This week, Mitch Galton, Director of Business Development at urban-gro, discusses why he left college early to start a career in cannabis.

Galton's new cannabis path commenced in LED lighting with Fluence, but has since graduated into a role that has him working closer to the plant at urban-gro, a company that specializes in architectural, engineering and cultivation systems integration for commercial cannabis and controlled environment food facilities.

Urban-gro has worked on more than 450 indoor cultivation projects that have ranged from 10,000 square feet to 1.8 million square feet. Galton takes us through the process of building an indoor cultivation facility, including how to increase canopy while reducing energy consumption.

While Galton says that every client is different, urban-gro can work with any budget to make it happen. Galton says building a cultivation facility is a lot like building a car, most people want a Ferrari, but what they need (or can afford) is a Camry. Sticking with the car metaphor, building a cannabis facility is a lot like buying a car, after you determine your budget, you have to choose which features are most aligned with your goals.

Urban-gro is having a big year, experiencing some 119% growth year-over-year in the third quarter. The company recently announced an exclusive contract outside of the cannabis industry with Urban Health Farms to design and build approximately 20 turn-key, food-focused vertical farms throughout Europe.