Milk Builds Strong Bones – GPTF Builds Strong Workforce

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) was awarded funding through the Going PRO Talent Fund. This allowed them to provide employees with the opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills needed to perform their jobs effectively. DFA was awarded funds to provide numerous training courses, including Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), Electrical, Statistical, and Valve Functions.  

Ten employees participated in the valve training. This training allowed them the opportunity to learn about the types of valves, their operation, and how they can malfunction. The employees became more confident and empowered to identify issues with valves and how to troubleshoot them. Some valves control the movement of the milk during various processes throughout the facility. Having the valves function correctly is an essential part of the operation’s success. If the valves don’t function properly, it can cause a loss of product. Loss of product means dumping the whole container down the drain!

Talisa Hurren, Plant Manager, stated, “The opportunity to provide training to our employees allowed us to increase employee confidence, engagement, and satisfaction. This reduces our turnover and increases our productivity and efficiency.” Zak Sheikh, who works in the wastewater treatment plant, participated in the PLC and Electrical classes.  From this experience, he said, “The training was great, the teacher was very professional and knowledgeable on both topics. He was very understanding of my level of knowledge and was able to explain the complex topics in a way that I could learn it and know how to apply it to my day-to-day tasks.”