IBIE - 2016 Show Daily, Saturday - 14

It's an all-new
BEMA-U

n the day-to-day operations of a bakery, training
is essential; the same is
true in terms of running
the business side.
BEMA knows this, and according to Kerwin Brown,
BEMA president and CEO,
the association's board saw
training as a major need in the
industry, specifically, among
BEMA members. "Our goal
is to get a clear message to
our members that says when
you're a BEMA company,
you've been through BEMAU classes; you've been trained
on sanitation; your service
techs and other employees
are better trained," Mr. Brown
said. "You're a better company because you're a BEMA
member."
While the BEMA-U initiative isn't new - for the past
few years, the association has
offered workshops on issues
such as sanitation and leadership - it has certainly grown
from being a subset of larger meetings into significant
stand-alone programs.
Training and development
are areas where many industry leaders are seeing a gap, if
you will, in the bakery workforce. In fact, Kansas City,

MO-based Cypress Research recognized that need," he said,
was commissioned by the adding that the association
American Bakers Association has made a significant finanand the American Society of cial investment in the enBaking to conduct a study hanced BEMA-U programs.
that surveyed both groups'
members (many of which are THREADED LEARNING
also BEMA members) to gain
understanding of an apparent The new BEMA-U began with
skills gap facing the industry. the addition of Emily Bowers,
"There's a small percent- director of education and proage of companies across our fessional development, who
industry - both bakers and is currently revamping what
suppliers - really engag- many of the BEMA-U proing those future up-andgrams look like.
comers in our indusWhile programs
try," Mr. Brown
such as the
noted. "We have
Sanitary DeINTERACTIONS
a huge need to
sign Workdo this training,
shop
will
During IBIE, companies mentioned
and our board in this article can be found at the remain the
same, educafollowing show floor locations:
tional
opporABA, ASB & BEMA,
tunities that
Grand Lobby 1
focus on training and leadership
will function in all new
ways.
"The workshop model,
where people come to us, is
one we've always used," Ms.
Bowers said. "We have great
workshops, and we're keeping

"We have a huge need to do
this training, and our board
recognized that need."
Kerwin Brown, BEMA

IBIE

Saturday, October 8, 2016

IBIE

that model because it works
well for the industry, but we
want to also expand into a
more threaded learning approach." Threaded learning
entails starting a course as one
cohort group and continuing through a multi-session
experience over the longer
term, perhaps in a year's time,
according to Ms. Bowers.
The threaded approach addresses a few challenges that
come with attending any sort
of training event, including
travel expenses and the necessary time away from the
office or plant. The threaded
cohort classes will consist of
about three one- or two-day
events spread out over the
course of a year and located
regionally.
Ms. Bowers suggested
thinking of it as a "spiral" type
of curriculum. "You touch on
it and then move on; touch
on it again, and move on. It's
like how a tornado gets a little
bigger as it goes up the spiral,"
she said. The spiral, which is
geared toward people who are
in or being groomed for lead-

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