Playing to our Strengths
By Albert B. Kelly
One belief I’ve always held is that in order to succeed, you
generally have to play to your strengths. This isn’t an original idea on my
part, but it’s worth considering what it means to play to one’s strengths. For
the most part, it means investing time, energy and resources into doing the
things you do well. This might include maximizing natural talent, using
existing physical features and assets, or highlighting certain personality and
character traits. This also holds true when institutions and communities consider
playing to their strengths.
In the case of Bridgeton and Cumberland County, playing to one
of our strengths inevitably includes focusing on the food industry. Part of
this has to do with the number and type of important food-related companies in
the area as well as our connection to agriculture. But two important assets in this
formula include the Rutgers Food Innovation Center and the coming Food
Specialization Center.
Both facilities are unique. As many know, in the case of the
Rutgers Food Innovation Center (RFIC), it’s their portfolio of services,
technical assistance, and several dedicated spaces for specific functions that
food and beverage entrepreneurs and businesses can access in one location. Simply
put, there are few facilities in the country that offer what RFIC offers to
those in the food and beverage industry.
In the case of the Food Specialization Center, this 31,000
square foot facility, when completed, will offer efficiency and economies of
scale that slightly differ from FIC yet remain related and compatible. For food
and beverage entrepreneurs, small businesses, and businesses starting new food
and beverage product lines they can lease their own dedicated production space
and maintain affordability through shared common spaces including: loading
docks, common blast freezer, shared machine shop, office space, locker rooms,
and meeting space. In short, this is an adaptable facility and because the
facility is next to RFIC, clients can still access the technical assistance available
at RFIC.
Yet even as the Rutgers Food Innovation Center celebrates a
decade of serving a range of clients and the Cumberland County Improvement Authority
progresses with planning and constructing the next phase Food Specialization
Center; we’re already looking ahead to the future of the food and beverage industry
and thinking about what comes next.
One of the catalysts for this look ahead came from Bridgeton’s
submission to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority in response to
their Innovation Challenge grant. Working in partnership with Rutgers, the FIC
team, and the Cumberland-Salem-Cape May Workforce Development Board; our goal is
to create a Smart Food Technology Center focused on such innovations as connective
technology (machines talking with machines), real-time data collection, data
analysis, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to name a few.
Planning includes setting up a working production line that
will serve the needs of clients while also providing demonstration and training
abilities on the latest technologies that incorporate design, implementation,
and testing of process control and automation systems; manufacturing process
control, and aggregating and integrating the data generated from those systems
into higher levels of manufacturing and planning. This basically means turning
production data into insights and meaningful information to help food and
beverage businesses be more productive and profitable.
Part of getting there is finding out exactly what food and
beverage manufacturers (of all sizes) face in the way of challenges and needs as
it relates to these technologies, possible upgrades, as well as workforce
training. If you are in the food or beverage industry, we need to hear from
you.
With that in mind, while seating may be limited, there will
be a roundtable this Wednesday (February 27th) on Smart Technology
and the food industry at the Cumberland County College Luciano Conference
Center in Vineland. If you are interested, please call (856) 696-5660 Ext 3018
for more information. Even if this event is full, we still want to hear from
you if you’re a food or beverage manufacturer.
As for the big picture, the goal is to create a unique food
industry “hub” that features the Rutgers Food Innovation Center with all that
they bring to the table, the Food Specialization Center with their flexible
space, and a Smart Food Technology Center to serve the needs of the food and
beverage industry with the latest digital and connective technologies and the
ability to train incumbent and new workers for a rapidly transforming industry.
It’s part of playing to our strengths and that’s no small thing.