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Food Processors Consortium Receives 2nd Training Grant FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 14, 2006 – Salem, OR
Recent Graduates: Belinda Kovach - Don Pancho Authentic Mexican Foods, Ron Fritz - NORPAC Foods, Inc., Sue Palke - Truitt Bros., Dennis Bell - Meduri Farms, Mark Erickson - Sabroso Company, Glen Fahs - Cascade Employers Association and Russ Bohnert - Trans-Ocean Products _________________________________________________________________ SEDCOR announced that the Mid-Willamette Valley Food Processors Consortium will be holding a second series of leadership training classes. These classes are made possible by a second grant from the Employer Workforce Training Funds, through the Enterprise for Employment & Education. Cascade Employers Association is leading the classes. This grant provides two additional leadership classes this spring and fall, with eight Food Processors participating in the training. The Spring class, “Learning to Lead” for Spanish speakers, has 26 people enrolled. The FP Consortium was formed in 2001 by twelve Mid-Willamette Valley food processing companies to address training needs and other issues affecting the industry. A combination of resources through a partnership between local businesses, governmental and educational agencies has contributed to the success of the Consortium. A previous grant from the Oregon Economic & Community Development Department allowed over 300 employees from 13 companies to take advantage of training sessions between 2002 and 2004. The Fall and Winter classes which are just finishing up, provided training to 44 lead persons, supervisors and managers from Don Pancho Authentic Mexican Foods, Kerr Concentrates, Kettle Foods, Meduri Farms, NORPAC Foods, Inc., RainSweet, Inc., Sabroso Company and Truitt Bros., Inc. Topics included Leadership Transition, Collaboration and Diversity, Proactive Listening and Moving from Conflict to Collaboration. Feedback from the companies and employees who have participated in the series were very favorable. Mark D. Erickson, PHR, Human Resource Manager, Sabroso Company, stated, “The classes have been excellent. We have seen an increase in communication between our supervisors and leads. Our leaders are learning valuable skills to help them deal with the employees under their responsibility. The listening, mentoring, and constructive feedback skills will definitely help improve efficiency. The skills allow the leads and supervisors to help their employees improve performance and show that they care about the progress of the employees in the company.” (Continued Page 2) Katie Harrod, Production Scheduler at Don Pancho, found the classes challenging, testing both personal and professional capabilities. She said, “The training material introduced through videos, workbooks, group and individual assignments was easily transferred to my job. The exposure to other food processor employees helped me realize that most problems being experienced are the same throughout the industry.” Hiring and the ability to upgrade employees skills are serious issues in the industry and for companies planning to expand production or enter into new value-added product lines. The leadership team at Kettle Foods, Inc., went through the same leadership series by Cascade Employers Association that is being offered to the FP Consortium members. Glenda Goodrich, VP, Human Resources, at Kettle Foods, Inc. said, “The great thing about the leadership program for us here at Kettle Foods is that we are able to identify potential leads and supervisors and send them to this training before they have leadership responsibilities. A frequent mistake made in the manufacturing industry is promoting people into positions of authority before giving them the proper training. Under the FP Consortium Leadership series we have identified five people with leadership potential to be trained in the nine-part core series. We are in hopes that these folks will be promoted as leadership positions open up at our company.” Positive effects have been felt by the food processing companies which are involved. Mark Erickson, Sabroso Company, also stated, “The FP Consortium has been a great opportunity to meet peers in the food manufacturing business and collaborate on addressing issues that concern us all. It has shown that we can accomplish much more working together than any one of us would be able to accomplish on our own.” Belinda Kovach, Human Resources Director, Don Pancho Authentic Mexican Foods, realizes good things don’t happen overnight. Kovach said, “The consortium formed almost four years ago and has been continually nurtured for optimum results. The group has enabled us to share a common bond in the food processing industry and to help bring a better educated workforce to each of our companies.” “Sharing best practices, getting opinions on proposed policies and procedures from others in similar companies and sharing costs for training and development are the biggest benefits offered by the Consortium,” said Glenda Goodrich, Kettle Foods. She would like to see the membership expand in order to share the benefits with other food processing companies. Other active members of the FP Consortium include Blue Diamond Growers, Eola Cherry Company, Mission Foods, Quest International, Trans-Ocean Products and Yamasa Corporation USA. The Food Processing Consortium is open to all Food Processors in Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties. Current members would like others in the industry to benefit by being involved in the association. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Contact: Ray Clore, SEDCOR Phone Number: 503-485-9802 Email: rclore@sedcor.com ##### |
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