Strengthening the Systems and Leadership Behind One of Oregon’s Most Important Industries
Oregon’s food and beverage industry is a cornerstone of the state’s economy. It anchors rural and urban employment, drives trade, supports thousands of suppliers, and defines Oregon’s reputation for high-quality, value-added products. But the pressures facing this sector have reached a point where traditional approaches to compliance, training, and leadership development are no longer enough.
Across the state, companies are navigating a perfect storm: increasing regulatory demands, a shrinking talent pool, rising operational costs, and leadership turnover at every level. The systems that once held organizations together are being tested and in many cases, failing quietly until they fail visibly.
When You’re Asked to Fix a System From Inside the System
In food manufacturing, food safety and quality culture is often treated as both the root of every problem and the solution to all of them. When performance slips or audit findings stack up, organizations turn to the people already closest to the work — FSQA leaders, supervisors, frontline teams — and ask them to “drive cultural change.”
But here is the truth:
You cannot transform a culture from inside the dynamics that created it.