Food Chain Returns
This issue marks the return of the Food Chain to normal service.
After an extended hiatus, it's good to be back in operation. Each month, look for
updates on Fiscal 1997 closeout, Fiscal 98 start-up, and Fiscal 99 planning, not
to mention FoodPAC organizational changes and meetings.
FoodPAC Selects New Leaders
for the Coming Year
At the January 28 meeting of the FoodPAC Steering Committee, a
new slate of officers were elected. The new chairman is Larry Sprague, Savannah Foods,
Inc., and the new vice-chairman is Bill Baran. Congratulations Larry and Bill, we
look forward to working with you this coming year.
The Food Chain would like to express its gratitude to outgoing
chairman, Mike Hendley, Rich Sea-Pak, Inc., for his able leadership this past year.
Black Takes Over as
FoodPAC Executive Coordinator
At the April 8 meeting of the FoodPAC Steering Committee, Gary
Black, Georgia Agribusiness Council, was elected Executive Coordinator. Gary replaces
Jimmy Hill, Georgia Power, who stepped down from the position last fall. Gary is
well known in food processing circles for his able leadership of the Agribusiness
Council. He is excited about what is taking place within FoodPAC and is already busy
working to build on early successes.
Focus on FY 97 Research Results -
Food Processors of South Georgia: Needs for Expansion.
Over the course of the next several months, the Food Chain plans
to present short summaries of projects recently completed as part of the Fiscal 1997
program. Our first summary focuses on a study completed by Dr. David Campbell, of
Valdosta State Universityís Department of Marketing and Economics, addressing
barriers to Food Industry Expansion in South Georgia.
This study examined South Georgia's food processors' perceptions of what they are
lacking or what they need to expand their businesses. The study defined "food
processors" as all firms that process food. Three groups of processors were
not included in the study, however: red-meat processors because they are included
in their own study, firms limited to retailing food, and firms limited to growing
food. "South Georgia" was defined as the 44 counties across the southern
tier of the State.
In all, 145 food processing firms were identified within the South Georgia region.
Of these, 91 provided input to the study. This input came chiefly from phone interviews
with firm executives. From these interviews, Campbell was able to identify a number
of factors these executives felt were hindering company expansion.
Labor was by far the major concern of those responding. Marketing
was the next most popular factor cited. Of the labor concerns expressed, the number
one concern was the willingness of the local labor force to work hard and reliably.
Twenty-five percent of those interviewed listed this as a serious problem in the
region. Employers with the greatest number of employees and firms expecting mid-range
growth expressed the most concern in this regard. Labor availability was the next
most cited concern. Firms showing the greatest concern in this area were more heavily
concentrated in the southeast corner of the State.
Dr. Campbell can be reached to answer questions about the study
at (912) 245-2237 or by e-mail at campbell@valdosta.edu. He has published a report
of his finding which can be obtained by contacting Ann Carswell at The South Georgia
Institute, 110 Thaxton Hall, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA, 31698,
phone (912) 333-5830, e-mail acarswel@valdosta.edu.
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FoodPAC Selects FY98 Program
The Governor and the Georgia Legislature approved FoodPAC's request
for $4,254,000 in Fiscal 1998. Of this amount, $2.2 million in bond funds were earmarked
for building renovations and improvements at the University of Georgia's Food Science
and By-Products Recovery Pilot Facilities. The balance, or $2,054,000 was then committed
to 12 priority projects and program implementation. The 12 projects are:
- Environmental Management/Regulatory Compliance Assistance ($152,688)
- By-Products Recovery Pilot Studies ($197,000)
- Low Cost Integrated Machine Vision System for Food Quality Grading
($195,650)
- Marination Technology & Process, Product, and Ingredient Interaction
Research ($215,000)
- Extending the Quality & Utilization of Frying Oils and Improving
the Quality of Fried Foods ($159,950)
- Automated Packaging System for Inserting Bagged Food into Boxes
($241,164)
- An Automated Approach to Continuous Curing and Post-Processing
of Peanuts ($116,902)
- Assessment and Utilization of Beneficial Components in Georgia
Agricultural Products and By-Products ($118,100)
- Advanced Food Processing Research and Technology Transfer ($336,700)
- Quality Enhancement of Fried Foods Through Computer Visualization
of the Frying Process ($159,974)
- Development of a Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Model
($21,192)
- High Pressure Pasteurization for Elimination of Salmonella and
Listeria in Liquid Egg Products ($94,680)
Congratulations to each project team. We will try to feature more
on each on these projects in future issues of the Food Chain.
Planning Process Undergoes Change
For the past three months, the FoodPAC Steering Committee has been
involved in a strategic planning exercise designed to enhance industry involvement
in the project planning process. The goal has really been to get greater industry
involvement in putting together the funding request package to the Governor. While
the current project planning process has each of the several technical committees
meeting once each year to review proposals received from a Call for Program Proposals,
the new process will ask these committees to first meet and define program objectives
and investment priorities. From this input, the request for program funding will
be made to the Governor and ultimately will drive the entire Call for Project Proposals
process.
The new process means that the Call for Project Proposals will
not be issued until sometime in the fall (probably in October) and will be due in
January. The Technical Committees will meet in February to review the proposals and
those ultimately selected will be funded within five months of being submitted. These
changes addresses many of the criticisms leveled against the old planning process
and help to make the process more dynamic.
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