Nichole Upshaw, the chief retail and people officer at Florida-based Jushi Holdings, vividly remembers June 24, 2019, her first day working for the multistate operator now active in seven states.

“On my first day, the HR employee that was here before I arrived said, ‘If (payroll-services provider) Paychex calls, don’t pick up the phone. They’re trying to kick us off.’”

At the time, Jushi had roughly 60 employees, but it was about three weeks from acquiring Beyond Hello, a Pennsylvania-based retail chain.

Upshaw decided that Jushi needed to find another payroll company – and fast.

She first queried payroll-services company Namely, which initially said yes but then said no.

She eventually hired Würk and has used the Denver-based company ever since.

Upshaw’s lesson learned? A cannabis company’s payroll provider should specialize in cannabis.

“I would never want to be with a payroll company that was not focused on cannabis,” Upshaw said.