Jeff Vandlen for Future Plans - GRIT Project Video Testimonials

Speaker: Jeff Vandlen, Human Resources Manager, General Mills

Jeff Vandlen: Yes. What makes me the most proud about General Mills role here in Southern Ohio is really just the stability and the presence that we've had uh here in the community in Wellston. Um And certainly Jackson County, you know, we have been a, a stable source of employment. Um We've had a really stable presence here in the local community for a number of years. Our plant uh is coming up on, on being in existence for almost 60 years total. Um And our impact I think has, has been felt hopefully in a, in a lot of good ways for generations here in the area. Um There's a lot of pride in our brand here. Uh There's a lot of um connections and, and families in this community who have relied on, on General Mills role here in, in this plant in, in Wellston. And that's just one that we're really proud of. It's not one that we take for granted and we know that doesn't exist everywhere. And so, um just really, really love over the, the decades we've been here, the value that we've been able to give to our employees and certainly the community

Jeff Vandlen: Having been in this role for a number of years now, you know, I've had a firsthand uh kind of perspective on, you know, the, the wonderful advantages this community and these people bring to, to manufacturing here in the area. Well, manufacturing has, has certainly grown over the years. Um The thing I love the most about the, the communities and the groups of people and just the demographic in the area is really a willingness to, to learn and adapt. Um and, and a lot of really great learning agility, you know, there's a lot of people in the area who come to work for us, um that may or may not have manufacturing experience, but we're always really surprised and pleased at just how well people pick up new skills here and then certainly a willingness to try new things and learn. And so that's been, I think over the years, one of our competitive advantages um as we've kind of developed our workforce uh and the opportunities that we've provided.

Jeff Vandlen: Having served on the board of our uh best Ohio industry sector partnership here in this area for the last couple of years. Um Firsthand, I've seen just wonderful advantages of the partnership that we've been able to form the alliance, we've been able to form amongst many industry partners here. Um Until this group was formed, it was really a disparate group of employers. So we're all kind of in our own industry um doing slightly different things and there really wasn't this coalition or, or this momentum to get uh all of us together, to share best practices, to share challenges. And so I think one of the big advantages that best Ohio has provided for us is really just the normal cadence for us to get together and, and talk about those things and have a forum to talk about those things. I think it also brings us together to have more of an aligned mission um through these meetings and conversations and different avenues. We found that many of our challenges are similar. And so it allows us to do a lot of uh best practice sharing about how we can overcome those um with different strategies and different perspectives. Um So that, that uh partnership with Best Ohio has been invaluable for us uh as an employer in the area and kind of helping address some of those more systemic, bigger picture needs over, over time.

Jeff Vandlen: Collaborating with Best Ohio over the last few years um has served a, a really great purpose in helping us kind of look for opportunities to build um a skilled and diverse workforce here uh at General Mills. Um through this collaboration, one of the main advantages is that we get a lot of different industry partners um both on the industry side, but then also in the academic side and then also affiliated with different state run programs. And so, one of the big advantages through Best Ohio is us as a company learning about different grants, different training opportunities that we've had a chance to send people to um you know, different programs that we've been able to apply to, to help upskill current employees, future employees. Um And quite honestly, just the networking within the group has been um a really strong advantage for us as we think about how do we take on some of these challenges with staffing some of our manufacturing positions, both now and in the future. Um This group's been great at helping identify opportunities that can help us do that here locally in a real practical way.

Jeff Vandlen: I feel like these sector partnerships are so important, uh especially in areas like ours. And so we're relatively remote, um you know, down here in Southern and Southeast Ohio. And so as I mentioned earlier, a lot of industry and network connections are a little bit harder to come by. Um And so the idea that we have this kind of formal uh group that through this partnership that comes together on a regular regular cadence is, is super helpful. Um It's super helpful to kind of, as I mentioned, hear best practices to hear challenges to brainstorm ways that we can collectively help one another, uh being able to tour different facilities, talk to different groups of employees. I think it's just overall uh for everyone involved in the partnership to kind of help expand our horizons just a little bit can be really easy. Um You know, in, in places like here in Southern Ohio to kind of get tunnel vision about what we're doing and how we're doing it. And so having this partnership has just been eye opening in terms of being able to connect with other industries and hear from other other leaders in those industries about how they're tackling manufacturing challenges here, uh, here in Southern Ohio.

Jeff Vandlen: I think being a part of best Ohio has helped um elevate and, and kind of just bring a new and diverse perspective to some of the challenges that we're facing. And so being a part of this group has again, as I've stated, been invaluable, not only from a networking and a connection standpoint here locally, uh kind of, you know, business to business manufacturer, manufacturer, but I think that the partnership has just been such um strong exposure to a lot of other different groups that can help our, our company, our plant in different ways that I probably otherwise wouldn't have known. And so we've got strong partnerships with jobs, Ohio, we've got a really good link with the um the O MA, the Ohio Manufacturers Association. Um We have different academic partners talking about programs and, and skilled trades and different ways that they're working to help employers. And so, you know, I think it really allows us to step back a bit from the day to day, which we get bogged down in sometimes and think about how can uh all these different partners in this area? How can this group best Ohio help support us in what our future state and what our future vision looks like. And so I think it just gives us the avenue to have those conversations. Um And we've had a lot of really strong, short and long term value that's come as a result.