IAOM Status Report ... CEO Melinda Farris Discuss the Association's Plans and Educational Initiatives
CEO Melinda Farris discusses the association’s plans and educational initiatives
Melinda Farris, chief executive officer of the International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM), and her staff continue to focus on implementing a strategic plan to help strengthen the association’s services to the milling industry.
In early February, Farris spoke with Milling Journal about IAOM’s key goals and especially about its educational efforts, upcoming conference and expo, and a new public relations initiative (PR).
The IAOM Board of Directors met in November 2021 to review its pre-COVID strategic plan. IAOM will focus its activities on the priorities identified by the board, which includes diversifying membership.
2022 IAOM Conference & Expo
“We’re just a few months away from the 126th Annual Conference & Expo, which is scheduled for May 3-5, in Richmond, VA. Registration opened Feb. 1, and we’ll start to get an idea for what attendance will be. We were pleased with the turnout for the 125th anniversary conference in Little Rock, AR, Aug. 29-Sept. 2, which was held later in the year than normal and during a peak in the Delta variant outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States.
“If the situation with the pandemic remains the same or improves by the time we are scheduled to meet in Richmond, we anticipate even better attendance.
“We have an exciting program scheduled. For the first time, we’re planning to hold a Women in Milling meet-up on the afternoon of May 3. We’ve invited Emily Bowers from Baker Equipment Manufacturers and Allieds who will use the Insights Discovery method to help bring new levels of awareness to leadership style. It’s an evaluative tool, based on the psychology of Carl Jung, built to help people understand themselves and others and make the most of workplace relationships.
“The methodology uses a simple and memorable four-color model to help people understand their style, strengths, and the value they bring to the team. Attendees who register for the Women in Milling event will take an online assessment in advance of the meeting so the program can be tailored for the professionals in attendance.
“Based on the board’s discussions at its most recent meeting in November, the program committee has added another track to the educational programming on Wednesday. The new Product Quality sessions will include presentations on topics specific to the work done by the labs and quality personnel in a mill. It’s an important part of mill operations and will be a good addition to our lineup of topics.
“We will have three panel discussions – the first day will have one on OSHA; day two will look at employee retention and hiring and packaging. A complete schedule is available at iaom.org/annualmeeting/education.
“Rasma Zvaners, policy director at the American Bakers Association, will deliver the keynote address entitled, ‘Challenges and Opportunities – Looking Forward as the Baking Sector.’ Her address will assess challenges the baking sector has faced over the past two years related to COVID-19 and look at what lies ahead and where there are opportunities. We’re excited to finally have Rasma as the keynote. She had been slated to deliver the address at our conference in Portland in 2020 before it was cancelled.
“We have a full expo hall and anticipate even more booths filling up before we meet in May. It’s too early to know what will be happening with COVID-19 around the world and here in the United States, but we know that a lot of international exhibitors who weren’t able to travel last year are planning to be in Richmond this May.
“IAOM still plans to take precautions to make the event as safe as possible for all attendees and our staff. We’ll continue to monitor the situation with COVID-19 and implement any necessary measures to maintain a safe environment at the event.
“Our conference host committee has done a terrific job lining up the golf course for the Friday outing and setting up an interesting program for the spouses/guests of attendees. The Allied Trades Committee will host its annual event at the Southern Railway Taphouse, which is just a few blocks from the headquarters hotel.”
Education and Training
“IAOM in January finished its second virtual Mill Maintenance course. The format for this course included 12 pre-recorded presentations and four one-hour Q&A sessions. The course opened on Dec. 15, 2021 and gave students the freedom to watch the main presentations according to their own schedules and timelines.
“Students had over one month to view the pre-recorded sessions before the live Q&A. Each student was required to submit at least one question per presentation to IAOM for inclusion in the live Q&A sessions, which were held on Jan. 18-19. Jeff Gwirtz, JAG Services, served as the moderator for all of the live sessions. Although there were a few technical issues with a couple of the speakers, extended versions of the Q&A were recorded and made available to watch on demand through the end of January.
“More than 30 people participated in the course, which is more than we’re able to accommodate when the course is held in-person. Based on initial feedback from the students, we plan to use this format for future virtual events, with some adjustments where needed.
“An Advisory Council for the Milling Technician certificate program offered at Cowley College met recently. They discussed the opportunity to expand the current program into an associate degree. To do so, the group will need to decide what other classes to include in a degree program. This will just provide another level of training and will make it easier to develop a 2+2 program with Kansas State University for those students who decide to continue their studies in milling after enrolling in the Cowley program. By providing more on- and off-ramps in milling education, we anticipate that it will be more attractive to a larger audience.
“The IAOM-KSU Introduction to Flour Milling course was held at IGP Institute in Manhattan in January. There were nine students from around the United States, many of whom represented suppliers. They said they really enjoyed learning more about the entire milling process instead of just the area where their company provides services or equipment.
“Currently, IAOM plans to hold all courses in-person as scheduled. We also are working on moving the virtual packaging course to an in-person format this year. The support of the industry’s equipment and service suppliers has been phenomenal over the past couple of years, as we’ve had to transition to virtual learning and teaching. We don’t see the virtual training going away, even when it is safe to return to in-person activities. We think there always will be a market for these courses and hope to be able to improve and adapt the offerings for this medium continually.”
Promoting Milling as a Career
“As is the case in so many industries, there is a labor shortage in milling. We know that many people are unaware that grain milling is a great place to build a career. Even a lot of the milling science graduates from KSU don’t often start in the milling science program – they hear about the program from friends on campus or relatives already in the program.
“To help with this visibility or PR issue, we are developing a PR initiative to help the industry get the attention of a new pool of talent. IAOM will develop a network of allies to promote the industry and let their contacts – mainly middle and secondary school students – know that there are all sorts of careers and jobs available in the grain milling industry, and ag industry, more broadly. We’ll encourage them to look at the Grain Science & Industry department at KSU, at the Cowley College courses, and other training opportunities available to them.
“IAOM will use funds from the International Milling Education Foundation (IMEF) to provide the initial funding for the project. We’ll have a steering committee comprised of IAOM members. To benefit from all of the work that the industry has already done on this front, we’re asking milling companies to provide some staff hours/in-kind support to create materials and complete specific projects, which are to be identified by the Steering Committee. Then, we’ll work with our carefully selected allies and educators to help us test the materials, conduct outreach to STEM- and ag-related groups.
“We plan to work with allies and students involved in organizations like FFA, 4-H, AFA, and target teachers who are in STEM-related areas of study. We have three teachers identified in the Kansas City area to help with the pilot work. Once we’ve identified those projects and materials that are viable and scalable, we’ll work on making the materials available more broadly and train some of our members in the industry and those you and your companies have identified to help with the PR initiative/campaign.
“The final phase of the initiative will involve identifying events outside the classroom for outreach. These will be well-attended or well-established groups of STEM- and/or ag-related students and target audiences. We know that students are more likely to trust and believe an adult they know well. So if we focus on getting information about careers in milling to these leaders and educators, they are in a better position to influence students – and once they are on board, they will be able to share their knowledge about the industry to class after class of students – the industry’s potential workforce.”
IMEF Update
“IMEF once again will be holding its silent and live auctions at the IAOM Conference & Expo in Richmond (See p. 26). We have started soliciting items for the auction.
“Thanks to donations and funds generated from previous auctions, the IMEF endowment has almost reached $2 million. With a strong showing at this year’s event, and some help from investments, we should be able to surpass that mark before the end of 2022.
“As I mentioned before, the funds from IMEF will help to support our PR initiative efforts, and it will provide scholarships for KSU students, as well as professionals in the industry.
“The IAOM board also is developing a scholarship program to help non-KSU students who have demonstrated an interest in a career in milling.”