In the US, 3.5 million middle-skill jobs go begging—jobs that don’t require a four-year college degree, but often do require hands-on OJT and/or a two-year associate’s degree, said Scott Scriven at the recent PROCESS EXPO in Chicago. Scriven, chairman of both the Foundation of the Food Processing Suppliers Association (FFPSA) and the Food Processing Educational Consortium (FPEC), described the creation of the Food Industry Technician Development Program (FIT), which will provide certification for technicians in the food and beverage industry.
“The FPEC has been working very closely with leading US food manufacturing companies to develop a program that directly applies to the positions these companies need to fill,” says Scriven, who is also vice president of the slicer business unit of Provisur Technologies. “Our goal is to address this critical need for trained service technicians. Simply put, with the program being developed, we intend to educate, train and provide competent, certified individuals to fill these important positions in our business. Technicians who receive the FIT certification will have incredible job opportunities in the US food manufacturing industry that include high-end salaries and benefits.”