A Profile of a Successful ETP Contractor

ETP-Funded Training Program Yields Immediate Results

Projects approved at the December and January Meetings

Press Releases

Case Studies

Contact Us
Kim Smith
1100 J Street, 4th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.327.5330
www.etp.ca.gov

A Profile of a Successful ETP Contractor

What do you get when you mix sewing shears and chocolate ice cream? For Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, it was the birth of Rocky Road -- created in 1929 by William Dreyer, and so named because "it gave people something to smile about in the face of the Great Depression". William Dreyer distinguished his small company from other ice cream manufacturers, by cutting marshmallows into bite-sized pieces with his wife's sewing shears and adding nuts – a far cry from the mundane vanilla, chocolate and strawberry people were used to eating.

Today, Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, founded in 1928 in Oakland, is a billion dollar industry, employing more than 2,500 workers in California and 6,000 workers world-wide. Dreyer's admits that while sewing shears may no longer have a role in revolutionizing the frozen dessert industry, continual improvements in their company's product, production processes and customer service does.

Dreyer's is no stranger to the benefits of ETP job training funds. In an effort to expand their California operations and to establish and maintain a high performance workplace in their new Bakersfield facility in 2004, they contracted with ETP and successfully trained 671 employees. In 2006, Dreyer's received ETP funds to provide continuous improvement training to 312 workers employed in their Tulare facility. Having successfully implemented and carried out that training, Dreyer's returned to ETP in December 2007 for additional funds to train 293 workers in order to implement the Dreyer's Grand Performance System in their Tulare facility, which provides an efficiency performance link throughout the company, involving production, administration, maintenance, shipping and engineering functions.

"Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream epitomizes how the ETP program is supposed to work," said Barry Broad, ETP's Acting Chair. "Although Dreyer's operations are located in high unemployment areas, the company pays excellent wages, maintains low employee turnover rates, and demonstrates consistent high performance in the completion of their contracts."

For more information regarding Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream's ETP contracts, or how the ETP program can enhance your training program, contact Kim Smith, ETP's Assistant Director, at 916/327-5330.

Subscribe or Unsubscribe from ETP News Link
Your email address is maintained in confidence, in accordance with our Privacy Policy