June 28th, 2017

Apprenticeship Program Covered in San Fernando Valley Business Journal

Our foundation’s apprenticeship program received front page coverage for our work building a workforce of quality control professionals for the food industry.

Here are the first few paragraphs:

Apprenticeship Program Covered by the SFV BizJornal

Fuss Over Food

Regulation: Nonprofit tackles lack of quality control workers.

by Helen Floers

h, Staff Reporter for San Fernando Valley Business Journal

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued 37 recalls on food or nutraceutical products meant for human consumption. That represents an enormous price for the companies involved – about $10 million for the average recall according to a 2011 industry survey by the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a figure that represents only direct costs associated with the consequences of a recall, such as lost product and interruption to business, but not the damage to a brand’s reputation, which is harder to quantify and more challenging to overcome, companies surveyed by the GMA said. 

Unfortunately, the economics of the food industry – namely razor-thin margins and fierce competition – leave many small food processors that would be most devastated by a recall unable to afford the help they need to prevent one. Recognizing this dilemma, Rosemarie Christopher, chief executive of the Glendale life sciences staffing firm MEIRxRS, has established a foundation that provides small and mid-sized businesses with quality control apprentices. 

Read more by subscribing to the San Fernando Valley Business Journal.