What GreenForce does

GreenForce was a privately held temporary staffing agency founded in 2016 and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, focused exclusively on providing labor solutions to employers in the regulated cannabis industry. Prior to its acquisition, the company operated as a regional player with a concentrated footprint in Arizona and Oregon, connecting W-2 temporary workers with cannabis operators in those two state-legal markets. Its core service offering was straightforward temporary staffing — recruiting, placing, and managing workers for cannabis sector employers — with no proprietary technology, platform, or product suite disclosed in the available source material. The business model followed the standard temp-staffing economics of payroll under management, markups on wages, and employer billing, though specific pricing, placement fees, or revenue figures were not publicly disclosed.

On September 10, 2024, GreenForce was acquired by Vangst, a Colorado-based cannabis and adjacent-vertical staffing platform, in a half-cash, half-stock transaction. The acquisition expanded Vangst's customer base to over 1,800 clients and brought GreenForce's Arizona and Oregon book of business, along with its candidate pipeline, under Vangst's multi-state, multi-vertical platform. As part of the transaction, GreenForce founder Ryan Rosenfeld joined Vangst as chief business officer with a stated remit to drive regional and national growth, effectively converting GreenForce's operating identity into a regional sales and expansion engine within the acquirer. Following the deal, GreenForce no longer operates as an independent entity; its strategic direction, technology stack, and revenue trajectory are subsumed into Vangst.

Name

GreenForce

Website

https://greenforcestaffing.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

GreenForce was a private temporary staffing agency providing labor solutions to employers in the regulated cannabis industry across Arizona and Oregon, until its acquisition by Vangst in September 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

GreenForce is a temporary staffing agency that recruits and places workers for employers in the regulated cannabis industry, primarily in Arizona and Oregon. It supplies compliant labor for cultivation, processing, retail, and ancillary cannabis operations, handling recruiting, onboarding, payroll, and worker management. Following its 2024 acquisition by Vangst, GreenForce's offerings operate within Vangst's national cannabis and regulated-industry staffing platform.

Product overview

GreenForce was a temporary staffing agency operating in Arizona and Oregon before being acquired by Vangst in September 2024. The source data contains limited product information beyond this description. As a subsidiary of Vangst, GreenForce's specific product portfolio is not detailed in the available sources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Temporary Staffing for the Cannabis Industry Recruitment, onboarding, and management of temporary W-2 workers for licensed cannabis cultivators, processors, and retailers in Arizona and Oregon, including payroll, workers' compensation, and ongoing employee administration.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• VangstcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 September 2024Vangst acquired GreenForce in a half-cash, half-stock deal. This acquisition expanded Vangst's customer base to over 1,800 clients and added GreenForce founder Ryan Rosenfeld as chief business officer to drive regional and national growth.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Vangst: Parent company of GreenForce and the leading U.S. staffing platform dedicated to the cannabis industry, also serving agriculture, manufacturing, and industrial verticals with W-2 placement, payroll, and workers' comp. Direct peer because GreenForce's entire operating playbook was folded into Vangst post-acquisition.

Regional players

• Cannabis At Work: Canada-focused cannabis jobs board and recruitment services firm serving licensed producers, processors, and retail across Canadian provinces. Comparable to GreenForce as a cannabis-specialized hiring services provider, though geographically distinct given Canada's separate regulatory regime.

Emerging players

• Mary Jane Staffing: Niche cannabis industry recruiting and temp staffing firm connecting budtenders, cultivation, and extraction workers with dispensaries and operators. Directly comparable to GreenForce in vertical focus and staffing model, though smaller in scale and U.S. footprint.
• 420 Careers: Cannabis-focused job board and recruiting service serving operators across multiple U.S. states. Comparable to GreenForce in that it channels cannabis-specific labor demand into a specialized talent pool, though with a heavier reliance on self-serve postings vs. GreenForce's W-2 staffing model.

Broad incumbents

• Robert Half: Large, publicly traded generalist staffing and consulting firm placing temporary and permanent workers across finance, technology, legal, and administrative roles. Comparable as a competing source of temp labor for cannabis operators, though it lacks GreenForce's cannabis-specific regulatory expertise and W-2 compliance focus.
• Aerotek: Major industrial and commercial staffing firm placing light-industrial, manufacturing, and logistics workers nationwide as a subsidiary of Allegis Group. Comparable to GreenForce on the temp staffing model for industrial-adjacent roles, though without cannabis specialization.
• Randstad: Global staffing and HR services company operating across temporary placement, permanent recruitment, and managed services in over 60 markets. A broad incumbent comparable to GreenForce on staffing fundamentals, but serving virtually every industry other than cannabis as a dedicated vertical.
• Adecco: One of the world's largest staffing companies, placing temporary and permanent workers across industrial, office, and professional segments globally. Comparable to GreenForce on the temp labor model and W-2 employer-of-record structure, though without a cannabis-specific vertical.

Others

• Indeed: Largest global job search and matching platform, increasingly used by cannabis operators for direct hires. Indirectly comparable to GreenForce as an alternative channel for cannabis employers sourcing labor, though it does not provide W-2 staffing, payroll, or workers' comp.
• ZipRecruiter: AI-driven job matching platform used by employers across industries, including cannabis operators seeking direct hires and seasonal staff. Indirectly comparable to GreenForce as an adjacent talent-acquisition channel, but without dedicated W-2 staffing or regulated-industry compliance services.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/greenforce_or

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about GreenForce