BEMA - June 2018 - 68

the
future is
As the baking industry ushers
in the next generation, BEMA-U
connects members through education.
by Joanie Spencer
ounded on the principle of service to bakers,
BEMA has spent the past 100 years striving
to provide the utmost value to its members
and the baking industry as a whole. Throughout
the industry's - and BEMA's - evolution, value has come in many forms, from IBIE to BEMA
Connect to the new face of value: BEMA-U.
"We started looking at our future and asked ourselves, 'What do we want to be known as? How
can we invest in the industry?' " recalled Kerwin
Brown, BEMA president and CEO.
As the association looked to the future, BEMA
became focused on education as a new platform.
"We'd been talking for a long time about the needs
of the next generation of industry leaders," Mr.
Brown said. "And we started dreaming about what
education can mean for us." From its own and
WKLUGSDUW\ UHVHDUFK %(0$ FRQ¿UPHG LWV VXVSLcions that many member companies - and even
some bakery manufacturers - were lacking formal
leadership training and development programs.
"We dug in and said, 'Let's develop this.' "
This was the birth of BEMA-U.

Meeting the need
In three years' time, BEMA went from having no
education programs to a full portfolio of BEMA-U
offerings including Transformational Leadership,
Learn to Train and Sanitary Design workshops.

BEMA100 | 2018 | www.bema.org

These programs are offered throughout the year
both in typical workshop settings that bring together people from different companies and backgrounds and onsite courses at individual member
company locations.
7UDGLWLRQDOZRUNVKRSVFDQEHTXLWHHႇHFWLYHDFcording to Emily Bowers, BEMA's senior director of
education and operations, who has a background
in program facilitation and organizational development. But over the past few years, members
voiced concern that it can be challenging from a
cost and time standpoint to send employees out for
a two- or three-day class.
Today, Ms. Bowers teaches a variety of training
courses, often in conjunction with a member company's internal training or other meetings. "We will
often visit companies who are already having a
sales or service tech training and lead a workshop
right alongside it," Mr. Brown said.
BEMA-U was built on the association's foundation of bringing people together, according to Ms.
Bowers. "We started with what we know - connecting people - and then we listened to our
members and started going out to them."

Educating and connecting
BEMA's educational programs are strengthening
ties with its members and the industry at large. In
fact, today more bakers than ever are getting in-

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