News

Portland State University’s Food Industry Leadership Center (FILC), in partnership with the Food Marketing Institute, will hold its tenth-annual “Today’s Managers: Tomorrow’s Leaders” program February 28 – March 4, 2004, at Dolce Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, Wash. Richard Parkinson, president and CEO of Associated Food Stores, will give the opening keynote address.

The conference is a unique program that offers food industry executives and senior-level managers at retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and suppliers an in-depth look at emerging successful business practices. The conference focuses on a practical, solution-oriented approach to management issues, utilizing case studies, role-playing, team discussions and lectures. Throughout the week, attendees work to understand how the various segments of the food/packaged goods industry value chain are interrelated, build managerial and executive skills in creating solutions to common problems, and gain insight from top-level executives from prominent and successful companies.

“The best endorsement we have is our participants,” said Thomas Gillpatrick, executive director of PSU’s Food Industry Leadership Center. “Not only do they quickly move up in their careers, but their companies continue to send their best managers, year after year.”

Throughout the weeklong program, key industry executives from companies such as Albertson’s, Franz Family Bakeries, Fred Meyer, P&G, Pepsi-Co, the Food Marketing Institute, Portland State’s School of Business Administration and others will join participants to provide executive insights in an informal setting outside the classroom. Specific seminar topics include Balancing Life, Financial Management, Increasing Customer Loyalty, Key Elements in Negotiation, Supply and Logistics Management, Staff Performance and many others.

Enrollment for this event is almost at capacity with representatives from companies such as Classic Wines of California, Fred Meyer, Haggen, Inc., Kroger, Pepsi-Co, Proctor and Gamble, QFC and Trailblazer Foods. For more information on “Today’s Manager’s, Tomorrow’s Leaders,” call 503-725-8184, 1-800-547-8887 ext. 8184, or visit www.foodleadership.pdx.edu.

BACKGROUND
The Food Industry Leadership Center (FILC) at Portland State University is housed in the School of Business Administration and is one of only six programs in the nation providing educational and research programs for the food industry — the largest employment industry in the state of Oregon. Since the FILC’s founding in 1994, more than 500 processors, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers have participated in various programs.

All FILC programs are developed in close collaboration with industry representatives to better provide a valuable strategic resource in meeting the educational and research needs of the food industry. Internship and recruitment opportunities are available to all interested food companies. Many students in the FILC program receive national scholarships to assist in their studies. Most recently Tarrin Edvalson, a PSU senior in the FILC program, beat out 17 other interns to win Nestle Purina PetCare’s Leadership Award based on his leadership around the PetsMart ONE Expansion Project.

The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) is a U.S.-based nonprofit association conducting programs in research, education, industry relations and public affairs on behalf of its 2,300 members, including their subsidiaries — food retailers, wholesalers and their customers around the world. FMI's U.S. members operate approximately 26,000 retail food stores with a combined annual sales volume of $340 billion — three-quarters of all food retail store sales in the United States. FMI's retail membership is composed of large multi-store chains, regional firms and independent supermarkets. Its international membership includes 200 companies from 60 countries.

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Release Number: 04-020