Mt. Hood Community College steps up to help fill the worker pipeline in food processing

In early 2007, the Oregon Employment Department of WorkSource Portland Metro East, the local Employer Council, and Worksystems, Inc. came together to discuss the shortage of qualified entry level workers in the food processing industry and plan for ways to address the shortage. The team quickly learned the Northwest Food Processors Association was developing an Innovation and Productivity Center and also had an interest in addressing new employee pipeline issues facing the industry.

With the financial support provided by Worksystems, Inc., Mt. Hood CC quickly responded to the request for help to fill the worker shortage, providing a needs assessment and designing a three-week 60 hour training program readying potential employees to take advantage of openings in the industry.

Less than ten months after Oregon’s workforce development system heard from the Employer Council about their critical worker shortage, the first class of trainees completed the Introduction to Food Processing course. Coursework included plant tours and intensive training in topics such as work ethics, employer expectations, safety, GMP, HACCP, and leadership skills. Students were screened for basic reading, math and computer skills, and upon completion, participating companies got the first opportunity to meet and interview these perspective employees.

The groups spearheading this training course hope that other employers will also want to take advantage of trainees who are armed with a certificate of completion in Introduction to Food Processing, greatly reducing a company’s new employee training period. They hope the course will be a lasting example of the ever-increasing power of the Oregon Workforce System to respond to the needs of manufacturing in the state.

Additional introductory classes are planned, as well as Level Two and Level Three trainings for incumbent workers who need additional skills to fill vertical and horizontal gaps in their organizations. For more information about the training course, contact cfife@worksystems.org