Northwest Food Processors Receive $3.4B Boost From The State
Portland, OR - Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski signed legislation recently that will provide $3.4M to help revitalize the Pacific Northwest's struggling food processing industry. The funds will be used to establish the Northwest Food Processors Innovation Productivity Center (IPC), a new non-profit organization located in Portland that will position food processors in Oregon, Washington and Idaho to compete more effectively on a global scale through increased innovation and productivity.
"The food processing industry is a core component of Oregon's economy," said Gov. Kulongoski. "Funding the development of the Innovation Productivity Center will help this important industry succeed in an increasingly global economy. In addition, this funding will be used -- through the IPC -- to create new opportunities and sustainable advantages for food processors and the industries that serve them in areas such as workforce development, research and development, and technical advancements."
The food industry accounts for nearly 16 percent of the state's employment and is a $20.6B industry for the Northwest economy.
Despite being a major economic force, the regional food processing industry is facing dramatic changes that are forcing critical strategic adjustments in the way food processors conduct business. Major challenges include market consolidation, pricing pressures, steadily intensifying global competition and rising input costs in areas such as energy.
The IPC, an organization spearheaded by the Northwest Food Processors Association (NWFPA), will be the centerpiece of an ongoing effort to reinvigorate food processing in Oregon and elsewhere in the Northwest.
"The concept of creating an IPC grew out of NWFPA's Cluster Initiative, which began in 2003 to address many of these looming challenges facing the industry," said Dave Zepponi, president of NWFPA. "It aims to support processors' core infrastructure -- or 'cluster' -- including suppliers, utilities, educational institutions, and state and federal agencies."
Zepponi added, "The IPC is an industry-driven effort that will serve as a rallying point for an established industry that has been facing tough economic challenges. In addition to increasing productivity and profitability in the food processing industry, it will serve as a model for other industries to expand their market share."The IPC will be a clearinghouse of information, technical resources and advisors, linking industry needs to existing private and public providers.
It will: facilitate solutions to enhance plant and cluster level productivity; encourage technology awareness and transfer for increased innovation; and re-engineer leadership development efforts with an emphasis on innovation and productivity. Operations will place IPC advisors in the field to bring innovation and productivity improvements into processing plants, with a particular focus on continual productivity improvement in critical areas such as increased energy efficiency. To accomplish the latter objective, NWFPA is currently working with the Industrial Efficiency Alliance, a regional non-profit initiative of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance with an energy management focus, to develop and deliver continuous energy improvement services through the IPC.
The IPC will be led by a team that includes Rick Fisch, recently retired from J.R. Simplot Company; Glenn Felix, past associate director of the Oregon Productivity Center; and Dave Klick, who recently retired from NWFPA.
The IPC is part of a larger $28.2M economic stimulus package signed into law by Gov. Kulongoski. Other components of the 2007 Oregon Innovation Plan, developed by the Oregon Innovation Council, include: funding for wave energy generation; research in nanoscience and microtechnologies; research and development of bio-based products and green building; and research to develop and commercialize new drugs to fight infectious diseases.
SOURCE: the Northwest Food Processors Association