Apprenticeships &

the Food Industry Compliance Collaboration Rosemarie Christopher

President Rx Research Services & RxRS Foundation

History• Rx Research Services - Federal & State Approved

Apprentice Training Committee Status • Proof of Principle – 2015 - 5 Apprentices • Innovative Apprenticeships for Life Sciences Industry

2016-2017 grant –DAS & Miramar College & Rx Research Services – Build a workforce pipeline to address the workforce

and training gaps for regulatory affairs and quality control careers in the FDA regulated life sciences industry.

– Target Populations: Veterans and unemployed/underemployed STEM degree holders.

Need

Employers have identified quality and regulatory positions as hard to fill across the state

Why QC Apprenticeships

Quality Control

Food Technologist

Microbiologist

Warehouse Supervisor

Supplier Auditor

• Understanding Quality is important in multiple roles

• There are multiple career paths for QC apprentice

• End of program, apprentice has 2 years of experience and two industry certifications

• 87% of Apprentices are offered positions, much higher rate than interns

• Industry certifications insure industry best practices are followed: important to FDA

• Candidates with certifications and 1-6 years of experience are the most difficult to uncover

Apprenticeships

Value add• We provide three promising

apprentice-candidates (same commitment as our full-time search services)

• Insure the apprentice stays on track with trainings and experiential requirements

• Coordinate and pay for tests and trainings

• Provide mentor if one is not available

• Work with veterans groups, local universities and social services to uncover candidates with promise

• Ensure compliance with federal, state and local laws and program requirements

• Ensure apprentice follows ethics established by the profession

http://meirxrs.com/fsma/

Apprenticeships

Breakdown• Certification materials and exam

are covered by the program• Mentorship stipend available

(mentors must have industry certification)

• Wages, employer taxes and benefits account for 1.46X hourly pay according to Bureau of Labor Statistics*

• Learning hours of 6-8 weekly paid by CA DAS grant

www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/employee-benefits-cost-employers-10-dollars-and-70-cents-per-hour-in-march-2016.htm

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships StatusApprentice

Host Companies

Position Title

Veteran Hours Completed

Certification

1 4 food companies

Quality Control Technician

2043.33 CQIA

2 1 food company

Quality Control Technician

834.40 CQIA

3 2 food companies

Quality Control Technician

1637.83 CQIA

4 2 food companies

Quality Assurance

√ 1329.68 CQIA

5 1 food company

Quality Control Technician

√ 1503.97 CQIA

6 Food Test Lab Micro QCTechnician

500

7 Biotech Test Lab

ChemistryQC Tech

X 300

Possible Business Objectives There are third-party certifications we wish to earn

Our customers will be checking our documentation

We want to ensure our choice of suppliers does not lead to a product recall

Line-level vacancies go unfilled for long durations of time

We want to beat our competitors in product quality

We want to stay out of the crosshairs of FDA.

Questions:Rosemarie Christopherrchristopher@meirxrs.com213-999-0138http://meirxrs.com/apprentices/

Apprenticeships

CALL to ActionProtect your BRAND • Do NOT let lack of, or

insufficient

Documentation Bring YOUR Company down

ATTEND 20 hours of Preventive Controls TRAINING- Make your company COMPLIANT to FSMA now- Avoid the rush for this required training:

http://meirxrs.com/fsma-class/

• HOST an Apprenticewww.meirxrs.com/apprentices

AVOID COSTLY RECALLS: The economic losses to industry, including farmers, are enormous, estimated at over $75 billion per year.