(www.fpfc.org). FPFC Apprentice Applications Online
26 | Winter 2021/22
The Fresh Produce & Floral Council
is opening up its application
period for the 2022 Apprentice
Class from January 4 to Feb. 4.
FPFC President Don Gann noted that
the generosity and forward-looking philosophy
of founding sponsor and longtime
member Dennis Gertmenian and continuing
sponsor Grimmway Farms has made
the FPFC Apprentice Program the outstanding
benefit that it has been for the
past many years. Scores of professionals
have gone through the program and are
active members of the FPFC community,
attending events, serving on the board and
populating committees. “The FPFC is able
to offer this program at no cost to the apprentices,”
Gann said, “which is courtesy of
our sponsors. We are truly grateful for the
contributions they have made for the betterment
of our industry.”
Rachelle Schulken of Renaissance Food
Group, who is chair of the FPFC Apprentice
Committee, said the class will be picked
soon after the deadline as this year’s class
activities will start a bit earlier because of
the early date of the FPFC Expo.
“The first meeting of the class will be
at the Expo (April 5-6),” she said. “Usually,
we start with a get-to-know-you program
at the office, but this year we are going to
throw them right into the Expo because
that event has been moved to early April.”
Schulken said the past two years have
been challenging because the coronavirus
required almost all the class projects and
events to take place virtually. “For 2022, we
are going to be able to hold live events, but
we are still going to keep some of the activities
that worked very well online,” she said.
“For example, we are still going to conduct
the tours of produce operations virtually.
We discovered tours via Zoom were awesome.”
Schulken revealed that by holding them
virtually, the apprentices were able to tour
more operations and speak to more experts
about different companies on the supply
chain. The tours could also be more geographically
diverse. Schulken said it was
possible to visit a Washington apple shipper
in the morning and a Ventura County vegetable
grower in the afternoon. Obviously,
that is not something you can do in person.
The Apprentice Program will continue to
feature many of the activities that have made
it a robust program in the past, including the
use of individual mentors as well as industry
experts to give the participants feedback as
they work through various assignments.
Schulken said thus far each class has been
limited to 12 individuals, which allows it to
maintain intimacy and still give the opportunity
to have a diverse class representing
many different job classifications within the
industry. She said that diversity is a very important
aspect of picking each year’s class.
It gives the class members an opportunity to
learn from fellow classmates about various
sectors of the supply chain.
While the Apprentice Program is designed
to give newer members of the produce
industry a deep dive into the industry,
Schulken said there is no age or service time
limit. She said many apprentices have been
with companies for an extended period but
have switched positions that make the program
very useful.
Once again, she said the FPFC Apprentice
Class will interact with the Center for
Growing Talent (formerly a Produce Marketing
Association endeavor that is now under
the auspices of the new International
Fresh Produce Association). That event is
scheduled for April 5 in conjunction with the
FPFC Expo.
Schulken reiterated that the program
is available for all job classifications within
the produce industry and encouraged FPFC
members to peruse their list of employees
and see who might best benefit from participation.
She also noted that applicants who
didn’t make the team one year should certainly
consider applying again. Because diversity
in the team members is so important,
often an applicant is passed over simply to
get a better mix of careers.
Applications are on the FPFC website
26 | Winter 2021/22