Henningsen Cold Storage (HCS) was recognized as a winner of the 2013 Premier Employer Award at the Northwest Food Processors Association (NWFPA) Annual Expo and Conference held January 14-16, 2013 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland OR.
Tony Lucarelli, executive vice-president; Bill Daniel, human resources manager; and Colin Longmuir, warehouse manager; were present to accept the award before a sold-out audience at the general session. This award recognizes HCS’s innovative employee engagement practices. It is only given to companies that promote economic opportunities for lower-income employees as an integral part of their strategy for sustaining and improving business results.
“The award recognizes Henningsen Cold Storage’s many employee practices including their dedication to employee training over many years, their executives’ involvement with all levels in the organization, and consistency of promoting from within,” said Dave Zepponi, NWFPA president. “Henningsen has many practices that engage their workers in the business. They are also well-known for their strong support of the communities in the states in which they do business.”
“There are three key pieces to attend to for a company to succeed in this industry: customers, services, and locations,” said Lucarelli. “We have to have our warehouses where our customers are, or where the product they are storing is consumed. Location is not based on where the talent is; therefore we have to develop our employees to be and do their best.”
The award is part of a larger project funded by the Hitachi Foundation’s Business and Program. This foundation partnered with Northwest Food Processors Education & Research Institute (ERI) to find and qualify Premier Employer companies, understand and write a case study on their employee practices, and note their business results. The ERI’s project team completed 11 case studies and an executive summary highlighting excellent practices and business results.
Case studies and executive summary documents are available through NWFPA. Contact Rosi Marshall, program manager, at [email protected], or visit www.nwfpa.org.
