News Bulletin

December 2006

Midwest Food Processors Association, PO Box 1297, Madison, WI 53701-1297,  608.255.9946, Fax: 608.255.9838, info@mwfpa.org, www.mwfpa.org

IN THIS ISSUE:
November 29-30th, 102nd MWFPA Annual Convention a success!
Convention Highlights: Keynote Speakers, Exhibits, Entertainment, Spouse/Guest Tour
Thanks to all of you!
2006 Convention Sponsors
2006 Convention Exhibiting Companies
New Director, Officer and Member Elects to MWFPA Board for 2007
2005 Year End Safety Award Winners Honored at 2006 Convention
MWFPA Annual Report 2006
Congress Passes Natural Gas Legislation in the 11th Hour
In Memoriam - Long time Associate Member, Ron Easterday
Welcome to additional New Associate Members
Online Membership Directory
Advertising at MWFPA
Join the MWFPA!
Upcoming Events 2007

For a printable version of the MWFPA News Bulletin please click the following link.
News Bulletin December, 2006

MWFPA ANNUAL CONVENTION A HUGE SUCCESS!
Over 700 food processing industry representatives, speakers, university officials, and exhibitors converged on Appleton, WI, November 28-30th for the 102^nd Annual MWFPA Convention and 79^th Processing Crops Conference.  Exhibits, seminars, speakers, entertainment, tours, receptions, parties and a dinner dance guaranteed that there was something for everyone at the two-day event...

Keynote Speakers....
Keynote speakers challenged the audience with thought provoking discussions on competing in the international marketplace, keeping pace with changing consumer tastes, and complying with international standards.  Hour long break-out sessions throughout the 2 day convention were well attended and covered such topics as Kosher Product Standards, National Organic Standards, Spill Prevention Controls, and Arc Flash Safety to mention just a few. 

President Clinton...Is that really you?  

There were a few double-takes when Mr. Bill Clinton (impersonator) was ushered into the ballroom by his secret service agents on Thursday during lunch with a packed house anxiously waiting to see who this surprise guest keynote speaker would be.  Clinton look-alike, comedian Damian Mason, entertained the packed house with his hysterical impression of the former President.  Mr. Clinton, (impersonator) enthusiastically posed for pictures with members and even took time to sign a few autographs following the highly amusing presentation. (Photo compliments of Jax USA)

Exhibits....
Over 90 exhibiting food suppliers from across the United States and Europe displayed a wide range of new products, services and technologies for this year's convention.  Hundreds of attendees roamed the exhibit hall learning about vendor’s products and services and meeting and speaking with industry representatives. Click here to view a list of 2006 Exhibiting Companies and visit their website. 

Entertainment...
Thursday evening, after two days of seminars and exhibits and despite a snow storm that threatened to destroy travel plans, many people still found the time to enjoy a relaxing dinner, good conversation and a glass or two of fine wine.  Once everyone was nourished they danced the night away to the ever popular Vic Ferrari Band!  There was not an open spot on the dance floor all night!

Spouse/Guest Tours enjoyed by all...
Approximately 50 spouses and/or guests joined us for the fun filled tours offered on both Wednesday and Thursday of the convention.  Rave reviews and excitement were echoed by participants at their return each day!  Both days were filled with plenty of shopping, unique tours, grand site-seeing, scrumptious food and even a touch of creativity where they actually made paper from scratch and created their own personalized gifts! 

We couldn't have done it without you!
Thanks to all of you who attended this year's convention and helped make it a success! 
A special thanks to our many Sponsor and Exhibitor Companies for your generous contributions towards the convention! 
Without ALL of you, an event this size would not be possible...

2006 CONVENTION SPONSORS...

2006 EXHIBITING COMPANIES...
(click on any company name below to visit their website)

New Directors, Officers and Members Elected to the MWFPA Board for 2007
A slate of new and continuing directors was approved to serve on the MWFPA Board of Directors at the Annual Members Meeting on November 30, 2006 in Appleton, WI.  The following members will serve on the Board of Directors until December of 2009:
Joe Beckers, Allen Canning Company, Pulaski, WI
Gary Braun, Del Monte Foods, Warrenville, IL
Joe Breid, Bush Brothers & Company, Augusta, WI
Paul Palmby, Seneca Foods Corp., Janesville, WI

Directly following the Annual Members Meeting, the Board of Directors met and elected the following new officers for 2007:
Bob Goeres, Lodi Canning Company was elected Chairman
Russell Schmidt, Lakeside Foods, was elected Vice-Chair
Gary Braun, Del Monte Foods was elected Secretary/Treasurer
John Riemer, JAX/USA Lubricants and Randy Karcz, Hydrite Chemical Company will serve a two year term on the board as the co-chairmen of the Associate Member Organization.

2005 Year End Safety Award Winners Honored at November Convention
Winners of the 2005 MWFPA Safety Contest were recognized at the Safety Breakfast during the November 29 - 30th Annual Convention.  In 2005, 29 food processing plants in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin competed in the Safety Contest.  The awards are based on OSHA data with monthly reports of incident rates for participating plants.  First Place Awards are based on having the lowest recordable incident rate for a given cumulative employee-hours category.  The lowest one-third of the recordable incident rates for a category is placed on the Safety Contest Honor Roll.  The Greatest Improvement Award is given to the Employer-Unit with the greatest improvement in their recordable incident rate over the last four years.  This year Al Bodden, MWFPA Safety Committee Chairman from Del Monte, Cambria, WI, presented the following awards:

 FIRST PLACE AWARDS FOR EACH OF FIVE CATEGORIES: 

 Congratulations to all 2005 Safety Contest Winners and to All Participating Companies!  

Association Annual Report
All MWFPA member companies were mailed a copy of the 2006 MWFPA Annual Report with their 2007 Membership Renewal invoice mailed within the last few weeks.  If you would like a copy of the Annual Report you can view/print a copy by clicking 2006 Annual Report or contact the MWFPA office at 608-255-9946. 
 
Congress Passes Natural Gas Legislation in the 11^th Hour
The US Congress passed legislation in early December, which contains provisions to expand natural gas development in the Gulf region.  President Bush is expected to sign the bill, H.R. 6111 in the coming week.    The legislation, targeting an energy-rich region of the Gulf of Mexico for development, is estimated to yield 1.26 billion barrels of oil and 5.83 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  The natural gas that is located on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) off the lower 48 states alone would satisfy all domestic industrial and commercial needs for almost 30 years according to the US Chamber of Commerce.  MWFPA members were vocal in their support of similar legislation over the past session.  It is estimated that there were nearly 75,000 separate communications to Congress in support of the measure.  Thank you to all members who wrote their Congressmen on this very important issue.

In Memoriam – Ron Easterday
We were saddened to learn that the food processing industry lost a champion in August 2006, when Ron Easterday, President of Easterday Fluid Technologies, Inc. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, passed away.  Mr. Easterday is perhaps best known in the food processing industry worldwide for his life long development of thermal processing fluids & inks.   Ron developed the first latex semi-gloss in the world.  His father developed the first thermal sensitive spot indicator for the food processing industry in 1951.  Shortly thereafter, Ron developed three different, advanced thermal sensitive jet fluids used for many years by the food processing industry.  After retort processing the food containers, the color change of the fluid applied on to the exterior of each product provides assurance that each food container had reached a thermal cook process.  Ron later developed a thermal sensitive jet ink for use in non-contact, continuous ink jet printers for the alpha-numeric ''Use Before'' product date code.  This followed with the development of six different color changing thermal chromic jet inks used worldwide by the food processing and food container industry.  Easterday Fluid Technologies is a long time member of MWFPA.  We extend our condolences to the Easterday family.

WELCOME...TO EVEN MORE NEW ASSOCIATE MEMBERS!
(click on any company name below to visit their website)
American Transmission Company
Interstates Companies
INTX Microbials LLC
Networked Robotics Corp
RSM McGladrey
Warehouse Specialists Inc

MWFPA Members, don't forget to visit the 'Membership Directory' on our website at www.mwfpa.org for the most up to date products, services and member contact information!

Advertising: for information on advertising in the MWFPA Membership print and online Directory & the online Buyers' Guide, please contact Ray Goodwin at Naylor Publications, 800.369.6220 x3459 or email at rgoodwin@naylor.com.  For additional information click the following graphic.

Coming in January, 2007!
We will begin placing advertising in the next publication of our monthly MWFPA News Bulletin targeted for the week of January 15, 2007. For more information, please contact Naylor Publications above.

Join the MWFPA! If you are interested in joining the Midwest Food Processors Association, please click here to view/print information and an application to complete and submit to MWFPA.  If you would like to learn even more about our association and the benefits of joining, please contact our association office by calling 608.255.9946.

 
Upcoming Events
 2007