of colleagues at Seton Hall University School of Law to help overcome all the trials and tribulations that is #1L. You hear a lot of horror stories going into law school about uber competitiveness - people tearing pages out of casebooks, covering their notes, hiding outlines, etc. The opposite was true for us in Section B - everyday our section-mates demonstrated excellence through collaboration and empathy, of course with a healthy dose of competitiveness. My advice to incoming #1Ls is to get to know as many of your section as possible, both in and outside of school. You will spend DOZENS of hours each week with the same colleagues. You will be surprised how much you can learn from each other, about tackling the material, interviewing advice, life and more. Whatever you do, don't be a hermit.

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Gain access to expert advice on attracting and retaining top engineering talent with our comprehensive 2024 Engineering Hiring Guide. Align your strategies with the desires of top professionals so you can focus on finding the best candidates for your organization's needs. Download here: #LHH #Engineering #NewJersey

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Substance abuse deeply impacts our mental, emotional, and physical health. However, there is compelling scientific evidence that music can have a profoundly positive effect on the mind, body, and soul. It helps improve mood and enhances the ability to express oneself. To learn more about music therapy for addiction in NJ visit https://lnkd.in/e6Y8abz4 . . #addictiontherapy #rollinghillsrecoverycenterNJ #MusicTherapyForAddiction #AddictionTherapy

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Our NYS lawmakers and the Governor agreed on a final budget that includes a 2.85% COLA increase for our rates, along with a requirement that we give at least a 1.7% wage increase to certain critical staff. We had asked for wage funding so that - on average - we could increase wages for direct care staff by about $2/hour. Instead, we are told to increase wages at least 1.7%. What does 1.7% look like? Well, according to the most recent survey from New York Disability Advocates, the average Direct Support Professional (DSP) hourly wage in NYS is $16.48/hour. A 1.7% wage increase would mean another...(hold on to your hats everyone!)...28 cents per hour! Even if some of us providers are able to put a full 2.85% toward wage bumps for our DSPs, we are still talking about an average increase of less than 50 cents per hour, which is less than $4 additional for an 8 hour shift. I'm sorry, but it's just not enough for us to start putting a real and sustained dent in the never-ending, chronic workforce issues. Nor is a 2.85% rate increase enough to keep up with inflation related to home maintenance, transportation, energy, food costs, etc. Don't get me wrong. I'd much rather have the 2.85% increase in the final budget, instead of the 1.5% increase proposed in the Governor's proposed budget. So to that, I thank our Legislators for listening as best as they could to us and recognizing that 1.5% was unacceptably inadequate. And - just like we always do - we will find a way to make do and to put as much of the additional resources as we can to boost wages for our direct support workforce. But make no mistake - what's in the final budget only gives us the bare minimum to barely get by for another year - that is all. And we will be back. #investinme

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Social anxiety got you down? Ditch the alcohol & try these tips: Talk to a friend you trust, embrace your true self, consider medication. Get healthy coping skills & overcome anxiety. Alcohol rehab in Englewood NJ: https://lnkd.in/eK6pxygW #alcoholaddiction

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