Northeast Dairy Magazine Q1 2018

THE

SKILLS

GAP

BREAKDOWN Combating the Shortage of Skilled Workers

FEATURE

Good Help Is Hard to Find

First Quarter 2018

MEMBER FOCUS

Training Key To Attracting Employees

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

2018: U.S. Exports Critical to Success

LEGISLATION

The Latest Issues In The Statehouses

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EDITIO N

turers and Dis to rs Sin

contents

First Quarter • Winter 2018 • Volume 1, No. 1

20

FROM THE ASSOCIATION 04

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Skilled Workforce Key to Industry Success

FEATURES

BY MIKE SUEVER

05

EXECUTIVE VP REPORT New President, New Labor Committee, New Focus

BY BRUCE KRUPKE

THE CHALLENGES OF FILLING THE SKILLS GAP 16 20

6

MEET YOUR BOARD Leadership Profiles

BY LEANNE ZIEMBA

10

LEGISLATION Keeping Our Eyes on Proposed Bills

BY BRUCE KRUPKE

13

Will Exports Be Critical in 2018?

BY GARY LATTA

Members Focus on Retaining Skilled Employees

BY CAROLINE K. REFF

NORTHEAST DAIRY FOODS WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Skills Gap Impacts Dairy Industry

BY JILL OSTERHOUT

27

Higher Education Vital To Developing Dairy Workforce

BY ANIKA ZUBER AND CARL MOODY

30

Steering High Schoolers To Manufacturing Careers

BY CAROLINE K. REFF

32

Managing Generational Gaps On The Job

BY CURT STEINHORST

KEEP YOUR WORKPLACE GOING STRONG 34

Automatic 401(k) Programs Encourage Savings

BY ANDREW HAGEN

36

Pay Attention to Proposed “On Call” Regulations

BY WHITNEY KUMMEROW, ESQ.

STAY CONNECTED

38

Tuning Up Profits With a Question Strategy

BY JON DENNEY

41

Prioritizing Workplace Safety Benefits Your Bottom Line

BY DAVID WALLACE

www.nedairyfoods.org www.neastda.org

42

Keeping a Watch on Recent OSHA Changes

BY STEVE VALENTINE NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 1

contents

First Quarter • Winter 2018 • Volume 1, No. 1

46

NORTHEAST DAIRY FOODS ASSOCIATION, INC.

NORTHEAST DAIRY MAGAZINE TEAM

427 S. Main St. North Syracuse, N.Y. 13212-2863 315-452-MILK (6455) www.nedairyfoods.org

www.nedairyfoods.org

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

Bruce Krupke EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Leanne Ziemba PRESIDENT

Mike Suever HP Hood, LLC TREASURER

Michael P. Young Guida’s Dairy SECRETARY

ASSOCIATION UPDATES 46

MEMBER NEWS

51

CHANGE ALLOWS LOW-FAT FLAVORED MILK IN SCHOOLS

52

Daniel R. Lausch Lactalis American Groups, Inc.

NORTHEAST DAIRY ASSOCIATION, INC. PRESIDENT

Ozzie Orsillo Evergreen Packaging Co.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR Upcoming Association Events

VICE PRESIDENT

54

A LOOK BACK Photos From 2017 Events

Melissa Fryer Alfa Laval

56

WHAT’S NEWS? Noteworthy Stories From The Industry

60

MEET THE NEDFA TEAM

Bill Elliott Northeast Great Dane TREASURER

SECRETARY

Ryan Osterhout KCO Resource Management

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Bruce Krupke bk@nedairyfoods.org PUBLISHER/DIRECTOR OF SALES

Bill Brod billbrod@nedairymedia.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Diane Stirling dianes@datakey.org EDITOR

Caroline K. Reff CReff@nedairymedia.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Robin Barnes robinb@datakey.org COVER DESIGN

Rachel Barry CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Jon Denney, Andrew Hagen, Whitney Kummerow, Carl Moody, Jill Osterhout, Curt Steinhorst, Steve Valentine, David Wallace, Anika Zuber PRODUCED BY

Northeast Dairy Media Editorial correspondence should be directed to editorial@nedairymedia.com Advertising correspondence and materials should be sent to billbrod@nedairymedia.com.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to bk@nedairyfoods.org.

An official magazine of the Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc., a nonprofit organization. This publication carries authoritative notices and articles in regard to the activities and interests of the associations. In all other respects, neither the association nor the producer of the publication, Northeast Dairy Media, is responsible for the contents thereof or the opinions of the contributors.

The entire contents are © 2018 by Northeast Dairy Media. Nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher. The association and Northeast Dairy Media reserve the right to print portions or all of any correspondence mailed to the editors without liability on its part and no such correspondence will be returned.

Visit Northeast Dairy Foods Association online at nedairyfoods.org for current information on association programs and services, or call the association at 315-452-MILK (6455). Questions and comments may also be sent to the association at bk@nedairyfoods.org.

2 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

We’ve got new websites! nedairyfoods.com | neastda.org Create your own profile for full access to exclusive members-only content and our member directories. Get up-to-the-minute news on what’s happening in our industry.

Don’t forget to find us on social media! /NEDairyFoods

/NEDairyAssociation

FrontDesk

Finding and Keeping a Skilled Workforce Is Key to Industry Success

BY MIKE SUEVER, PRESIDENT, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, NORTHEAST DAIRY FOODS ASSOCIATION, INC.

W

there is this big dairy and food processing industry out there elcome to the reboot of the Northeast waiting for them. Our association staff will be providing more Dairy magazine! Our staff has been on the committee’s efforts later this summer, so keep an eye out. working hard to create this issue as an According to Equifax, 40 percent of new hires are not information source about what is going retained. Providing a clear picture of our advancing industry on in our industry. In this issue, we want will help to avoid this pitfall. To put the situation in further to discuss a growing concern that affects all who are reading perspective, more than 10,000 workers per day will turn 65 this: the difficulty in attracting and retaining our workforce. between now and 2021, according to Pew Research. The Baby Our board of directors and association staff have been focused Boomers are retiring, and this on the topic and have decided presents us with a significant to try to assist our members in challenge: How do we ena meaningful way. We all agree courage Millennial workers that finding good, qualified, to consider our industry, and skilled and willing workers how do we transfer the years is getting harder and harder. of experience that the Boomers Our board of directors have to this new workforce? decided to partner with our If all of this was not dauntsupplier- and vendor-affiliing enough, we must also cope ated association to create a with very low unemployment joint labor committee to folevels nationwide. Many of cus directly on this topic. The the jobs within our industry committee will, among other require specialized training things, identify specific skills beyond a high school diploma that our industry requires, so but less than that of a bachethat high schools, community lor’s degree. In the following colleges and technical training pages, you will read about the institutes can tailor educational problems and ideas to consider programs to meet those needs. when hiring, as well as ways to The committee will create inattract qualified talent, engage formational pieces and videos in meaningful training and to provide to students through provide future opportunities outlets, such as social media, that keep employees growing YouTube and career offices, and wanting more. outlining the benefits and opEnjoy our magazine. We portunities our industry has to — MIKE SUEVER welcome your comments and offer. We need to get students’ President, Board of Directors, Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc. suggestions. attention; they don’t realize

We all agree finding good, qualified, skilled and willing workers is getting harder and harder.

4 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

FrontDesk

New President, Labor Committee Means New Focus for Association

BY BRUCE W. KRUPKE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

F

irst, some good news. I would like to announce and welcome Mike Suever from HP Hood as president of our board of directors. Mike was nominated in December 2017 and approved by the full board of directors to lead, oversee and represent our association’s policy-making responsibilities.

Mike has been with HP Hood for many years as its senior vice president of milk procurement. He has served as a board of director member and an executive officer for more than 15 years. Mike is superbly qualified to take the helm as president of the board. He is highly respected in our industry and has the experience to assist and support our association’s goals, activities and direction. I encourage all members to get to know Mike by attending a future board meeting or one of our industry events this year.

The bad news is that Don Merrigan recently submitted his resignation as president. He retired at the end of December as general manager from Readington Farms, a division of the Wakefern Food Corporation in New Jersey. I would like to thank Don for the leadership, experience and knowledge of the dairy processing and distribution industry he brought to our board of directors. He served as a director and as an executive officer for more than 10 years, assisting in guiding very important policies. Don helped create our committee’s effort to study the Federal Milk Marketing Order, a task with the goal of researching members’ experiences with the system to potentially find better efficiencies for future revisions. This effort continues and will be important as we expect to see a national review of the federal order system in the future.

Don is now working with his wife, Christine, in their woodworking business, National Woodwork Manufacturing, in Bethlehem, Penn. He said he started his career driving for the dairy industry, and now he is making deliveries for his wife!

He asked me to relay to everyone how he enjoyed his time as

our association president. While Don will miss everyone, he will try to get to one of our industry events this year. We wish Don and Christine all the best in the next chapter of their lives.

One of our goals this year is to prioritize finding methods to help attract future employees to apply for jobs in our industry.

Our association has come to recognize that finding qualified, certified, educated and willing workers for the dairy processing, manufacturing and distribution industry is becoming harder each year. Many members, for various reasons, cannot find qualified candidates to work at their companies. The association’s newly formed labor committee is working hard on identifying ways to communicate to the younger generation and future workers the many opportunities available at our businesses. These efforts are reflected in the theme of this issue of the magazine.

The labor committee is made up of both dairy processing and supplier members in our association. Early on, they learned that the old ways of attracting employees had to change. Suggestions to the committee have already shown that Millennials, who are relatively new in the workforce, are not only concerned with compensation, they want to be recognized for their efforts. They want to know they make a difference.

It is becoming evident that attracting the right employees will require employers to change the culture of their workplaces.

The members of the committee will have their work cut out for them. In the end, I’m sure they will come up with a new message for young workers, one that can attract and interest them in good careers in our industry.

We are always looking for news. If your company has some news, press releases, new product offerings, employee promotions, marketing, PR or goodwill efforts you’d like to share, email it to us at news@nedairyfoods.org, call us at 315-452-6455 (MILK) or fax 315-452-1643.

Thank you for your support. I hope you enjoy reading this exciting reboot of our publication, Northeast Dairy. I welcome your feedback at any time.

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 5

MEET YOUR

BOARD

In this issue, we are highlighting the executive officers of both the Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc., and the Northeast Dairy Association, Inc., boards of directors.

Other board members will be introduced in upcoming issues of Northeast Dairy.

6 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

Meet Your Board NORTHEAST DAIRY FOODS ASSOCIATION, INC. The Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc. was founded in 1928 as New York Dairy Distributors, Inc., and currently serves over 100 dairy processors, manufacturers and distributors in New York, New Jersey and all six New England states.

MIKE SUEVER PRESIDENT

Senior Vice President of R&D, Engineering and Procurement, HP Hood, LLC

With a bachelor’s degree in food technology/dairy science from The Ohio State University, Suever has spent the last 30 years working in numerous areas of the dairy industry. Joining HP Hood 17 years ago, he is responsible for milk, cream and energy purchasing, along with sustainability throughout the U.S.

What are your goals and expectations for the association in 2018? Although I’ve been a director and executive officer for many years now, as newly elected president of the association, my duties have changed dramatically. First and foremost, I will be working with Bruce Krupke, our executive vice president, much more closely. My new position will require me to view the association a little differently and really focus on the greater good of the industry and what will make sense for the association, as well as key in on future initiatives that will benefit our membership and the industry as a whole. I look forward to the challenge and to working with the full board of directors on these goals. I also welcome input from all our members on association policies.

MICHAEL P. YOUNG TREASURER

President, Guida’s Dairy

As president of Guida’s Dairy since 2011, Young oversees company operations to ensure production, quality, safety, service and cost-effective management of resources. He also evaluates the performances of executives and develops strategic plans to advance the company mission. Prior to his current position, Young was Guida’s executive vice president.

What are your goals and expectations for the association in 2018? I look forward to NDFA continuing to provide services and information to companies, like Guida’s, that will improve our operations.

DANIEL R. LAUSCH, SECRETARY

Director of Milk Procurement, Lactalis American Groups, Inc.

Lausch grew up working summers on a small dairy farm before graduating from Penn State University with a bachelor’s degree in dairy production. In his current role as director of milk procurement with Lactalis American Groups, Inc., he is responsible for buying and managing the milk supplied by director producers and cooperatives. He also supports cheese making at company facilities in New York, Wisconsin and Idaho. Prior to joining Lactalis in 2012, Lausch held various positions in the industry, including dairy farm inspector for Lehigh Valley Farmers, Atlantic Dairy Cooperative and Land O’Lakes, Inc., where he also worked as transportation coordinator and intake manager.

What are your goals and expectations for the association in 2018? To be the eyes VP POSITION OPEN Currently, the Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc., has a vacant seat on the board of directors — the vice president. This position is expected to be filled at the association’s annual meeting coming up in October. Stay tuned for more information.

and ears for the dairy industry within the eight states of the Northeast, as well as provide a network of individuals and resources for support, information and training opportunities for new employees to learn the different aspects and components of the dairy business.

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 7

Meet Your Board NORTHEAST DAIRY ASSOCIATION, INC. Northeast Dairy Association, Inc., was founded in 1932 as the New York State Dairy Food Boosters. It is made up of dairy product vendors and suppliers doing business in New York, New Jersey and all six New England states.

OZZIE ORSILLO PRESIDENT

Director of Commercial Sales, Evergreen Packaging, Inc.

Orsillo has been in the industry since 1984 and took on his current role as director of commercial sales at Evergreen Packaging in 2012. He is responsible for providing premium quality packaging, closures, Form-FillSeal equipment, associated technical service and customer support to dairy foods, beverage and food processors across North America. He also serves in a supporting role in helping current and prospective customers source preforms and closures for a variety of fresh, UHT and aseptic applications.

His prior experience includes international packaging sales and operations, technical field service, dairy plant maintenance and operations.

What are your goals and expectations for the association in 2018? My goal is to ensure the continued growth of our supplier association while providing support to our partners at Dairy Foods, just as our association has been doing for decades. In 2018, we plan to augment this partnership by collaborating with Dairy Foods in developing a program that will

8 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

parade our dairy processing industry and the industries that support dairy processing as an attractive and desirable place for family-sustainable employment.

BILL ELLIOTT VICE PRESIDENT

Refrigerated Truck Body Salesman, Northeast Great Dane

Elliott joined Northeast Great Dane six years ago and is responsible for the Truck Body Division. His work takes him on the road most of the time visiting clients primarily in the Northeast but also in a few locations across the country. Prior to joining Great Dane, Elliott ran his family’s office furniture business in Middletown, N.Y.

What are your goals and expectations for the association in 2018? When on the road, which is just about all week long, I always try to encourage my customers to learn more about the benefits of joining both Northeast Dairy Foods Association and our supplier group, the Northeast Dairy Association. Increasing membership is a goal I take seriously. It would be wonderful to continue to see an increase in memberships.

MELISSA FRYER TREASURER

Sanitary Heat Transfer Business Development Manager, Alfa Laval

Hired by Alfa Laval over six months ago, Fryer has been involved in heat transfer in the dairy and food industry for 22 years. Before joining the company, Fryer worked as a sanitary PHE marketing manager, senior process engineer and senior application engineer at various companies within the food and dairy industry. She began her career as a process engineer in the paint industry.

What are your goals and expectations for the association in 2018? The dairy industry is an important component of the Northeast economy. A principal objective is to continue to promote the success, importance and visibility of the industry. It is my goal, through the Northeast Dairy Association, to continue to bridge the gap between dairy suppliers and processors by working toward expanding and strengthening the services and events sponsored by the association.

Meet Your Board RYAN OSTERHOUT SECRETARY

COO and Managing Partner, KCO Resource Management

Osterhout is a partner in KCO Resource Management, which he and his wife, Jill, started in 2009 as a niche recruiting firm focusing on the dairy industry. The company recruits top talent at all levels and roles in the dairy industry — from CEOs to maintenance technicians — across the United States.

What are your goals and expectations for the association in 2018? To continue focusing on growing the membership of the organization and to provide a great avenue for people throughout the dairy industry to connect.

NEDFA/NDA MEMBER BENEFITS ANNOUNCED Take advantage of all that your membership with the Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc. (for dairy processors, manufacturers and distributors) and the Northeast Dairy Association, Inc. (for vendors and suppliers) has to offer. Both of our websites have been redesigned and are chock-full of information. Sign up and create your own profile to see the members-only information.

Are you a dairy processor, manufacturer or distributor? Then check out www.nedairyfoods.org . If you’re a dairy industry vendor or supplier, go to www.neastda.org for more information.

Here, you can find our new, exclusive members-only directories with content available only to our membership. Questions?

Contact us at 315-452-6455. Also, check out Northeast Dairy Foods Assoc., Inc., on social media and share your company information with us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 9

Legislative+RegulationsReport

Legislation and Regulations: Our Association Is Working for You

BY BRUCE W. KRUPKE

E

very year, almost 4,500 new bills are introduced in the New York State Legislature. Although New York introduces the most bills of any Northeast state, it is a similar situation in all the New England states and New Jersey.

State legislatures run on a two-year bill introduction cycle, meaning any bill introduced is kept for two years, and then the process has to start all over again.

This year, all the Northeast states except Connecticut are holdover years; what was introduced last year remains on the books until the end of 2018. Connecticut is starting out with a clean slate.

Of all the bills introduced in most states, only about 3 to 6 percent are actually signed into law each year. It can be a long process to have a bill become law once introduced, but there are exceptions. The process usually starts with a constituent wanting to right a wrong, create better instructions to live by or make a current law clearer by amending it. Then the well-meaning legislator has to agree (or not) with what the proposed bill would do and whom it would affect.

Legislators are elected from the general public, so the interested party has to “educate,” in most cases, the legislators and their staffs about the topic matter and get them to take action. After all, what does an insurance agent, nurse, lawyer or political science major know about our dairy processing and distribution

10 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

“Just like you build relationships with your customers, we build relationships with government officials on your behalf.”

– Bruce Krupke Executive Vice President

industry? This is where we come in — your dairy association specialists who understand what your business is about, how it runs and what is or is not — important to you.

HELPING YOUR BUSINESS IS OUR BUSINESS Our association has your back. We monitor all the bills introduced in all eight Northeast states, in addition to any new regulations that could negatively — or hopefully positively — affect your business. We understand your business. We specialize and have the experience to know what it means to you when a sometimes well-intended legislator introduces a bill to either fix or make something better. Lobbying

legislators and staff requires expertise, the ability to professionally discuss our industry and to also know whom to talk to within government. Just as you build relationships with your customers, we build relationships with government officials on your behalf. When lobbying, you must remember the old adage, “One man’s gain is another’s loss.” If we support or oppose any introduced bill, there is always — and let me repeat that, always — someone on the opposite side of what you are trying to accomplish.

This year, as expected, the bill introductions are numerous. The topics vary and include, among others, nutrition, animal welfare, labeling, packaging, distribution, labor and employment. In

Legislative+RegulationsReport many situations, when a bill pops up in one state, it will pop up in another. State legislators talk and monitor each other.

It is unusual for a legislator to have an epiphany and come up with an original idea. This is why having a regional organization — not just a single state organization monitoring and lobbying on your behalf — is important.

FIND THE BILL REPORT ON OUR WEBSITE Our association’s website lists the key bills we are working on and monitoring.

In our Bill Report, we only list those that have a potentially major direct impact on your business and/or ones that could have a chance of passing. There are many more we watch, but unless we see they have what we call “legs,” they are put on the back burner. I’ll discuss what it

means for a bill to have legs in our next Northeast Dairy quarterly issue.

To take a look at all of the important 90-plus bills we are monitoring and lobbying, visit our website: www.nedairyfoods.org. If you haven’t already, I urge you to create a member account in order to access the section where we provide information on the 2018 bills we are monitoring. You’ll be able to see which legislator is the sponsor, what our association’s position is regarding the bill and a link to the full text. In that same section, you will also find our 2018 legislative priorities and links to help find your own legislators and regulatory agency offices.

Positions on bills are created by our board of directors, which sets specific policies that act as a guide for all of our positions. Policies are generally set by

the board based on what the current law states, proven scientific fact and research and fairness within the industry, as well as how it might affect competitiveness.

I strongly encourage you, our members, to act as eyes and ears. If you hear of a law or regulation you are concerned about, please let me know. It is also important for you to know your representatives. Consider supporting those who agree with your viewpoints. Send them an email, a letter or contact their offices by phone and speak out. There is strength in numbers, and together we can make a difference in your state.

Bruce W. Krupke is the executive vice president of the Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

England

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A Pro ud Partner of the Northe a s t Dair y A ssociation NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 11

Legislative+RegulationsReport BILLS IN THE NORTHEAST

Here are example bills from each state in the Northeast that you’ll find interesting and pertinent.

If you have any questions regarding a bill or our positions, please contact Bruce Krupke, executive vice president, at bk@nedairyfoods.org.

Connecticut: To date, no new bills concerning our industry have been introduced.

The Connecticut legislature went into session on Feb. 4 with a clean slate.

Bills will be introduced over the coming weeks dealing with many old topics from 2017, such as sugar taxes, container recycling and food safety. They’ll be facing tough topics in an election year when all legislators will be up for re-election, including the governor.

Massachusetts: House Bill 798 by Rep. Colleen M. Garry (D) would establish penalties for the theft of bulk merchandise containers. Our association supports this legislation.

This law would include milk cases, and we support this legislation because milk requires sturdy containers for distribution. Theft of these containers reduces the ability for efficient and necessary distribution.

Maine: LD1760 by Rep. Richard Campbell (R) is an act to conform the laws regarding a salaried employee who is exempt from overtime and minimum wage requirements to federal law. It eliminates the requirement that the salary

12 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

threshold be tied to the state minimum wage. Our association supports this bill. Any wage that is different than the federal minimum wage creates unfair competitive disadvantages for employers, especially across state lines.

Employers should be responsible for setting wages, including overtime based on general business factors.

New Hampshire: House Bill 1669 by Rep. Dan Itse (R) would exempt food from federal regulation if produced and sold in New Hampshire. Our association opposes any state trying to pre-empt federal regulation for any food. States should not adopt laws that create different regulation among each other for food.

New Jersey: A502 by Rep. John DiMaio (R) is a bill that would permit the sale of raw milk and establishes a permit program. Our association opposes the sale of raw milk to the general public for health and safety reasons. Raw milk, which could be contaminated or handled improperly, can lead to severe sickness and even death if consumed. All dairy products should be pasteurized prior to consumption.

New York: A2209 by Rep. Linda Rosenthal (D) requires disclosure and labeling of food products from cloned animals or the progeny of such animals.

Our association opposes this legislation.

The federal government is recognized as the authority that oversees all food

product labeling. No state should adopt mandatory labeling requirements that are different from those of the federal government. Cloning of animals to be used for human consumption has not been prevented by the federal or any state government. Labeling or identification of such food, so long as found to be safe for human consumption, should not be required.

Rhode Island: S2196 by Sen. Donna Nesselbush (D) is a bill that would create a tax on sugary drinks for the purpose of reducing the demand for those beverages and discouraging the excessive consumption of sugary drinks. Our association opposes use taxes on food based on ingredient content. Although milk would be exempt from this law initially, there is concern once passed that milk could be included in the future.

Additionally, this new tax of $0.01 per ounce on beverages containing more than 5 grams but fewer than 20 grams of sugar would be applied to other beverages processed, sold and distributed by our members, causing competitive unfairness.

Vermont: S70 by Sen. Becca Balint (D) is a bill that proposes to require restaurants licensed by the Department of Health to serve only children’s meals that meet certain nutritional standards. Our association opposes this bill. This bill would restrict a restaurant’s decision as to what kind of milk could be sold to customers.

Businesses should not be regulated as to what legal food or beverages can be sold to any customer at any time.

Economic Outlook

Will Dairy Exports Be Critical in 2018?

BY GARY LATTA

B

y now, nearly everyone associated with the dairy industry has heard that farm raw milk prices for 2018 are expected to be lower than last year and less than ideal for producers.

Academia, trade associations, cooperatives and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have all painted a pretty bleak picture for U.S. farm milk prices, at least for the first half of 2018. Other major dairy-producing countries are predicting similar scenarios. Why? Basically, there’s just too much global milk supply for current demand, and there are a lot of surplus products in inventory from which to draw.

In its latest forecast, the USDA believes dairy prices will be lower for all major commodities, with the possible exception of butter, which might be flat at best.

Let’s dig into this further. The USDA and industry observers report that milk production increased 1.5 percent in 2017. If adjusted for the leap year, the growth is closer to 1.7 percent.

In recent years, this much growth was fairly sustainable due to relatively strong domestic demand and, of course, exports.

In order for farm milk prices to begin climbing later in 2018, we must count on good domestic sales within the U.S., some restraint on milk production growth and global exports.

A more robust U.S. economy and lower dairy product prices should generate increased sales domestically in 2018.

The growth in milk cow numbers on farms is starting to slow down, and milk production per cow output is showing evidence of slowing a bit. Lower prices generally dampen herd expansion and do little to act as incentive to feed more for

greater output. Feed prices and feed-related input costs remain favorable for dairy producers now, while their labor costs are rising due to many states adopting higher minimum wages.

Most industry observers believe the key to higher farm mailbox prices this year will be the ability for the U.S. to export as much of its surplus milk production and dairy product stocks to the international marketplace. However, with many of the large dairy-producing countries in similar situations of excess production and inventories, this might be challenging.

The large exporting countries globally are New Zealand, Australia, the 28 member-states of the European Union, Argentina and the United States. New Zealand’s milk production has slowed because of drought conditions. At this time, it is too soon to tell if this weather-related situation will continue in New Zealand or what impact it will have on feed and milk production there.

U.S. milk production is beginning to show signs of a slowdown, as well. In fact, the USDA reported a December 2017 U.S. milk production of just a little over 1 percent. We are seeing a slowing of the growth in cow numbers and in output per cow. Earlier, U.S. production was running close to 2 percent for quite a long time. Even the USDA has lowered its estimates of milk cow herd growth for 2018. It is likely dairy farmers are wisely making adjustments to slow down expansion, at least for the first half of 2018, as a result of the forecasts coming from government and academia.

The U.S. Dairy Export Council recently reported that exports were up over 14 percent in 2017. U.S. dairy exports to the NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 13

Economic Outlook

U.S. Dairy Export Value Rises 14% in 2017 2017

VS. PRIOR YEAR

Mexico

$1.3 billion

+8%

Southeast Asia

$690 billion

+3%

Canada

$636 billion

+1%

China

$577 billion

+49%

Japan

$291 billion

+41%

$5.5 billion

+14%

TOTAL TO ALL MARKETS

Source: U.S. Dairy Export Council. USDA.

international marketplace climbed to $5.48 billion last year.

This figure is the highest amount in three years. China, one of our Top 5 export destinations, increased its purchases of U.S. dairy products by 49 percent. In order, the Top 5 countries for dairy exports are Mexico, Southeast Asia, Canada, China and Japan. Collectively, these Top 5 represented an export value of $5.5 billion in 2017.

its buying around with more export suppliers. In recent years, Mexico imported nearly 90 percent of its milk powder needs from the U.S. This figure is now down to around 70 percent.

Mexico is also being solicited with low-priced surplus milk powder from Canada. Canadian sales to Mexico will further erode the U.S. share of market there.

THE EFFECTS OF HEAVY SURPLUS AND NAFTA

It comes as no surprise that our Canadian neighbor has become a significant problem for the U.S. dairy industry. Its swift creation of a new Class 7 price program was an intentional move to keep and restrict U.S. manufacturers of dry dairy ingredients from entering Canada. This was accomplished by establishing a lower price for its new Class 7 high quality powder products. Canadian dairy producers claim they had to do this to prevent U.S. milk supplies from displacing their market. Nevertheless, most industry observers believe Canada has willingly and flagrantly violated the NAFTA agreement, of which it is a part.

Enacted in 1993, NAFTA has helped eliminate barriers to trade. It successfully opened up markets for many services and products to flow between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Some U.S. dairy plants, a few in New York state, invested significant capital and resources based on NAFTA rules that were in existence. These rules have been broken, so a large volume of specialty manufactured dry dairy ingredients, previously made here in the U.S. and marketed to Canada, are no longer price-competitive there. Simply put, Canada created a new class of milk priced low enough to lock out the competition. The U.S. Federal Milk Market Order system

So, with dairy exports being critical to the U.S. dairy industry, what are some of the key issues, topics of concern and opportunities for 2018?

One is the tremendous surplus of milk powder that exists globally. Milk supplies that have exceeded consumer demand have gone into storage in the form of butter, cheese and milk powder. Milk powder surpluses in particular have become burdensome. The European Union, with its large inventories of government-purchased “intervention stocks,” has, and continues to, weigh in the market and pull milk prices down globally.

The EU must move this surplus and has recently been wooing Mexico with low product prices for sales into that country.

Mexico is a huge importer of U.S. milk powders. Last year, it purchased $1.3 billion in U.S. dairy products, but recent evidence reveals that Mexico is now buying more of its milk powders from the EU. Mexico is taking advantage of the fact that the EU and Canada have a surplus of very competitively priced milk powder for sale. Mexico may also be a bit nervous over the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the direction President Donald Trump may take. Mexico may not want to import so heavily from the U.S. and is spreading 14 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

THE ENCROACHMENT OF CANADA

Economic Outlook was impotent, unable and not flexible enough to fight back to keep the business.

The Canadian dairy industry is tightly controlled by design.

Milk production is supposedly controlled by a quota system that limits milk production at farms. Limiting production keeps market prices higher than what would exist without established quota limits, and high tariffs keep lower-priced product from other countries out of Canada. Lately, however, Canadian dairy producers have expanded their milk production just like many other progressive producers around the world. They have done so to the point where they, too, now have surplus dairy products looking for a home. Canada is selling its surplus powder dairy products into the world market, including to our largest customer, Mexico. Canadian exports of dairy ingredients to Mexico are up ten-fold. This is a contributing factor in the recent slip of Mexico’s imports of U.S. milk powder from 90 percent to 70 percent.

The creation of the new lower-priced Canadian Class 7 is harmful in two ways. Not only does it restrict similar higher-priced Class IV U.S. dry ingredients out of Canada in a protectionist fashion, but Canadians are dumping surplus powder they presently generate onto other countries at low prices, dragging down the entire market. The U.S. Dairy Export Council estimates that in 2017, the Class 7 price program led to a 200 percent surge of Canadian skim milk powders exported to the world market, displacing U.S. exports.

Mexico is also being solicited for imports by the EU, which sits on its own burdensome surplus. Many leading U.S. dairy organizations have joined with Trump and congressional leaders to pressure Canada to live up to its trade agreements and NAFTA. Talks to resolve the issue are still in the works, and Canada appears to be digging in its heels. The U.S. must be aggressive in 2018 in order to create a level playing field and to protect its export markets, particularly in Mexico. However, challenges to the Canadian exports will take years, and that will continue to displace legal U.S. dairy exports.

OPENING OPPORTUNITIES FOR U.S. EXPORTERS There are, however, optimistic factors worth noting and exploiting in 2018. China continues to increase its imports of U.S. dairy products. China’s imports were worth $577 million in 2017 and are up almost 50 percent from 2016. Powder sales to China doubled in 2017. Chinese consumers are still lagging in their consumption of dairy products per person. This means that China, as well as Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, represent huge emerging markets with enormous opportunity for the import of all sorts of U.S. dairy products.

Presently, the U.S. dollar is more favorable compared to other currencies for exports. Right now, the U.S. dollar is the weakest it has been in over three years. This is good for U.S. exports. The weaker U.S. dollar makes it more affordable for importing countries to purchase U.S. dairy products. A favorable lower dollar value increases the export competitiveness of U.S. dairy products abroad.

New Zealand, the world’s largest volume dairy exporter, has gone through some extremely volatile weather — too dry, too wet, too dry again. Milk production has slowed and pasture conditions are poor, which affect the availability and price of feed stocks. However, less milk supply in New Zealand can only help alleviate the global over-stocked condition. In addition, New Zealand’s neighbor, Australia, another large dairy-exporting country, seems to have slowed its milk production growth to nearly 1 percent, like the U.S. This trend is expected to continue throughout 2018.

In addition, there are very concerning key consumption statistics. Fluid milk consumption was again down from 2016.

December 2017 milk sales in tracked channels were -2.1 percent versus a year ago. White milk was -2.6 percent, while flavors grew +3.3 percent. For the year, total milk declined -2.4 percent in tracked channels, while USDA reports through November 2017 show the category as a whole was -2.0 percent. White conventional milk was -2.8 percent for the year, while conventional flavors were +3.9 percent. Lactose-free milk grew +10.1 percent, and health-enhanced milks grew +19.3 percent. Looking at trends by fat level, the higher the fat content, the stronger the sales trend. Whole milk grew +3.0 percent, while the fat-reduced products declined (2 percent milk was -2.8 percent, 1 percent milk was -6.1 percent and fat-free milk declined -13.4 percent).

Clearly, we are up against some real challenges in 2018, and and the laws of supply and demand are currently not tipped in our favor. We’re not alone in this, as many — if not most — of the other major milk producing nations are forecasting similar struggles. Time will tell. Like it or not, we’ve been through these highs and lows before, but, as always, we’ll keep a sharp eye on the opportunities that just might again tip the scales in favor of U.S. dairy exporters.

Gary Latta is a dairy product specialist consultant for the Northeast Dairy Foods Assoc., Inc. He has more than 30 years of experience in providing economic analysis, statistics and information to the dairy processing industry.

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 15

Dairy Food and Beverage Industry Faces Skills Gap in the Labor Force

BY JILL OSTERHOUT

A

ccording to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, manufacturing-related jobs have decreased by 65,000 since their all-time high. So, why is the dairy food and beverage consumer packaged goods industry having a hard time filling certain roles?

Today’s food, beverage and CPG workforce has a serious skills gap. Dairy CPG manufacturing is one of many industries that is facing crucial shortages that are strikingly evident as employers in the dairy industry look to fill critical manufacturing-related roles and other important positions in their companies.

Time and time again, they are finding that the fill rate timetable is anywhere from three months to a year, depending on the position. Roles within automation, engineering, IT, maintenance, R&D, quality and production have been hit hardest.

Employers across the industry are facing multi-tiered issues when it comes to hiring, including: 1) experienced employees retiring as Baby Boomers fall rapidly out of the job market without enough younger, qualified employees to replace them; 2) the rapid advancement of growth in technology within the manufacturing facilities and the increasing technological skills sets this now requires (specifically STEM — science, technology, engineering and math); 3) often rurally located

16 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

The Skills Gap dairy plants and offices that are not close to an accessible labor market with a qualified talent pool; 4) employers who are often out of touch with current market demands/conditions and using outdated recruiting and retention methods no longer as effective in today’s market.

WHY THERE IS A SKILLS GAP According to a Fortune magazine survey, as many as two-thirds of U.S. companies report having positions that they cannot find qualified applicants to fill. This problem is especially acute in technology-related roles. The technology that has automated millions of routine and lower-skilled jobs, taking those roles out of the plant and workforce, has created a skills gap. This skills gap means there aren’t enough qualified employees educated and trained in the U.S. to fill the roles that this new automation creates.

According to JP Morgan Chase, under the Trump administration, we can expect to see a large number of “re-shoring” of manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. The assumption is that many companies who have moved their labor forces offshore in order to lower labor costs will bring back some of those production and manufacturing jobs. While this might be a great thing for our economy, this will negatively impact companies, as it will mean even more competition for higher-skilled labor in those same hard-to-fill roles.

In many ways, the recession of 2008 has been resolved over the last 10 years. There were 5.3 million job openings in the U.S. in May 2016, compared to 2.1 million job openings at the depth of the recession. While this number is a positive trend, the amount of time it takes to fill these positions is still the issue. Again, this number is mainly due to a shortage of certain skill sets in the “middle-skill” positions. Many of the jobs created over the past 10 years are higher-skilled positions, and the education and job training needed to fill these jobs are sorely lacking in the U.S., especially compared to our European and Asian peers. Over the past 10 years, countries like India and Germany have graduated about five times the number of people with STEM-related degrees as compared to the number who have graduated within the U.S. “The research shows that 84 percent of manufacturing executives agree there is a talent shortage in U.S. manufacturing, and this gap will be exacerbated by more than 2.7 million professionals exiting the manufacturing workforce through retirement over the next 10 years,” said Craig Giffi, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP, and U.S. automotive sector leader.

“Our research estimates that the cumulative skills gap — or the positions that likely won’t be filled due to a lack of skilled workers — will grow to 2 million” around 2020 to 2025.

STRATEGIES, EDUCATION AND TRAINING The skills gap for American dairy CPG companies will not resolve itself. American companies now are faced with two options to deal with this growing issue — either develop strategies to locate and attract the high/medium skilled workers available worldwide or work with governments and colleges to provide education and training to the millions of available low-skilled workers.

Either way, American dairy food and beverage companies need an industry initiative, and they need a plan to begin the process of partnering in some capacity with local, state and federal governments, as well as with technical schools, colleges and universities on strategies to try to develop the workforce.

This is especially important because, according to recent surveys performed jointly by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, 90 percent of Americans support increasing manufacturing jobs in the U.S., but only 33 percent support their children pursuing an educational track that would result in a career in

Many of the jobs created over the past 10 years are higher-skilled positions, and the education and job training that is needed to fill these jobs are sorely lacking in the U.S., especially compared to our European and Asian peers. the manufacturing industry. This is a problem that was not created overnight, and it will not be solved overnight either. It is an issue that requires a long-term strategy that is supported by the dairy industry and the wider food and beverage CPG manufacturing industry as a whole.

Because technology fundamentally changes jobs across sectors and geographies, employers need to rethink whom, where and how they recruit; how they can use technology to substitute for skills, not just personnel; and how they adapt their ways of working. It is estimated that by 2020, there is likely to be a worldwide labor shortage of 95 million high/ medium-skilled workers across industries. On the flip side, there will be a surplus of 95 million low-skilled workers in the global labor force.

Continued on p. 18 NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 17

The Skills Gap

FILLING THE SKILLS GAP

EXPLORING NEW TALENT POOLS Because of this shortage, dairy manufacturers will have to be open to the options of exploring new pools of talent. That could mean bringing in qualified candidates from other countries (e.g., Europe, India, China and South and Central America) that have pools of skilled workers for those hard-to-fill roles.

(However, this strategy means H1-B visa sponsorship, which is a tremendously challenging process for many companies, or a willingness to pay more money to find and attract from the available pool of American skilled workers. Another potentially huge impact to the dairy industry talent pool is the recently re-introduced legislation that would require a minimum salary of $100,000 for anyone working in the U.S. on an H1-B visa.

The current minimum salary is $60,000.) This legislation was passed by the House Judiciary Committee in November 2017.

Many dairy manufacturers utilize the H1-B visa to bring over dairy scientists and R&D technologists from countries like India and China, mainly due to the shortage of talent in these areas with U.S.-based employees. If this legislation passes, it could be a further drain on talent available (or a huge increase in labor costs) because the typical dairy scientist or R&D technologist currently earns a salary of between $80,000 to $100,000 per year.

Another great source of talent lies in the Baby Boomer generation. Many of them are not ready to retire but find themselves being pushed out or discriminated against when applying to a new job due to age. This problem is not specific to the dairy industry. Often, hiring managers are looking for the younger “up and comers” because they might be able to save

18 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

Developing a modernized recruiting and retention strategy is imperative if a company is going to compete to attract and keep the top-level talent that is out there. a little bit of money on compensation. While there is nothing wrong with this, there is also much to be said for considering the more senior, experienced Baby Boomer candidate who brings more knowledge and experience to the table and still has a lot left in the tank. In today’s competitive industry, the younger workforce population is often career hungry and willing to bounce from job to job to increase their upward mobility. So, while the younger candidate may save a company money in the short term, the more senior candidate is typically more likely to stay for several years.

Requiring bachelor’s degrees regardless of experience is another limitation. Some middle-skill jobs may not require a degree as long as the candidate has significant work-related experience. This approach might have been effective during the recession, but in a strong U.S. job market, it simply doesn’t work.

The Skills Gap

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OVERHAULING STRATEGIES Recruiting and retention strategies in today’s economy and market need an overhaul. Human resources need to be in alignment with business strategy and needs. It is imperative that HR/recruiting teams operate with the full support and communication of internal hiring managers and that each internal department takes a realistic assessment and gap analysis on future growth in order to have a starting point.

From there, it is crucial to build a talent pipeline within an organization, utilizing internal and external sources. Just as every company engineers its product lines, its supply chain and its production process, it can engineer a talent pipeline.

Manufacturers have turned to analytics to better understand their production capabilities, and some are using it to help identify internal or external candidates to fit their positions.

In today’s market, more and more business owners are realizing that there is a need for a next generation “jobs revolution.” Those that are ahead of the curve are changing some fundamental tenants of beliefs and practices that go along with recruiting and attracting top-level talent. Developing a modern recruiting and retention strategy is imperative if a company is going to compete to attract and keep top-level talent. Utilizing internal HR partners, as well as external recruiting partners, can help achieve an effective strategy, keep a finger on the pulse of the market and make a company a highly desirable place for top talent to migrate.

Jill Osterhout is CEO and Managing Partner, KCO Resource Management, Inc.

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NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 19

The Skills Gap

Members Strive to Retain Employees

BY CAROLINE K. REFF

G

ood businesses need good employees. That’s true of every industry and most certainly that of dairy suppliers and manufacturers.

Without the people who run the machines, drive the trucks and ship the products, business comes to a screeching halt.

The old adage “good help is hard to find” still holds true today. Rural locations, lack of training or upward mobility, the retirement of Baby Boomers and a need for a greater work ethic are just some of the factors that can make the difference between a thriving and productive labor pool and one that can drag a company down.

The good news is that while these factors remain, the demand for good labor is high, which leads to opportunity for skilled employees and ultimately profits for companies.

Despite evidence throughout the industry that the pool of skilled labor is growing increasingly tight, many of the members of the association have proved otherwise. Clearly, our members want and need the best people and will go to great lengths to find and retain them through competitive wages, benefits, training and workplace cultures that put employees first.

While none are naïve to the current barriers and projected realities, several members of the association shared a fairly positive take on their current labor statuses and the efforts they are making to keep their businesses going strong.

20 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

CHOBANI Founded in 2007 with only five employees by Hamdi Ulukaya, an immigrant from Turkey, Chobani was one of the first major influencers of the now-booming Greek yogurt market. Ulukaya fashioned his product after the yogurt he remembered from his homeland and named the company “Chobani,” which means “shepherd” in Turkish, in order to instill the “hard-working and compassionate spirit of the mountain farmer.”

That spirit lives on today as Chobani reports more than $1.5 billion in annual sales and remains a leader in the ever-growing and highly competitive yogurt industry. With manufacturing plants in New Berlin, N.Y., and Twin Falls, Idaho, there is hard work to be done to get the products to consumers. At the New Berlin location, there are more than 700 full-time employees who fill seven different shifts, making Chobani one of the largest employers in the area.

While the company reports a very stable labor pool, it is always looking for good help. In the spirit of its immigrant founder, Chobani has tapped in to the large refugee population about 30 miles away in Utica, N.Y. To accomplish this, Chobani relies on StaffWorks, a staffing company that works closely with the Mohawk Valley Refugee Center. The center screens potential hires and makes sure each is a good fit for the often physically demanding jobs. Despite cultural differences and employees who speak many languages, Chobani has come to depend on this diverse population. To

The Skills Gap

Chobani has been successful keeping its workforce stable by proving on-site training to new employees.

keep things running smoothly, a StaffWorks employee is located Finding employees is one thing; keeping them is another. at the New Berlin site to help ensure that the workers succeed.

Chobani has been successful at this, however. The company “Our founder immigrated to this country to achieve the not only offers a competitive wage and benefits package American dream. Giving others that chance is important to but also a company culture that encompasses its founder, us,” says Valerie Wasielewski, human resources manager, who has been referred to as “a leader with a dream.” It’s noting that the refugees who come to not just about good wages; it’s also work at Chobani appreciate the opporabout a positive and family-oriented tunity and bring diverse experiences to company culture, training opportuthe company. “They love Chobani!” nities, investment in the employees she adds. and the ability for advancement. New Not all Chobani employees are refhires at the plant receive an extensive ugees or immigrants, of course. Many one-week introductory training that not come from just down the street or anyonly teaches them the ins-and-outs of where within an hour’s radius. Sometimes their jobs but also covers topics like the rural location does pose a challenge, ergonomics and safety. Others who have as many from outside of the area are not been identified as having the potential eager to live in or travel to a small town to move into supervisory roles are in the middle of New York state, but given further training and education Chobani has been generally successful on site through the Emerging Leader in keeping its workforce stable.

Program facilitated by Mohawk Valley Most employees start in entry-level —VALERIE WASIELEWSKI Community College.

Chobani packing positions with almost no ex“We definitely invest in our folks,”

It’s a high-paced, physically demanding job, and it’s not for everyone. We want to make sure the people we hire are cut out for this type of work.

They need to be a good fit.

perience in the industry and little to no vocational or college education. Employees with some experience in farming or the milk industry, heavy machinery operation, manufacturing or maintenance are highly sought after. The most important quality, however, is the willingness to work and engage in the success of the company.

“It’s a high-paced, physically demanding job, and it’s not for everyone,” Wasielewski says. “We want to make sure the people we hire are cut out for this type of work. They need to be a good fit.”

says Wasielewski “We think our people are our biggest assets.”

MERCER’S DAIRY Mercer’s Dairy has been in business in the small town of Boonville, N.Y., since the 1930s when the company delivered milk from the back of a wagon. In the 1940s, the Mercer family took over, growing the milk business until the 1960s, when the decision was made to switch to ice cream production.

Continued on p. 22 NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 21

The Skills Gap

Mercer’s has been in business since the 1930s. Above, Drew Pfendler has been the company’s production manager for seven years.

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About 10 years ago, the company again changed hands, as it was purchased by a group of area farmers. Today, Mercer’s still produces its traditional ice cream flavors like chocolate ripple and cookies and cream. However, the growth of the business is found in its specialty line of wine-infused ice creams with choices like cherry merlot and red raspberry chardonnay.

Dalton Givens, chief operating officer, and his wife, Ruth, CEO, joined Mercer’s in 2007. Living in Charlotte, N.C., Givens had retired a few years earlier from the securities field but was looking for new opportunities. Ruth’s aunt and uncle were part of the group of farmers who purchased the dairy, and they were looking for investors. By 2008, not only had Dalton and Ruth invested in the company, but they relocated north to run an ice cream business in an area with a population of about 2,000 people.

Mercer’s only requires about 10 employees to produce its products, but finding those employees was much harder than Givens anticipated when he joined the company. At first, the plant went through a lot of turnover. Givens quickly realized that it would not only be necessary to find good people who had a strong work ethic and weren’t afraid of physical labor, but that he would also have to provide the training necessary for them to succeed.

The Skills Gap So instead of requiring specific skills, Givens looked for employees who had the ability to learn quickly and think through problems, as well as those who could withstand the physical demands the job required.

After much trial and error, today Givens has what he refers to as “a solid crew” who are “extremely capable of taking care of business without much oversight.” While a few had some experience in farming or trucking, none came to him with specific skills in ice cream production. Givens did his part by training them on the specifics of the business — from understanding formulation and the pasteurization process to putting products together quickly and equipment operation.

He is pleased that he has employed his current production supervisor for seven years. Drew Pfendler is a 28-year-old who has taken on a great deal of responsibility that is helping Mercer’s thrive.

Givens realizes, however, that retaining quality employees is critical to his business. Mercer’s Dairy offers wages that are at the higher end of the pay scale compared to other businesses in the area.

The company also offers health insurance and other benefits. With only a handful of employees, Givens also realizes the importance of recognizing their accomplishments and treating them right.

“I want our employees to know that they are important to the business and the overall success of the company,” Givens says. “We try to give them a real sense of belonging and consider it more like a family around here. As a small business, we can do that. My door is always open, and anyone can come to talk to me. I consider them more like my kids than my employees.”

Despite the competitiveness of the ice cream industry, Mercer’s still maintains the highest quality of product using a “very old-time approach” that has been in place for the company’s 90-year history.

I want our employees to know that they are important to the business and the overall success of the company. We try to give them a real sense of belonging and consider it more like a family around here.

As a small business, we can do that.

—DALTON GIVENS Mercer’s Dairy

The small business has a storefront for local customers and has extended into co-packing and the private-label business.

Today, Mercer’s Dairy distributes its products throughout the United States and exports to 28 other countries.

Givens is not resting easy, however.

He’s very pleased with the direction of Mercer’s, and he has great hopes for greater productivity, an increased number of shifts and the ability to hire more employees. Of course, finding the right employees remains one of the key factors to this success. He always has his eye out for prospective employees with “gumption.” “It’s a southern word, I guess, but it comes down to finding people who want to work,” Givens says.

“You can train people, but you can’t create the desire to put in a hard day’s work.”

Continued on p. 24

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The Skills Gap

Great Lakes Cheese is proud of its family-oriented culture and engages its employees with a sense of ownership.

GREAT LAKES CHEESE Great Lakes Cheese is proud to be a part of the dairy industry with a focus on cheese. In 1958, Hans Epprecht, an immigrant from Switzerland, delivered his homemade cheese in his own neighborhood. Soon, the neighborhood grocers wanted more, and his customer base grew along with his product line and attention to greater packaging options.

Today, the company employs more than 2,800 people and is one of the premier manufacturers and packers of natural and process bulk, shredded and sliced cheeses with nine plants that distribute across the country.

One such location is in Cuba, N.Y., a rural area in the southwest part of the state. This is Great Lake Cheese’s primary mozzarella and provolone manufacturing facility. It also packages the company’s entire line of food service shreds and award-winning string cheese. Two-hundred-and-thirty employees are currently working at this site — almost 10 percent of the company’s total workforce.

Part of the company’s allure is its family-oriented atmosphere. The company remains family owned by the second generation of the Epprechts, and family members work at 24 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

the company alongside other employees. “The family is very engaged in the company,” says Kelly Gerrity, Cuba’s employee relations specialist. “Employees see that. They know that someone cares about them.”

That sense of family at Great Lakes Cheese extends even further, and it is not unlikely to see a father and daughter or mother and son working at the plant. Many employees grew up knowing their parents worked at Great Lakes in order to support their families, and this has only added to the sense of employee engagement.

“We have a family mentality here,” explains Gerrity.

“Employees see how good (the company) was to their mom or dad, for example, or how their family’s prosperity depended on the income they were able to count on from the company.

In turn, the next generation embraces that level of loyalty and fully engages in the success of Great Lakes Cheese.”

In addition, employees are considered “co-owners” of the company through a generous stock ownership plan that creates the mindset of hard work and attention to lean methodologies.

They know that every wasted product, hour or dollar is not just a loss to the company, but in effect, a loss of their own.

The Skills Gap Still, finding skilled help, particularly in a small rural area, is not easy. In many cases, it’s not possible, so Great Lakes Cheese is always seeking those with the potential to learn the necessary skill set to be an effective employee. The company needs people 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round, and it takes a certain work ethic and mindset to make that happen. Employees need to understand that the work can be physically challenging and the hours long. Skills are beneficial, but “the right attitude” can be more important.

According to founder Epprecht, “What makes the company successful is to find the right people, and then motivate them to do the best job possible.”

MIDLAND FARMS One of the leading dairy manufacturers in the Northeast, family-owned Midland Farms was founded in 2002 with two locations: a milk processing facility in Menands, N.Y., and a wholesale distribution center in Paterson, N.J. Midland is known for its popular line of healthy dairy products: milk, cream, orange juice, eggs, fruit juice and apple cider, as well as bulk milk and cream. Over the years, the company has seen

significant growth through the use of innovative technology, like state-of-the-art milk pasteurizing and the latest in sanitation technology with the help of its federally certified labs.

Rick Sedotto, vice president and general manager, joined the company in 2005 with 31 years of experience in the milk industry. Like so many others, he never considered this specific career path. After graduating from college, he sold telephone systems for a while but then found a higher-paying job with a dairy products processor in downstate New York. The dairy business stuck with him, and today he oversees 80 employees at the Midland Farms’ Menands location.

Because Midland Farms is located right outside of Albany, N.Y., employees are not hard to find, and the company has few problems keeping the plant fully staffed. Most employees hear of Midland by word of mouth from the company’s own employees; many simply walk right in the door to apply for a position at the plant.

A large labor pool still doesn’t ensure qualified employees with the necessary skills. Most new hires have little or no experience in the dairy industry, and everybody has to be trained.

To do so, Midland counts on its more seasoned employees to

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The Skills Gap Midland Farms has seen significant growth through innovative technology.

train the newcomers, a process that can take from two to four months, depending on the position.

“The skill set is not vast, but it is important,” said Sedotto.

“After training, I need my employees to do what they were taught and not change anything. The recipe for success is the recipe for success.”

Sedotto would like to see more training through internships, technical schools or colleges and universities that offer dairy-related programs. “That would take the learning curve to a much shorter level,” he says. In the meantime, training continues on site with incentive raises given to employees after their first 90 days of work, and the company does its best to promote from within. Most who make it to the two-year

26 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

mark tend to stay employed for the long haul with opportunities for the higher paying jobs of pasteurizers, supervisors and even managers.

“Everyone who starts work here knows that, and it encourages them to try and do their best, particularly if they want to eventually move up within the company,” Sedotto says.

“We’re looking for the individuals who want to work with integrity and will do the same thing the right way every time — whether someone else is watching them or not,” Sedotto says. “As long as everyone gives their best effort for the day, I’m satisfied.”

Caroline K. Reff is the editor of Northeast Dairy.

The Skills Gap Anika Zuber with a BOCES Culinary student working on making ice cream.

Educational Institutions Are Vital to Developing Manufacturing Workforce

BY ANIKA ZUBER AND CARL MOODY

W

ith milk being the largest agricultural commodity in New York state and emerging information technology consistently allowing us to produce more milk per cow, a skilled workforce will be needed to fulfill the potential of this industry.

It is projected that by 2020, our general workforce will be smaller and older due to the aging population and rate of retirement. As a result, workforce development should be at the forefront of our mind as we think about the future and meeting the growing demand for skilled workers. In some areas, Millennials (born between 1981 and 2000) are already

the largest sector of the population due to the decline of Baby Boomers (born between 1945–1964). In other regions, Millennial and Gen Xer (born between 1965 and 1980) cohorts are continually on the rise. This means that in order to have a relevant workforce for dairy foods manufacturing, our industry and partner institutions need to focus on these segments of the population when attracting people to careers in dairy manufacturing.

EDUCATORS PLAY A KEY ROLE At the educational institution level, it is recognized that dairy manufacturing workforce development is an important area of focus. This is demonstrated by

land-grant university extension efforts.

Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Harvest New York is a program that exists specifically to support the economic development of value-added areas of agricultural production, such as dairy processing. Two dairy processing specialists have been tasked with assisting economic development in dairy processing in Western and Northern New York, representing two high-volume milk production areas.

The training of existing employees is a large focus of these positions. The goal of focusing on current employees is to increase the individual’s knowledge and skills while also keeping them engaged in the industry. In 2015, the ratio of new hires to stable workers in food and NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 27

The Skills Gap beverage manufacturing was .58. This means that for every 100 stable food and beverage manufacturing jobs, there were only 58 new hires that year — approximately double the ratio for other manufacturing industry jobs (.30). When looking at these figures, it is important to recognize the issue of turnover and its relevance to creating a stable and strong workforce. By keeping focus on training existing employees, we are making an effort to bridge the turnover gap while guiding them in producing safe and high-quality dairy products.

It is also important to focus on attracting and training the next generation of the workforce, which is where community colleges and educational organizations come in. In 2014, Harvest New York and Cornell worked with Genesee Community College in Western New York to develop a curriculum for a twoyear associate degree program in food processing technology. The 63-credit curriculum includes information on the overall food industry, food safety and sanitation, analytical methods, unit operations and requires industry engagement through an internship. The ideal goal of the program is for graduates to enter positions in production supervision, labs, management, sales, marketing or food product development.

Harvest New York also participates on the advisory board for the Erie Community College Biotechnological Science Associate of Science degree program. This program has an emphasis on food processing technology. In this advisory role, Harvest New York contributes to the program direction and provides guest lecturers in food processing classes.

EARLIER FOCUS NEEDED It has also become apparent to extension specialists that young adults 28 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

do not receive information on food careers at an early enough point in their education. By the time young people are directed toward careers in the food industry, it is often at the point of college selection or during the job-search process. By focusing outreach efforts to younger education sectors, like high schools or vocational programs, we may be able to cultivate more interest in careers in food manufacturing. Some efforts have been made interfacing with students at career fairs, career exploration days and 4-H programs, working with local BOCES programs and mentoring efforts at high schools.

By focusing on this age group, we are hoping to intrigue both students and parents about the opportunities that exist in the food and beverage industry.

Harvest New York also works with the Western New York Tech Academy in Bergen, N.Y. The WNY Tech Academy is a STEM-based program that offers high schoolers education in one of three career pathways, including food processing technology, supply chain management and accounting. These programs are stackable with Genesee Community College programs and are offered to students for free.

A common sentiment among teachers is that they would love to talk to their students more about careers in food processing, but they themselves do not know what opportunities exist.

It is especially important to point out that many career tracks within the food industry link back to STEM skills. This gives students with an interest in science, technology, engineering and/or mathematics the opportunity to work toward trade-style education or higher education focusing on food science. The more dairy plants are involved with schools in their local communities, the more opportunity there is for collaboration.

INTERNSHIPS ATTRACT TALENT If our goal is to attract and maintain talent in the dairy industry, it is critical that the industry as a whole be involved.

Educational institutions from four-year universities and community colleges to vocational schools and traditional high schools can provide extremely valuable classroom and even hands-on knowledge to students. However, nothing can compare to internships, which allow for direct communication with actual plant employees, managers or owners; inclusion into a trade association; and even visibility within a community. Internships are a critical part of both attracting talent to the dairy industry and keeping that talent interested in dairy.

In terms of attracting talent, students, particularly those in college, are always looking for internship opportunities. While companies can and should be selective of the interns they choose, a student should not have to look far to find an opportunity in dairy. This is beneficial to both students and the industry, as students can find the skill sets they prefer at a very early point, rather than entering a full-time position they may dislike when they enter the workforce. This is the reason some college programs require an internship with an industry partner. High schools and trade schools can also offer their students exposure “straight from the horse’s mouth” by inviting extension educators or managers from nearby dairy plants to come into the classroom, offer field trips through area plants and even invite students to network at trade association events. If companies are serious about attracting talent, they need to find both traditional and creative ways to interact with high schools, vocational programs, colleges and universities well before graduation in order to let students know there are real opportunities available in the dairy industry.

The Skills Gap

14,100,000,000

The number of pounds of milk produced at the farm level in New York state in 2015.

9,567

The number of individuals employed by those dairy processing facilities.

manufacturing jobs is food or beverage related.

Overall, the opportunity for industry engagement in workforce development exists in many areas. Students of all ages are generally interested in food manufacturing if they are exposed to it before they have chosen other

362 The number of licensed dairy processing facilities in New York state.

paths. If educational institutions and industry partners can come together to create programs to attract and train individuals, we can propel our industry forward with the support of the future workforce.

Anika Zuber is a dairy processing and marketing specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension/Harvest New York. Carl Moody is a dairy processing and marketing specialist.

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 29

The Skills Gap

High School Students Often Don’t Consider Manufacturing Careers

BY CAROLINE K. REFF

A

sk your typical high school student what career path he or she wants to follow after graduation, and chances are that almost no one will say, “I want to work in the dairy industry.”

Yes, there are exceptions, particularly in more rural areas where students have grown up around farming, or those who have parents working in manufacturing.

For the most part, jobs in food and dairy manufacturing are simply not on young peoples’ career-plan radars.

“There are some really great jobs in the food and dairy industry, but students don’t know about them,” said Deborah Lynch, career program specialist for the Career Development Council, Inc., in Elmira, N.Y. “If they don’t know these jobs exist, then they don’t know they could be reaching for them.”

Lynch and her colleague Cindy Williams, also a career program specialist, work for the nonprofit agency that is a part of the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, better known as BOCES. The agency acts as a bridge between area high schools and local businesses. BOCES provides career and technical educational programs for high school students, as well as an array of other services targeting future job placement.

Williams covers school districts in Watkins Glen and Odessa-Montour, N.Y, while Lynch is responsible for 30 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

In the larger more suburban areas, it’s rare.

I’ve never had a student come in and say, ‘I want an agricultural career.’

—DEBORAH LYNCH the Horseheads School District in the Southern Tier of New York.

“About 20 percent in the Watkins Glen area want to go into manufacturing or farming because that’s what they know,” said Williams.

“In the larger, more suburban areas, it’s rare. I’ve never had a student come in and say, ‘I want an agricultural career,’” added Lynch.

However, some students do come in with aspirations related to jobs in science, particularly chemistry or biology. Then, it’s up to Lynch and Williams to show them that these skills are highly applicable to the food and dairy industries.

SHOW DON’T TELL Often, it’s easier to show than tell.

Both counselors talk to students about career goals and also try to set them up with a firsthand look at some of the

available career opportunities. They work with local school districts and teachers to find speakers and coordinate field trips.

They rely on places like nearby Cornell University or Binghamton University to allow students to sit in on classes related to their desired fields. They also organize shadowing experiences, where students can go on site to see what the work in a particular field is really like.

“Seeing it firsthand is a really good thing,” said Williams, “particularly in any kind of manufacturing job, which can be very physically demanding. Shadowing gives them a greater awareness of the expectations of the job.”

Lynch has found that food and dairy manufacturers in the area are sometimes reluctant to open their doors to these shadowing experiences, but she encourages them to see these opportunities as ways to ensure a stable work-force in the future.

BARRIERS TO JOB OPPORTUNITIES Both counselors admit that hard work is not always at the top of students’ lists when choosing a career. That factor can often make it more difficult to steer young people toward the dairy industry.

“I don’t know where the thought came from that work is supposed to be easy,” said Williams, adding that this is not an attitude unique to the food and dairy industries. “I think technology has increased some of that. Students expect instant gratification, and they don’t al-

ways want to learn things that are hard.”

Lack of encouragement at home can also be a barrier, even from well-meaning parents. “Parents are encouraging their children to stay away from manufacturing jobs because they know the work is hard and they fear the possibility of layoffs,” said Lynch. “They want their children to get a college education — but college is not for everyone. If some of these students had received machining training instead of going to college, they would probably be working steadily.”

The counselors say they have seen a shift from the early 2000s, when there was a push for every graduating student to go to college. For many, the end result was a lot of debt without the gratification of work in their intended fields.

Today, there has been a slow but steady trend toward steering students away from college and into the military, or toward some kind of paid job training.

Students who go to technical or trade schools today are, in fact, more likely to get a job very quickly because there are simply not enough skilled workers available. Entry level jobs in manufacturing can often start at around $25,000, and an experienced employee with a good work ethic and the ability to learn may eventually make upward of $70,000 to $80,000. Some often have the chance to move into management, as well.

“We try to open students’ eyes to the possibilities they don’t know are in front of them,” said Lynch. “Whether they want to go to college and become a food scientist or whether they’d rather go right to work after high school graduation

as a skilled laborer, there are so many interesting and prosperous jobs out there in the food and dairy industry. Our goal is to point them in the right direction.

Then, it’s their responsibility to carve out their future.”

A

t Agri-Mark, we are continually investing in the Northeast Dairy Industry because this is our home. We are now investing more than $20 million in our butter/powder/condensing plant in West Springfield, Massachusetts, shown above, for the 950 dairy farm families that own the co-operative. This project will be completed in mid-2018 and allow us to better serve our customers. Please contact us at 978552-5500 for more information on how we can serve you!

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 31

HumanResources

Understanding Generational Differences Improves Workplace Culture

BY CURT STEINHORST

F

or all of history, older people have been frustrated by younger people, and younger people have been frustrated by older people. Today, the issues that separate the generations are more defined than ever.

Recent trends impacting the youngest members of American society — internet availability, a lack of connection to the military and a dramatically different parenting strategy — have resulted in seismic levels of change. It’s no wonder that Millennials literally don’t see the world as their Baby Boomer predecessors do. (I should know; I’m a Millennial.)

The conflicts that can occur in the workplace between people of different generations can make it harder for employees to be their most productive and to have positive co-worker relationships. In my work for the Center for Generational Kinetics, I help all kinds of organizations understand and deal with generational differences.

us realize how radically different life experiences are from one generation to the next.

The Millennial generation is the first one to heavily buck the trend of automatically joining the family business.

• May be living in their old bedroom in their parents’ house • May be working in a first formal “career” position • Needs specific instructions regarding job expectations • Is used to a constantly connected world • Craves positive reinforcement • Thinks a phone call is a rude intrusion so prefers phone texts as a more polite alternative There’s real value both in texting and in placing personal phone calls. Both have a place, just as Boomer and Millennial employees offer unique skills, values and viewpoints in their work. With such divergent life orientations and experiences, it’s easy to see how conflicts can arise among workers of different ages.

Today, it’s not unusual to find four or even five generations — the Greatest Generation, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y/Millennial and Gen Z — working side-by-side.

With that dynamic, generational differences can manifest in glaringly different work styles, differing views about supervision and what constitutes appropriate work behavior.

Such differences can be overcome with some education and improved understanding. Much of what older generations think is common experience simply isn’t common; it’s generational. So, it helps to recognize we are all the products of our unique life experiences, and we all naturally believe that everyone else thinks just like we do. In reality, few of 32 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

DIVERGENT EXPERIENCES Comparing typical life experiences for someone of the Baby Boomer era to someone who’s a Millennial makes that clear.

BABY BOOMERS (BORN 1946-1964):

• Probably moved out of their parents’ house at age 18 • Were on their own right after high school graduation • By age 23, already had five years of full-time work experience • Are OK with working independently • Are comfortable making phone calls, the technology they grew up using

TODAY’S 23 TO 25-YEAR-OLD:

THE FUTURE: MILLENNIALS AND GEN Z Generational issues are especially pertinent for the food and dairy industry, which is experiencing a significant shortage of workers. There will be thousands of jobs open in the future. The only people available to fill them are the current Millennials and Gen Z candidates born after them.

Sales+Marketing

This industry also has its share of family-owned businesses, but the Millennial generation is the first one to heavily buck the trend of automatically joining the family business. (After all, this group was raised by parents who regularly affirmed their youngsters could do anything they wanted to do.) Still, a large number of Millennials have opted out of entering the family business to instead follow careers that more closely mirror their own interests.

Interestingly, our research center’s recently concluded national study shows big differences in thinking between America’s two youngest generations. While Millennials and the younger Gen Z-ers are similar regarding a dependence on devices and need for constant communication, there are big differences between the age groups.

Because Millennials have experienced a great deal of parental protection, they tend to have a sense of entitlement.

Their younger counterparts are far more practical and realistic. They’re the first generation in some time whose debt concerns factor in larger than prestige in deciding which college to attend. Gen Z-ers also are willing to put the time in to understand a process, and their mantra is “Just give me a job and give me a chance.”

FORMING MULTIGENERATIONAL TEAMS Dealing with different views and behaviors at work is the employer’s responsibility, but employees can help overcome difficulties, too. A simple tactic is to form multigenerational teams. That puts older and younger workers together to learn from each other and help them build understanding.

Forging positive, productive relationships with co-workers of different ages can be as much about walking a mile in someone else’s generational shoes as about being a pleasant and cooperative work associate.

In the future, employer dedication to addressing such conflicts and creating avenues for the generations to mesh will separate the best places to work from the others. Businesses that don’t address these issues will simply be frustrating places to work. Those that do will be better places to work, with good jobs for people of any age.

Curt Steinhorst is an entrepreneur and the founder of both Focuswise and the communications consultancy Promentum Group. He is a popular presenter on the topics of generations and Millennials, which he does on behalf of the Center for Generational Kinetics. You can read more about him and reach him at: www.focuswise.com.

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 33

Motivating Employees to Save With a 401(k)

BY ANDREW HAGEN, CFP

M

aybe your company already offers a pension for employees, but now you’re considering adding a company 401(k) plan. Or, perhaps you have no company retirement plan at all and would like to start a 401(k) program to help your employees save for their retirement. Either way, it is always good business to motivate your employees to save.

SWEETEN THE POT Free money is a good start. Matching at least some of your employees’ 401(k) contributions will boost their participation rate in the plan.

“The biggest thing an employer can do to encourage employee participation is to have a decent match,” said Thomas Jordan, senior manager at AXA Equitable. “Many plans match dollar for dollar on the first 3 percent of deferred contributions. Having a match is a big inducement to contribute.

For employees, if a plan offers you a match and you don’t participate at least to that level, you’re giving money away.”

A study by WorldatWork and the American Benefits Institute found that 92 percent of companies that offered a 401(k) plan matched employee contributions.

34 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

MAKE CONTRIBUTING THE DEFAULT SETTING Another way to boost employee participation is to make it automatic, according to Jordan. According to WorldatWork, 56 percent of companies automatically enroll employees in a 401(k) as soon as they become eligible, usually after one year on the job.

“For most people, inertia is a big thing,” Jordan said. “If individuals have to make a point of going to Human Resources just to enroll, a lot of times they will just keep putting it off.”

With automatic enrollment, an employee must make a conscious effort not to participate. Among companies with automatic enrollment, just over a third reported that 90 percent or more of their employees participated in the plan, but only 19 percent of those companies without automatic enrollment saw 90 percent or more plan participation, according to the study.

SET AUTOMATIC INCREASES To boost contributions beyond the minimum, offer an escalating feature to increase the percentage of deferred contributions. Twenty-six percent of the companies surveyed said their plans had both an automatic enrollment and an escalation feature. Most companies surveyed (97 percent) boosted contributions by one percentage point each year.

HumanResources Dairy Foods Extension

SHOW THEM THE MONEY! To help employees understand the benefits of saving and the power of compounding interest, run the numbers. Show them how they can join the “Millionaire’s Club.” For example, take a 30-year-old employee who starts with $1,000 in a 401(k), earns $40,000 per year and contributes $4,000 to a 401(k) per year with an additional 3 percent match from his or her employer. The employee gets a raise of 2 percent per year and an annual rate of return of 7 percent. After 37 years, at retirement age, the employee will have saved $1,106,674!

Many association members already have a 401(k) plan in place through an association-sponsored platform that lowers costs and eases administrative burdens for its members.

Those members without a current plan can take advantage of this recently launched program. It allows them to establish a 401(k) with much more competitive pricing. Many members have a plan in place but not through a platform sponsored by this association. Both members with existing plans, as well as members who would like to start a plan, would potentially benefit by the cost savings and administrative ease of the plan sponsored by the Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc. For more information about this new member benefit program, visit the association’s website (www.nedairyfoods.org), Member Services link or contact Andrew Hagen, CFP, at 866-425-6344, or Bruce Krupke, executive vice president of the Northeast Dairy Foods Association, at 315-452-6455.

This article is provided by Andrew Hagen. Andrew Hagen offers securities through AXA Advisors, LLC (member FINRA, SIPC) 120 Madison St., Suite 1900, Syracuse, N.Y. 13202, and annuity and insurance products through an insurance brokerage affiliate, AXA Network of Connecticut, Maine and New York, LLC and its affiliates.

This article has been written by and obtained from an outside source and is provided for general information purposes only. This material does not constitute an offer or solicitation of any kind and is not intended, and should not be relied upon, as investment, tax, legal, or financial advice or services. Securities offered through AXA Advisors, LLC (member FINRA, SIPC) (NY, N.Y. 212-314-4600); annuities and insurance offered through AXA Network, LLC (AXA Network Insurance Agency of California, LLC; AXA Network Insurance Agency of Utah, LLC; AXA Network of Puerto Rico, Inc.).

Cornell Dairy Food Extension Training Schedule for Spring 2018 Workshops take place at Cornell University, Ithaca NY unless otherwise specified.

Pathogen Environmental Monitoring March 20-21, 2018 UHT/HTST Pasteurizer Workshop April 10-12, 2018 Dairy Lab Seminars Multiple dates and locations Dairy Science & Sanitation - VT May 15-16, 2018 PCQI Brooklyn NY May 15-17, 2018 Accurate Labeling May 30-31, 2018 The Science of Yogurt Basic Level June 5-6, 2018 To register for any of our workshops visit:

bit.ly/2018DairyExtCalendar Cornell University Dairy Foods Extension 411 Tower Road Ithaca, NY 14853 (607)255-3459

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 35

Labor Law

Proposed NYS Employee Scheduling Regulations: What Employers Need to Know

BY WHITNEY KUMMEROW, ESQ.

T WORK

36 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

he New York State Department of Labor recently proposed new regulations for “just in time,” “call-in” or “on call” scheduling in order to establish more fair and predictable scheduling for workers and flexibility for employers. This is in response to a common practice where employers schedule or cancel workers’ shifts just hours before, and sometimes even after, employees report to work.

In advocating for these regulations, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo claimed that these changes are the most expansive work schedule regulations in the U.S. Similar rules are already in place in New York City, San Francisco and Seattle, as well as the state of Oregon. Thirteen other states are currently considering similar regulations.

While these new regulations are not unique to the dairy foods industry, they do apply to many employers in this sector. New York state law already requires four hours of call-in pay at the minimum wage when an employee reports to work and is sent home early, but these regulations go further. Here is some information that can help you keep up with these new requirements: • The regulations cover all industries and occupations that are not exempt from the minimum wage law and that are not covered by separate minimum wage orders for hospitality, building service and agriculture. The regulations do not apply to employees who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement that expressly provides for call-in pay or to employees during work weeks when their weekly wage exceeds 40 times the applicable basic hourly minimum wage rate.

LaborLaw

• An employee who, by request or permission of the employer, reports to work for any shift for hours that have not been scheduled at least 24 days in advance shall be paid an additional two hours of call-in pay. The unscheduled shift payment requirement does not apply to any new employee during the first two weeks of employment.

The unscheduled shift payment requirement also does not apply to any regularly scheduled employee who volunteers to cover a new and additional shift during the first two weeks that the shift is worked or a shift that had been scheduled at least 14 days in advance to be worked by another employee.

• An employee whose shift is cancelled within 72 hours of the scheduled start of such shift shall be paid for at least four hours of call-in pay. The cancelled shift payment requirement does not apply when an employer cancels a shift at the employee’s request. The cancelled shift payment requirement also does not apply when operations at the workplace cannot begin or continue due to an “act of God,” or other cause not within the employer’s control, including, but not limited to, a state of emergency declared by federal, state or local government. Provided, however, that where operations can begin or continue but staffing needs are reduced due to acts of God or other cause not within the employer’s control, the 72-hour period shall be reduced to 24 hours for regularly scheduled employees.

• An employee who, by request or permission of the employer, is required to be available or “on-call” to report to work for any shift shall be paid for at least four hours of call-in pay. An employee who, by request or permission of the employer, is required to be in contact with the employer within 72 hours of start of the shift to confirm whether to report to work, often referred to as “call for schedule,” shall be paid for at least four hours of call-in pay, as well.

CALL-IN PAY IS CALCULATED AS FOLLOWS: • Actual

attendance: Payment for time of actual attendance shall be calculated at the employee’s regular rate or overtime rate of pay, whichever is applicable.

• Minimum

rate: Payments for other hours of call-in pay shall be calculated at the basic minimum hourly rate. Such payments are not payments for time worked or work performed and need not be included in the regular rate for purposes of calculating overtime pay.

• Offsets: Call-in pay shall not be offset by the

required use of leave time or by payments in excess of those required under this part.

• Shorter work days: The four hours of call-in

pay for reporting to work and for cancelled shifts may be reduced to the lesser number of hours that the employee normally works for that shift, as long as the employee’s total hours worked, or scheduled to work, for that shift do not change from week to week.

More information is available from Kummerow at wkummerow@hancocklaw.com or through the New York State Department of Labor at www.labor.ny.gov.

Whitney Kummerow, Esq., is a partner with Hancock Estabrook, LLP, specializing in labor and employment, education and start-up and emerging businesses. This article is for information purposes and is not intended as legal advice.

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 37

Sales+Marketing

Ask the Powerful Questions to Drive Profit, Find Solutions

BY JON DENNEY

A

sk questions — loads of them. That’s one of the techniques I recommend as a great way for business owners and executives to implement new ideas and take on fresh perspectives that will help their companies thrive.

The questioning process helps teams and leaders think in detail about their operations. Questions help ferret out what is liked about company practices and what’s not; what’s working and what’s not. Especially when the intent is generating greater profits, questions clarify situations and help people get where they want to be at year’s end.

What I call my long list of “powerful questions” considers the most basic and significant business profit-drivers. The list is not comprehensive, but it helps illuminate issues and assists in solution-making. Many times, making better profits doesn’t necessarily mean working harder; sometimes it just means working smarter. Here are some conversation starters.

PRICE INCREASES

• When is the last time you made increases in your pricing?

• The last time you increased pricing, how did it affect your business? Did you lose any customers because of it?

• What is your company’s net profit margin? If you increased your pricing slightly (by 2 to 5 percent), what would happen to your net profit margin?

• Are you doing a lot of discounting? If you are discounting, do you think it’s helping your bottom line by increasing sales? Or, is there a chance you’re just giving money away?

• Do your salespeople sell on price? Are they clearly articulating the value of your product/service and earning business through increased quality and/or increased service — rather than commoditizing your product/service?

• As your own costs of doing business have risen, what have you done to be able to maintain your margin (or improve it)?

• Is it time to consider raising some or all of your pricing?

38 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

A HIGH FUNCTIONING SALES TEAM

• Are your salespeople earning new business? Or, have they settled into just being “order-takers?”

• Do you have an effective selling system or “sales model?”

Or, are your salespeople flying by the seat of their pants?

• Are you actively courting a list of “Top 10” prospective customers? Or, are you ignoring the larger prospective accounts that could make a big difference in your sales revenue?

• Do you have systems in place to follow up with lost customers to earn back their business?

• Are your salespeople digging deep to determine what other products/services you could offer to your existing customers?

• Are you earning a favorable return-on-investment from your marketing efforts?

• Is your marketing message fresh and relevant? Or, are you just using the same text you’ve always used to deliver the (same old) sales pitch?

• Is organic sales growth your best strategy moving ahead?

Or, is it time to consider the pros and cons of buying a competitor to gain market share?

COST-CUTTING MEASURES

• Are you fielding a team of superstars? Or, do you have some people on your team who are probably not a great fit?

• Are you currently overstaffed? Are you currently employing extra people to make up for the weaknesses of people on your team? This question is pertinent because companies sometimes have staff members who can’t fulfill their entire job duties, so the company hires

Sales+Marketing ms e t s y s e hav Do you up w o l l o f o t in place ers to m o t s u c with lost eir business? ck th a b n r a e l e forma v a h y n a ur comp ms for new Does yo g progra g learnin g training in u in t n d co -trainin hires an d cross n a s ie nit bers? opportu ing team mem t for exis

How can you improve communication within your company?

How much is employe e turnover co sting you? ve any Do you ha omers? ble cust unprofita

me i t t s a l e h t s i When s e s a e r c n i e d Are you fielding a you ma g? team of superstars? n i c i r p r u o y in What is the least profitable product or service your company offers?

additional people to shore up those weaknesses. That can result in a bloated payroll.

• What would happen to your profitability if you invited a poor-performing employee to find another line of work elsewhere (where he/she may be more successful)?

• Are you competitively bidding the products/services that you purchase on a regular basis? Or, are you being blindly loyal to vendors you’ve used for years?

• What is the least profitable product or service your company offers?

• Is there anything you can do about that? Conversely, what is the most profitable product or service your company offers? Is there any way you can sell more of it?

• Where do you have expensive waste? What systems can you put in place to greatly reduce or eliminate that waste?

• Ask, “How can we reduce expenses?” (A good time to do that is after looking at every expense line on your income statement.)

• Do you have any unprofitable customers? What should you do about that?

• What services are you currently outsourcing that may make sense to bring in-house?

• What services are you currently doing in-house that may make sense to outsource instead?

• How is your employee retention? How much is employee turnover costing you? (You may find that you can implement better interviewing systems including reference checks, better training programs and mentoring for new-hires, providing cross-training opportunities, offering opportunities for professional advancement and so on.)

• Is there a less-expensive way for you to finance your debt?

• Are there any legal strategies you can put in place to reduce your tax liabilities?

Continued on p. 40

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 39

Sales+Marketing

Many times, making better profits doesn’t necessarily mean working harder; sometimes it just means working smarter.

INCREASING EFFICIENCIES As you already know, finding efficiencies can be as crucial to the bottom line as saving costs. However, sometimes it’s hard to see them without taking a closer look. These queries may help.

• Are there recurring errors in your business? If so, how can you improve your training or your systems to make sure those costly mistakes get eliminated?

• Could technology updates (or new technology) help increase efficiencies?

• How could you streamline your company operations (in every department) to reduce wasted time?

• How could you improve your business planning in order to maximize efficiencies?

• How can you eliminate mistakes?

• How can you improve communication within your company?

• Would improved communication between departments help make sure everyone is working together better to reduce wasted time? Would updated systems also help to do that?

• Does your company have formal training programs for new hires and continuing learning opportunities and cross-training for existing team members?

40 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

You may want to have a professional who is not your primary accountant take a look at what you’ve been doing. A second set of eyes may pick up on something your primary accountant has overlooked.

PERSONAL TIP

TWO POWERHOUSES And now, here are the two most powerful questions of all: • What are the profit-killers in your business that you know you should fix, but haven’t had the time to address?

• What are you going to do about that NOW? You’re sure to think of other questions related to the specifics of your own business, but, hopefully, this composite has sparked ideas you can use to make your company its most profitable yet.

Jon Denney heads the Professional Business Coaches Alliance, North America’s premier business-coaches organization. He also operates Jon Denney Executive Coaching, LLC. In the past 10 years, he started and grew four different, profitable, multi-million-dollar ventures.

Safety

Prioritizing Workplace Safety Benefits Employers, Companies and Bottom Line

BY DAVID WALLACE

L

abor costs are a significant portion of overall operation expenses. Time spent hiring, training and on wages and benefits paid are direct costs that affect overall labor management practices. Investing in the right employees is critical, and, should you experience turnovers, your cost will run 150 percent of an employee’s wages. Retaining qualified employees and reducing turnover is an important factor in managing your labor pool.

Workplace safety is also a critical component that must be incorporated within your labor management practices.

First and foremost, employees, their families and employers never want to experience workplace injuries. Employees deserve the right to a safe work environment. Making safety a priority helps retain qualified employees, creates loyalty and reduces turnover. Studies conducted by the Agriculture Safety & Health Council show that every dollar spent on workplace safety saves between $4 and $6 for each dollar invested. Here are a few key questions when considering work place safety:

Why is workplace safety important?

• Safety programs create a more productive work environment • Absenteeism drops when effective safety programs are introduced • Work premises are kept to a higher standard • A safe work environment produces happier employees • Employee injury claims are reduced • Your most valuable company assets are protected • Safety reduces business costs and disruption

What are the direct costs associated with managing your workers’ safety program?

Workers’ compensation coverage is statutory and is a direct expense paid by your company. The rates you pay are established by the Workers’ Compensation Rating Bureaus and are applied to the work your employees perform. The rates you pay are modified either up or down based on losses incurred.

Depending on your premium size, credit modification of up to

Studies conducted by the Agriculture Safety & Health Council show that every dollar spent on workplace safety saves between $4 and $6 for each dollar invested.

25 percent can be developed with lower than expected industry losses. Conversely, with higher than expected losses, a 25 percent debit modification can be generated. For example, if your workers compensation premium is $100,000 annually and you have a .75 credit modification, the net cost equals $75,000. If you have poor experience and your modification is 1.25, your premium development cost equals $125,000. These numbers show that with a well-established safety program and operating with minimal losses, your premium development can save your company significant expense dollars. An excellent safety program can also lead to additional discounts and dividends, which add to your workers’ compensation cost reductions.

What are the indirect costs of work-related injuries to employees?

The indirect costs associated with lost time injuries can triple the cost of the injured workers’ wages paid for replacement workers, cost of lost production, overtime hours and time spent on administration costs.

We know that management is committed to operating profitably. Thus, this commitment must include an expense allocation to designate a safety director or a full-time safety position. Your direct operating expense costs will cover the safety director’s responsibilities, create a safe work environment and enhance your overall labor management practices.

David Wallace is an account executive, alternative market specialist for Brown & Brown Empire State.

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 41

OSHA UPDATES

What’s New and What You Should Know

BY STEPHEN VALENTINE, CIH

A

s an employer, it is important for you to keep a pulse on what’s new at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as the current trends in OSHA citations. This allows you to better understand OSHA hot topics and where you should be focusing your safety initiatives and efforts.

Here are some OSHA changes that could affect the dairy industry:

PENALTY INCREASES Starting on Aug. 1, 2016, the cost of an OSHA citation nearly doubled, and employers being cited are now seeing significant increases in the cost of non-compliance.

• Serious Violation: Increased from a $7,000 maximum per violation in 2016 to a maximum of $12,934 per violation in 2018.

• Willful/Repeat Violation: Increased from a $70,000 maximum per violation in 2016 to a $129,336 maximum per violation in 2018.

TOP 10

OSHA VIOLATIONS

FOR 2017

Note: Listed are the top violations for general industry and construction with some basic compliance points.

Construction violations include No. 1 (fall protection), No. 3 (scaffolding), No. 6 (ladders) and No. 9 (fall protection), which have been removed from the list.

No. 2.

Hazard Communication (Written HAZCOM Program, chemical inventory, SDSs, container labeling and training).

No. 4.

Respiratory Protection (Written Respiratory Protection Program, medical surveillance, fit testing and training).

No. 5.

Lockout/Tagout (Written Lockout/Tagout Program, equipment-specific LOTO procedures, appropriate LOTO equipment and training).

No. 7.

Powered Industrial Trucks (Operator training, proper operation and daily/ pre-use inspections).

No. 8.

Machine Guarding (Proper guarding of equipment and machinery point of operation).

OSHA SPECIAL EMPHASIS PROGRAMS OSHA currently has about a dozen national special emphasis programs in place, one of which is process safety management. Specific to the dairy industry, this includes operations with over 10,000 lbs. of ammonia being used for refrigeration. Those employers exceeding this threshold have multiple requirements to meet the OSHA PSM standard, as well as EPA Risk Management Plan requirements. Both agencies have been known to issue significant citations relating to non-compliance with these requirements.

Continued on p. 44 42 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

No. 10. Electrical (Proper use of electrical wiring methods and exposed electrical).

DAIRY PLANT ENGINEERING SERVICES INCLUDE Plumley Engineering has served the engineering needs of the dairy industry in upstate New York for over 30 years.

• Wastewater Treatment and Pretreatment • Water Supply and Treatment • Regulatory Permits • Land Application of Biosolids and Dairy Processing Waste • Structural Modifications and Plant Expansions • Silo Foundation Design and Construction • Environmental Compliance

Please contact Dale R. Vollmer, P.E. at dvollmer@plumleyeng.com for more information.

8232 Loop Road, Baldwinsville, NY 13027 | Telephone: (315) 638-8587 Fax: (315) 638-9740 www.plumleyeng.com

OSHAUpdate SLIP, TRIP AND FALL HAZARD PROTECTION

SEVERE INJURY REPORTING PROGRAM

OSHA updated the current walking-working surfaces standard back in early 2017 related to preventing slips, trips and falls in general industry, as well as updating the work at heights requirements. The main changes include fall hazard assessments, selection of fall protection systems and required fall protection safety training. For the dairy industry, this could certainly apply to work on roofs conducted by plant personnel.

Starting on Jan. 1, 2015, employers were required to notify OSHA of a single work-related fatality, hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye. Fatalities must be reported within eight hours, and any in-patient hospitalization, amputation or eye loss must be reported within 24 hours.

It is important for our members to take a moment to assess applicability and compliance with some of these new and/or updated OSHA standards. Additionally, use the information from the OSHA citation trends to focus on your own safety initiatives. If you understand where OSHA is finding issues at other workplaces, you can implement effective compliance strategies to help prevent potential violations.

ONLINE INJURY/ILLNESS REPORTING Starting on Dec. 1, 2017, certain employers were required to submit their OSHA injury/illness recordable information (OSHA 300A) online. For 2017, it included employers with more than 250 employees and certain high-risk industries with between 20 and 249 employees. This will continue in 2018 — for most as of July 1 — as an annual requirement and include virtually all manufacturing, construction and many service-related industries.

Stephen Valentine, CIH, is the director of environmental, health and safety with Partners Environmental Consulting (formerly Greystone) in Syracuse, N.Y. He is a consultant to Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc., members, and can be reached at svalentine@partnersenv.com or 315-263-3183.

Your Logo

Where you need it most

Spinnaker Custom Products is

your trusted source for • • • • •

Custom apparel and safety gear Employee reward and recognition programs Custom branded company stores Event signage, displays, banners, tents Promotional items for job fairs, trade shows and events

Let our expert staff make your job easier!

Call today! 315 431-2787 44 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

spinnakercustom.com

BeneďŹ ts of Association Membership EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND INDUSTRY CONSULTANT SUPPORT Legislative Representation Through Executive Lobbying and Networking Safety and Environmental Information Economic Analysis and Forecasting Continuing Education and Certification Opportunities Industry Spokesperson Emergency Preparedness

PROFESSIONAL COST-SAVING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES Dedicated Industry-Specialized Insurance Programs Employee Benefits - 401(k) Retirement Program Energy Supply and Consulting Services

NETWORKING AND MEETING EVENTS Annual Northeast Dairy Convention Annual Dairy Industry Clambake Industry Plant Tours Annual Charity Golf Outing Fundraiser

COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS Editorial News Support - Northeast Dairy Magazine Social Media Support Direct Customer Advertising Opportunities Industry Scholarship Program Member Distribution of Dairy News of Key Industry Information

ADVOCACY An association represents your interests before your government leaders, industry and business community. If your business/ industry faces major threats or needs support, our association is right there on the front line fighting for you.

NETWORKING Association events, meetings and member directories make networking a reality for you and your peers. This is the one advantage many view as the most important reason to join!

Member News

Northeast Dairy Foods Association Member News and Announcements

Advanced Process Technologies, Inc., serves the dairy and food industry with plant concept, design, process, mechanical and electrical/automation engineering, along with equipment manufacturing and complete installation. To better serve the growing number of customers in the United States and Canada, APT is adding a manufacturing facility in Minnesota.

With this expansion, APT will occupy five major buildings totaling over 100,000 square feet of manufacturing and production space. With facilities in several states and experienced employees positioned across the country, the company is able to respond quickly to customer needs. In addition, APT recently hired Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker Mark Gustafson as cheese technologist. In his new role, Gustafson will help and train cheese makers to use APT equipment, as well as assist in cheese plant start-ups. The addition of

46 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

Gustafson will allow APT to provide a broad background of knowledge and a mutual understanding on so many other aspects of cheese making, according to President Craig Campbell.

You may have to look twice on the supermarket shelf to find Chobani, but, never fear, it’s there. It just has a new look. The new packaging removes “Greek Yogurt” from underneath the Chobani name and is more muted and uses a new, easier to spot type and style that features watercolor paintings of fruit.

No worries, though, the yogurt inside remains the same. Last year, Chobani overtook General Mills, Inc.’s, Yoplait as the best-selling-yogurt brand in the U.S., according to the market research firm Euromonitor. Today, it offers not only its mainstay Greek yogurt but also a less tart, smooth yogurt, as well as Chobani Flip, which has yogurt on one side and mix-ins on the other.

The month of March had a little luck ‘o the Irish for Byrne Dairy, as it put its much-anticipated Irish mint milk on the shelves for a limited time. Sold in half gallon glass bottles, the concoction of whole milk with sugar mint flavoring topped with a green sheen is a seasonal favorite thanks to Byrne Dairy’s Syracuse, N.Y., milk plant, which churns out the delicious Central New York favorite.

The company started this tradition in 1976 when it made the milk in half pint cartons for local schools. The demand for the green milk grew quickly, and no

Member News

St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the area was complete without it. Annually, Byrne Dairy sells an average of 6,000 gallons of green milk from February through St. Patrick’s Day. The farmer-funded dairy checkoff is ensuring that more than 50 million Americans eating fast food every day have the option to choose milk and dairy foods in top quick-serve restaurants. According to Rick Naczi, CEO of American Dairy Association Northeast, dairy checkoff has developed partnerships with Domino’s, McDonald’s, Taco Bell and others to put more dairy-based items on the menu, thereby selling more dairy.

The partners selected by dairy checkoff are those that are both leaders in the industry and willing to invest in innovation, marketing, advertising and infrastructure that will increase sales and trust among consumers.

The nearly 15-year partnership between checkoff and McDonald’s has boosted the sale of milk and dairy products with 80 percent of the restaurant’s menu, including dairy. Last September, McDonald’s relaunched its McCafé beverage line, of which 90 percent includes dairy. Checkoff’s partnership with Domino’s has increased the pizza chain’s overall cheese usage by more than 59 percent. Taco Bell grew dairy sales by 10 percent in 2016 thanks to an increased focus on cheese and two limited-time launches, the Quesalupa and Cheesy Core Burrito, which were developed by checkoff scientists. Pizza

Hut is now adding 25 percent more cheese on every signature Pan Pizza.

This impacts nearly one-third of pizzas sold by the chain, as an incremental 150 million pounds of milk will be used each year.

The Cornell Dairy Foods Extension Program focuses on supporting the production of safe quality dairy products with specific expertise in microbial spoilage and food safety issues. This program offers an extensive set of workshops that lead to certificates in fluid milk production, cheese production, membrane filtration and separation, and production of yogurt and fermented dairy products.

Many of its course offerings are available both on campus for a mixed classroom experience, allowing participants to network with others in the dairy industry, as well as on site for a more

plant-specific training experience.

Both types of courses allow participants to concentrate on specific topics pertinent to the industry with case studies and exercises designed to apply knowledge. Core courses within the program are offered in a multi-modal format, with four to six hours of online lecture-based content allowing for more a hands-on focused campus experience.

To further meet the food industry needs, multiple courses focusing on preventive controls for human food qualified individuals will continue to be offered in 2018. This course is also available as an on-site training for your workforce.

Cornell Dairy Foods Extension Program also offers HACCP and SQF practitioner training with updates related to Version 8 of the updated SQF code. New courses being offered in 2018 include The Science of Artisan Ice Cream, Statistical Process Control, Accurate Labeling to

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 47

Member News

Reduce Recall Risk, and Foreign Supplier Verification Programs. Courses returning to the training schedule are Pathogen Environmental Monitoring and Specialty Cheese Making.

The 2018 training calendar is available on the Dairy Extension website and includes training delivered in Ithaca, N.Y., as well as partner courses with Oregon State University, the University of Vermont, The Ohio State University and other organizations.

Ingredia now has Non-GMO Project Verified ultra-filtered milk, milk protein concentrate (MPC) and milk protein isolate (MPI) available through its partner, Cayuga Milk Ingredients. According to Non-GMO Project Verified’s website, the total market sales in 2017 totaled $24.5 billion coming from over 45,000 different retail products. This market is projected to grow more than 16 percent annually over the next three years. The Non-GMO Project Verified Group saw a +17 percent growth in Non-GMO Project Verified retail sales across 13,000 different retails in 2017. The Mellman Group found that 89 percent of Americans favor mandatory labels for food products that contain GMOs. With a delay in government regulations, consumers will continue to need a verification they can trust for their product. Ingredia, in partnership with Cayuga Milk Ingredients, is now able to offer three protein solutions for the U.S. market to meet consumer demand.

Dean Foods Company announced in

48 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

January that food and consumer packaged goods industry veteran Jody Macedonio joined the company as executive vice president and chief financial officer as of February 2018.

“We are very excited to have an executive of Jody’s caliber join our management team. With deep financial and operating experience in food and consumer packaged goods — including proven success in driving significant financial improvement and sustainable business performance — Jody will contribute immediately to Dean Foods,” says Ralph Scozzafava, CEO. “Her expertise will be instrumental in our continued focus on winning in private label, building and buying strong brands and driving our cost productivity agenda.”

Consumers are looking for sustainable packaging, and for many that means packaging made with renewable materials. Evergreen Packaging, a global leader in the manufacturing of refrigerated paper cartons, debuted a fully renewable carton as part of its Renewable Plus Carton line featuring sugarcane-based polyethylene.

Part of the Evergreen Packaging

family of FreshHouse Cartons, the new Renewable Plus Cartons underscore the company’s commitment to developing sustainable packaging solutions from renewable materials. The new Renewable Plus Carton reflects a promise to continually innovate and create unique renewable packaging solutions that serve both customers and consumers, according to DeWitt Clark, vice president of North American packaging. Made from responsibly sourced fiber, FreshHouse cartons are made from a renewable material, paper from trees grown in forests where responsible management practices are used and where overall growth exceeds use. Renewable fiber from trees plus renewable polyethylene from sugarcane result in a paper carton that is fully sustainable. In addition, more than 50 percent of the energy used to manufacture the cartons is biomass, a renewable energy source derived from wood byproducts. The cartons are also recyclable.

Evergreen Packaging is focused on developing innovative fiber-based products to meet the business goals of customers and sustainability preferences of consumers. Last year, the company introduced the Sentinel lines of paper, paperboard and ice cream board, which also feature sugarcane-based polyethylene supplied by Braskem.

The Sentinel products are designed to be used in a wide range of food service and food packaging applications with varying shelf life needs.

When Hurricane Irma made landfall

Member News

in southern Florida in mid-September 2017, it was labeled a Category 4 — the first storm that size to hit Florida since 2004. More than 200 miles north in Orlando, Fla., two premiere skills challenges were scheduled to take place: the American Trucking Association’s Technology and Maintenance Council’s SuperTech National Technicians Skills Competition and the International Foodservice Distributors Association’s Truck Driving Championship. However, the storm disrupted transportation logistics, putting in question the availability of trucks and trailers for the events.

But the hurricane couldn’t stop Great Dane Trailers from delivering on its trailer commitments. For the TMC SuperTech program, eight 53foot dry vans that were to be used in the competition were in Tampa, Fla., to be cleaned and prepped for the event, but they were stalled by the storm.

Walmart arranged to transport the trailers to Orlando, where Tony Neven, Great Dane aftermarket service manager, and Jim Wyman of Central Valley Trailer Repair in Fresno, Calif., washed the trailers by hand. For the International Foodservice Distributors Association Truck Driving Championship, members of the distributor planning committee with CDLs hit the road to bring three 48-foot trailers up from Tampa. The effort was more than worth it when the equipment began to roll into Orlando and the competition began.

Certified public accounting firm

Herbein + Company, Inc., announced a merger with Gable Peritz Mishkin, a certified public accounting firm, which has served the greater Philadelphia region for nearly 50 years. The entire GPM team, including all five GPM partners, is expected to join Herbein and begin operating as Herbein + Company, Inc. The GPM team will continue practicing from its current offices in Spring House, Penn., and Marlton, N.J. Herbein’s key niche focus areas include agriculture/ food dairy, wholesale trade, professional services, construction, transportation, technology, nonprofit, real estate, healthcare, government, banks and finance and manufacturing.

There’s a new look on some of the ice cream containers at Penn State Berkey Creamery. The design makeover, which was unveiled on ice cream pints, is customer-friendly with easy-to-read ingredient and nutrition information, as well as a new seal that will help identify the Creamery brand. For the first time, customers will be able to see what’s inside the containers, thanks to high-resolution photos that extend across the label.

“It’s tradition with a twist,” Creamery Manager Tom Davis says. “We’ve created something new, but with a respectful nod to the past of the Creamery and Penn State. The new look is distinctive and allows immediate recognition of our Creamery brand. We also are adding a little bit of fun with catchphrases on our more popular ice cream flavors.”

Davis noted that the new look was a collaborative effort among the Creamery, the college’s creative services department, and HZDG, an integrated creative agency with offices in the DC Metro Area, New York City and Baltimore.

Perry’s Ice Cream, a fourth-generation, family-owned ice cream company headquartered in Buffalo, N.Y., and the hometown NHL hockey team, the Buffalo Sabres, teamed up this season to officially launch “Let’s Dough Buffalo,” a new premium ice cream flavor honoring the team’s loyal fans. This “cookie hat trick,” made up of cookie dough ice cream with crushed cookie swirls and cookie dough pieces, is sold in a 1.5-quart package featuring the loyal fans of the “Sabres Nation.” Perry’s has a long-standing

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 49

Member News

Tremcar U.S.A., Inc.

relationship with the Buffalo Sabres, dating back 35 years to the early 1980s with the launch of Sabre Sundae. In 2006, Perry’s introduced Buffalo Sabres Top Shelf Sundae. Let’s Dough Buffalo is the third Sabres flavor added to the lineup.

With every purchase of the new flavor, Perry’s will donate a “Buffalo nickel” to the Buffalo Sabres Foundation to support community organizations. Since 2008, Perry’s has donated $125,000 to the foundation.

The Stewart’s Shop in Whitehall,

Source: www.stewartsshops.com

50 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

N.Y., pulled out the red, white and blue to support its own Olympian Cody Bascue, who competed on the U.S.A.’s four-man bobsled team. Shirts, banners and flags were to be found at the local Stewart’s as it joined in the small town community’s pride in anticipation of Bascue competing at the XXIII Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Although the bobsled team did not medal in this year’s games, Stewart’s and the entire town of Whitehall enthusiastically supported its “hometown boy” Bascue and his team members for representing the United States.

In other Stewart’s news, congratulations to Yvette Moscatello, the winner of a $2.5 million scratchoff ticket! She was presented with the large check at one of Stewart’s Modena,

N.Y., shops in February. Moscatello of Wallkill, N.Y., made a routine stop for coffee at the Stewart’s Shops on Route 32 in Modena, where she purchased a $2,500 a Week for Life scratch-off ticket and walked out a $2.5 million winner.

Moscatello opted to receive her prize as a one-time lump sum payment. She will receive a net check totaling $1,311,031 after required withholdings.

Safety issues have always been a subject of conversation for many fleet owners, milk processing plant officials and farmers. Tremcar U.S.A., Inc., has introduced a milk tank with a side man hole providing the highest safety for drivers and operators. This year, the special milk tank trailer will be traveling across the U.S. for haulers and milk plant officials to try. Fleet owners will be able to lease the tank trailer for free for up to one month and work with the unit between farms and milk processing plants.

The Tremcar side man hole milk tanker was built to answer Agrimark’s security

Member News

issues for its haulers and operators.

Agricultural regulatory agents from several states inspected the unit to assure it complied with all sanitary regulations.

Demonstrating leadership and vision, New York’s Department of Agriculture and Markets issued a letter recognizing that the Tremcar milk tanker met all proper sanitary obligations. The tank will help milk haulers and processing plants comply with OSHA safety regulations and has been called the safest to work within the industry.

The board of directors of Pioneer Cold Logistics Services of Chicopee, Mass., recently announced that Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Bryan Hedge was elected company president in March.

Hedge is now responsible for all areas of the company, including customer and employee satisfaction, setting priorities in strategy, asset utilization and revenue growth, and ensuring operational excellence.

Hedge came to Pioneer from Sleepy’s, where he was vice president, logistics.

Prior to that, he was vice president, business operations, at CIS in Lenox, Mass.

He also held executive level supply chain management roles at Save-A-Lot Foods, Performance Food Group and Springfield Foodservice. Hedge also spent 20 years with TruServ Corporation.

Hedge is an active member of the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses and serves as a member of that organization’s Supply Chain Operations Committee. He currently serves as the treasurer of the North Atlantic Chapter of the IARW and is a member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.

GIVE LOW-FAT FLAVORED MILK AN

P

utting low-fat flavored milk back into schools will bolster the nutrition intake of America’s children, according to comments submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) by the nation’s leading dairy organizations.

In joint comments, both the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) praised a proposed USDA rule for the positive effect it will have on the widely recognized problem of declining school milk consumption. In 2012, USDA eliminated low-fat flavored milk as an option in the school meal and a la carte programs, which resulted in students consuming 288 million fewer half-pints of milk from 2012 to 2015.

“Removing low-fat flavored milk causes schools to fail the test of how best to provide optimal nutrition for students,” said Dr. Beth Briczinski, vice president of dairy foods and nutrition for NMPF. “Fortunately, USDA recognizes the need to be more flexible in providing schools a range of milk options to enhance the dietary intake of the nine essential nutrients milk offers.”

DECLINING CONSUMPTION IS PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN

Milk is the number one source of three out of four nutrients of public health concern — potassium, vitamin D and calcium. The dairy groups called this “a threat to public health and to the nutritional intakes of all Americans, notably children and adolescents.”

In 2017, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the USDA would reinstate low-fat flavored milk as an option. According to the interim rule published on the Federal Register site in November, school districts can solicit bids for low-fat flavored milk in the

spring before the 2018-2019 school year, giving milk processors time to formulate and produce a low-fat flavored milk that meets specifications. This change allows schools to offer low-fat flavored milk during the next school year without requiring schools to demonstrate either a reduction in student milk consumption or an increase in waste.

This interim rule is consistent with the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), which does not suggest that flavored milk should be fat-free or that there is any reason to avoid low-fat flavored milk. In fact, the DGA “acknowledges the potentially positive role of moderate amounts of sweeteners in making foods like milk and yogurt more palatable.” Low-fat flavored milk offers the same nutritional benefits as white milk but with a taste more children prefer. And, with recent formulation changes, flavored milk is now available with lower levels of calories and added sugar.

The two groups told the USDA that its interim rule also aligns with the recent re-examination of fat —specifically dairy fat — in the American diet. Scientific studies find that full-fat dairy foods play either a neutral or beneficial role regarding the risk of several chronic diseases.

While the two dairy groups acknowledged that the interim rule does not compel schools to offer more milk options, both hope the ability to do so will attract more students to school meal programs and increase the average daily consumption of the drink.

Locally, the Northeast Dairy Foods Association encourages milk companies to contact their area school districts now and encourage them to add low-fat flavored milk to their bids, according to Bruce Krupke, executive vice president.

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 51

Calendar of Events June is Dairy Month. Mark down this event for Wednesday, June 6, at the Well of the Legislative Office Building in Albany, N.Y. The event starts at 10 a.m. with a proclamation at noon. Over 1,500 legislators and staff will take part in this unique event. Showcase with a display and samples of your dairy products to key legislators, staff and the public, and, more importantly, meet with your local representatives and advocate your company’s and our association’s key legislative concerns, policies and recommendations. We’ll set up the appointments for you. Don’t miss out on having your voice heard and products showcased in Albany. Watch for participation details in the mail and on our website. To learn more and/or participate, call the association office at 315-452-6455.

JULY

Fore! Wednesday, July 11, is our Annual Dairy Industry Customer Appreciation Golf Tournament and Clambake starting with 18 holes at Drumlins Country Club, 800 Nottingham Rd., Syracuse, N.Y. Tee off is at 8 a.m. This will be a shotgun captain and crew format golf 52 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

tournament. Form your own foursomes and twosomes, or, if you’re an individual player, we’ll create a foursome for you! You’ll have your choice of playing on two different 18-hole courses at Drumlins. The event will feature games of chance and — biggest of all — the chance to try for a hole-in-one for $10,000! Form company teams, show your pride and compete for some great prizes and recognition! Watch for registration information in your mail and on our website soon.

Later that day, it’s Clambake time. Network and have some fun at the largest dairy industry representative gathering in the country. Over 1,000 key industry executives, employees and friends will gather at Hinerwadels Grove, 5300 W. Taft Rd., Syracuse, N.Y. Gates open at 1 p.m., and the event will last until 7 p.m.

The clambake includes delicious food all day long, including clams, lobster, steak, chicken,

Mark Your Calendars for our Upcoming Association Membership Networking Events!

sausage sandwiches and desserts, as well as fun games, the chance to win over $2,000 in our raffle contest and a charity silent auction.

Tickets are available only through supplier and vendor members of the association. Visit www.neastda.org for more information, or call our office at 315-452-6455.

SEPTEMBER Our 31st Annual Northeast Dairy Convention is scheduled for Monday, Sept.

24, through Wednesday, Sept. 26, at the historic Gettysburg Hotel in Gettysburg, Penn.

This convention is another opportunity to network with dairy industry representatives and executives. The convention will showcase a guided tour of the Civil War battlefields, an evening ghost tour, two mornings of exciting

dairy and business-related expert speakers, a golf outing, two cocktail networking parties, supplier and vendor exhibits and much more.

Bring a guest with you at no extra registration charge. All members of our association are invited to attend. Convention registration information will be available in June. Plan to make the trip to learn more about our industry and have the chance to relax with friends and colleagues.

The Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc. Member Annual Meeting, will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 26, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and lunch will be provided. All members of our association are invited to attend to receive a full report from staff on the past year’s activities and plans for 2019. Find out more about how we represent you and your company in the halls of government, support you in the press and interact with the food industry.

There is no fee to attend, but please RSVP to the association office at 315-452-6455. Watch for your annual meeting notice this summer.

For more information, visit www.nedairyfoods.org/events NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 53

A Look Back

While we eagerly anticipate our upcoming events, here’s a look back at the 2017 Northeast Dairy Clambake and Golf Tournament - a funfilled day of friendly competition on the green followed by a delicious feast of clams, salt potatoes and so much more!

54 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

Thinking about attending this year’s association events? Take a look back at the fun we had last year!

The 2017 Northeast Dairy Convention in Clayton, N.Y., was a great opportunity to network, hear from experts about the latest happenings in our industry and enjoy some time with colleagues. Watch for information coming soon on the 2018 convention to be held in Gettsyburg, Penn., this September.

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 55

What’sNews

Vermont Summit Shows Agriculture, Environment Can Coexist

A

typical trip to Vermont might include hiking on the Long Trail, skiing at one of the many resorts, fishing for wild brook trout and sampling some of the finest cheese, yogurt and ice cream. People come to Vermont because it represents a vibrant counterpoint to the narrative that agriculture and the environment cannot coexist. In Vermont, environmental and agricultural excellence can be mutually reinforcing.

Value-added dairy products like cheese and yogurt are a growing sector in Vermont. Many new manufacturers are emerging, and farmers are exploring value-added products as a source of additional revenue to help maintain the viability of family farms.

Vermont hosted The Sustainable Dairy Products: Northeast Summit in February to dive into effective strategies to strengthen businesses by going green.

The summit provided a comprehensive look at energy efficiency, wastewater, cleaning/sanitation and pollution pre-

vention, while bringing together experts, organizations and other resources to help dairy processors flourish economically and environmentally.

The summit is one example of how Vermont’s state agencies are reaching out to help food manufacturers. It is part of a growing partnership between the Agency of Natural Resources and the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (AAFM) that reflects the interdependence of agricultural, environmental and economic prosperity, as well as the importance of environmentally sustainable operations that strengthen the Vermont brand.

Processors in nearby states also attended the summit.

This is just a starting point, however.

Through its Environmental Assistance Office, the Department of Environmental Conservation will continue to help dairy products manufacturers understand regulatory requirements and improve practices through site visits, online workshops and other outreach.

U.S. Cheese Varieties Make Delicious Impression in South Korea

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he U.S. dairy industry is committed to serving the expanding global appetite for cheese as evidenced at the U.S. Dairy Business & Innovation Conference in Seoul, South Korea, in November 2017.

Sessions at the U.S. Dairy Business & Innovation Conference highlighted global supply growth and cheeses’ role in creating healthy, attractive products.

Cheese expert and chef John Esser guided attendees through dozens of delicious U.S. cheese varieties that left a greater appreciation of the breadth and depth of what the United States has to offer.

Cheese consumption is expanding beyond western cultures to local cuisines 56 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

around the world. The United States holds the spot as the leading cheese making country in the world and is relied on to supply flavorful cheeses year-round. In 2016, U.S. suppliers delivered more than 287,000 metric tons of cheese globally and continuously work with customers to ensure the cheeses meet their functional, dietary and taste specifications.

“The endless taste possibilities and creamy textures of cheeses are recognized and sought by more global cultures.

American cheesemakers are pushing limits to craft bolder flavors that complement local dishes,” said Ross Christieson, senior vice president at U.S. Dairy Export Council.

South Korea is a major export market for U.S. cheese with tremendous opportunity for further growth. The United States is poised to fill that need with more than 600 cheese varieties, including traditional European-style cheeses and American Originals.

What’sNews

The Dangers of the Raw Milk Trend

W

hile pasteurization has helped provide safe, nutrient-rich milk and cheese for more than 120 years, some people continue to believe that pasteurization harms milk and that raw milk is a safe, healthier alternative. Raw milk has, in fact, become somewhat of a trend for those looking for less processed foods or who believe that milk in its natural state provides various health benefits and added nutrition. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), this trend has proven to be dangerous — and sometimes deadly. Raw milk from cows, sheep or goats has not been pasteurized to kill harmful bacteria.

This raw, unpasteurized milk can carry dangerous bacteria, such as salmonella, E. coli and listeria, which are responsible for causing numerous foodborne illnesses.

Pasteurized milk and milk products provide a wealth of nutrition benefits, but raw milk can harbor dangerous microorganisms that can pose serious health risks, the FDA says. The Centers for Disease Control reports that unpasteurized milk is 150 times more likely to cause foodborne illness and results in 13 times more hospitalizations than illnesses involving pasteurized dairy products.

These harmful bacteria can seriously affect the health of anyone who drinks raw milk or eats foods made from it. The bacteria in raw milk can be especially dangerous to people with weakened immune systems, older adults, pregnant women and children. In fact, a CDC analysis found that foodborne illness from raw milk especially affected children and teenagers. Despite current food trends, research shows no meaningful difference in the nutritional values of pasteurized and unpasteurized milk.

W MILK RA E RAW FACTS NOW TH K

Many people choose raw milk thinking it will improve their health, but it can cause serious illness in anyone.

WHAT IS RAW MILK ANYWAY?

Raw milk has not been pasteurized to kill harmful, disease-causing germs, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites.

Pasteurization is the process of heating milk to kill harmful bacteria.

(Source: www.fda.gov) Before most milk in the U.S. was pasteurized, raw milk was a common source of foodborne illness.

RAW MILK: MYTHS VS. FACTS

Here are some common myths and proven facts about milk and pasteurization.

• Pasteurizing milk does not cause lactose intolerance and allergic reacRAW MILK OUTBREAKS ARE ON THE RISE IN THE U.S. tions. Both raw milk and pasteurized milk can cause allergic reactions in people sensitive to milk proteins.

• Pasteurization does not reduce milk’s nutritional value.

• Pasteurization does not mean that it is safe to leave milk out of the refrigerator for extended time, particularly after it has been opened.

• Pasteurization does kill harmful bacteria.

• Pasteurization does save lives.

150x

(Source: www.fda.gov)

The risk of an outbreak caused by raw milk is at least 150 times higher than the risk of an outbreak caused by pasteurized milk.

4x

81

The average number of In all, 81 outbreaks in 26 outbreaks linked to raw states were linked to raw milk was 4 times higher milk from 2007-2012 from 2007-2012 compared NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 57 to 1993-2006.

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What’sNews

New Research Reveals Soy “Milk” May Not Have Heart Healthy Benefits

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he National Milk Producers Federation supports the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s proposal to revoke an authorized health claim that links soy protein with a reduced risk of heart disease. The organization also repeated its insistence that the FDA take action against plant-based food companies that inappropriately use dairy terminology to market imitation dairy products, such as soy “milk.”

Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF, lauded FDA for acknowledging the evolution of nutrition science and information. “New research revealing the lack of heart benefits from soy protein or just as important, a positive effect from dairy fat, means that Americans can make more informed, healthier decisions regarding their diets,” Mulhern says.

The FDA’s proposed rule comes almost 10 years after it initially announced its intent to re-evaluate the science behind the soy protein health claim. During this time, NMPF says, soy food manufacturers have exploited the claim to advertise their products as healthy, when science has not supported that claim.

Certain soy food companies have used the claim when labeling imitation dairy products, insisting that because of soy’s purported healthful properties, soy “milk” is a healthy alternative to conventional cow’s milk. “It is imperative that consumers have accurate label information in addition to health claims — specifically the name of the food, which also conveys nutrition information,” said NMPF, reiterating its plea for the FDA to take action against such products.

Lower Chinese Cheese Tariffs Boost Competitiveness of U.S. Exports

A

ccording to the U.S. Dairy Export Council, China unilaterally lowered its cheese tariffs from 12 percent to 8 percent in December 2017. The move immediately boosts U.S. export competitiveness in China and helps U.S. suppliers take a larger role in meeting the nation’s booming cheese demand.

“We are very pleased with China’s decision because it will help U.S. cheese exporters and manufacturers chip away the tariff disadvantage with other competitors,” said Tom Vilsack, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC). “We are even more pleased that the process that yielded the decision helped to further cultivate trust and build critical relationships between the U.S. dairy industry and Chinese official institutions, the nation’s dairy industry and customers.”

The reduction is part of a broader package of tariff cuts on food and consumer goods China announced to bolster consumer choice. Cheese was included among those products only because of three years of bridge-building efforts

led by USDEC. USDEC’s China Dairy Tariff Initiative, which began in early 2014, focused on working with Chinese authorities to analyze the mutual benefits that would flow from China unilaterally lowering its tariffs on certain dairy products.

Over the last decade, China’s cheese imports soared more than seven-fold to nearly 100,000 metric tons. Already a Top-10 cheese buyer, it is on pace to become the largest cheese importer in the world in the coming years. At the same time, U.S. suppliers have been losing market share, in part due to unfavorable tariff rates versus competitors.

“We took a proactive response to address the competitive disadvantage our exports were facing,” said Jaime Castaneda, USDEC senior vice president of the trade policy. “USDEC recognizes that the U.S. remains at a disadvantage not only in China but in other countries when it comes to tariffs due to lack of U.S. free trade agreements. We are committed to finding ways to recoup that competitive disadvantage.”

NED Magazine | First Quarter 2018 • 59

Meet The Team

F

ounded in 1928 as the New York State Milk Distributors Association, the Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc., is a full-service trade association with members in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. Members represent all four federal class product companies, including fluid milk processors, distributors, byproduct manufacturers, ice cream plants and some dairy farm producers.

In the 1970s, the association expanded its membership base from fluid processors to all types of dairy product companies and changed its name to the New York State Dairy Food Association, Inc. In 2008, the board of directors expanded the scope of work and geographic boundary to seven additional states. It then appropriately changed the name to the current Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc. The association provides services and information to its members to help improve their operations, ensuring the efficient distribution of the freshest and safest dairy products possible. The association represents its membership as a united manufacturing/distribution industry before legislative bodies and regulatory agencies, promoting and safeguarding their common business interests.

BRUCE W. KRUPKE Executive Vice President Krupke has served as executive vice president of the association since 1992— only the third executive vice president since the organization’s inception. In this role, Krupke represents the association and provides a voice for its members in all eight state capitols and legislatures, and to Washington, D.C.-based federal lawmakers. He also works with various dairy industry groups, organizations and other contacts to further the association’s goals and objectives; serves as press spokesperson on issues pertaining to the industry; supports dairy industry product sales through high-profile events and activities; oversees all association administrative duties; and carries out policies set forth by the board of directors by establishing procedures and guidelines.

LEANNE I. ZIEMBA

Executive Administrative Assistant Ziemba has been executive administrative assistant with the Northeast Dairy Foods Association for 15 years. She is a graduate of Morrisville State College, where she earned an associate degree in secretarial science.

Her role with the association has expanded over the years and includes all clerical office duties, receivables, payables, payroll, human resources oversight and website management.

She is the meeting planner for the association and is responsible for organizing board of directors meetings and popular events such as the Annual Dairy Industry Clambake, Northeast Dairy Convention, plant tours and more. Ziemba also is treasurer for New York State Dairy Exhibits, Inc. Ziemba resides in North Syracuse with her husband, Michael, and has two daughters who live in the Syracuse area. Her interests include travel, outdoor sports and hiking.

ADVERTISERS INDEX Herbein...............................................................9 Brown & Brown................................................ 11 Tremcar USA Inc............................................... 11 Evergreen Packaging........................................ 19 Farm Credit East............................................... 22 Nelson Jameson............................................... 23 TriTank Corp..................................................... 25 S&D Welding.................................................... 25 Jefferson County Local Development Corporation...................................................... 26

Krupke is affiliated with many dairy processing groups and agricultural organizations. Currently, he serves as chair of the Empire State Council of Agricultural Organizations; chairs the New York State Fair Dairy Products Building Task Force; is a member of the New York State Dairy Exhibits, Inc., board of directors; is a past member of the board of directors for the LEAD NY programs; and was appointed to the Commissioner’s Milk Marketing Advisory Council.

Agri-Mark......................................................... 31

He and his wife, Pattie, live in Clay, N.Y., a suburb of Syracuse.

They have three grown children and both enjoy sailing.

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60 • Northeast Dairy Foods Association, Inc.

Cornell University............................................. 35 Plumley Engineering ....................................... 43 Indian River Transport..................................... BC Spinnaker Custom Products............................. 44

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