The preliminary Food Sector Schedule of Events is attached below for your perusal and for your input.  If there is a topic of interest that you would like to see addressed or you have a best practice that you would like to share, we would be happy to hear from you.   

There are two excellent EMC Regional Networking Events taking place in January hosted by Food Sector Members that I would like to highlight:

January 18, 2012, Pactiv (Formerly Reynolds Food Packaging), Summerstown, ON
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT BEST PRACTICE - "PEOPLE INVOLVING PEOPLE": We are delighted to begin our New Year with a networking opportunity at Pactiv!  They will be providing a best practice presentation relating to their Continuous Improvement initiatives on "People Involving People" (PIP Program).  Discussion will start with a short presentation regarding a "game" that they used to teach their line operators on how to better relate their productivity performance to the company's bottom line.  A Roundtable will follow and participants are invited to share with each other their CI/Lean efforts over the past year. 

January 19, 2012, Karma Candy, Hamilton, ON
UTILIZING ENGINEERING STUDENTS AND GENERATIONAL WORKPLACE ISSUES: EMC Food Sector Members are invited to participate with the Regional Consortium for Hamilton, St. Catharines and Niagara to learn about McMaster University's Engineering Co-Op Program and to discuss the broader issue of generational workplace issues and the impact on manufacturers today.  We are pleased to be visiting with Karma Candy in Hamilton for this Special Networking Activity and to be welcoming Thuy Dam of McMaster University's Engineering Co-Op Program for a short presentation.

Discussion will follow on the common organizational challenge of generational workplace issues that are facing many manufacturers.  Some of these challenges include how to onboard younger workers successfully into your organization; what motivates the younger workers and how do you facilitate younger workers with your current staff.

Plant tours will be available for both of these very interesting facilities and those attending are asked to please wear safety footwear and glasses.

There are a number of Food Industry Events taking place over the next few months and from time to time, I will try to share information on some of those.  Today, I would like to encourage those with an interest in Food Safety to take note of the upcoming Food Safety Summit in Toronto on March 7th and 8th, 2012:

8^th Annual North American Food Safety Summit - March 7 and 8, 2012 - Toronto, ON
In addition to the EMC Networking Activities above, EMC Canada is pleased to be partnering with the Strategy Institute on the 8^th Annual North American Food Safety Summit taking place in Toronto on March 7^th and March 8^th, 2012.  There are some wonderful leaders lined up to present over the two day Conference and some excellent material to be covered regarding Food Safety and International Government Regulations, Sanitation Solutions, Science and Food Safety, Allergens and Labels and so forth.  Please check out our Event calandar for more detailed information and a copy of the program - http://www.emccanada.org/group_spaces/foodsector/calendar/emc-food-sector-network-summit-food-safety.

If you have an interest in the Food Sector, the upcoming months will have a little something for everyone - and should you be able to join us at any of the activities above, simply email me at bdeleeuw@emccanada.org - we would be delighted to have you participate! 

All the best!

Bren de Leeuw
Sr. Community Development and Food & Beverage Program Manager
bdeleeuw@emccanada.org