SEMA_________________________________

SOUTHEASTERN MEAT ASSOCIATION
P.O. Box 620777; Oviedo, FL 32762 Phone: 407-365-5661

HURRICANE KATRINA

Hurricane Katrina not only left Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama devastated but will affect the United States. The good news is our SEMA members from that area came through with very little or no damages.

Hurricane damage has devastated the poultry and shellfish industry in Mississippi and Alabama. Many of the poultry plants had been shutdown due to Hurricane Katrina leaving them without power or water. Many of the growout houses have been damaged or destroyed.

If you can help, please?
The Second Harvest, a national non-profit food bank is looking for donated transportation to move supplies to member food banks impacted by Katrina. Second Harvest is also looking for truckload quantities of non-perishable items such as beef jerky, canned meats and hand-held snacks. If you can help please contact Second Harvest at 800.771.2303. To learn how the Second Harvest is helping go on line at www.secondharvest.org.

The Restaurant Association, on October 5th, will promote “Dine for America” to raise money for the hurricane victims. Participating restaurants can make donations based on each guest, sale or specific item on the menu. All proceeds will go to the Red Cross. This may be a good opportunity to work with your customers for a good cause.

The North American Meat Processors Association (NAMP) has set up a relief fund with all proceeds going directly toward the individual needs of some of their members that were in the path of Hurricane Katrina. To learn more call Jane Jacobs at the NAMP office, 703.758.1900.

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Nothing is so strong as gentleness
Nothing is so gentle as real strength
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CATTLE MARKET

The USDA mid-year cattle report states that cattle numbers are growing about 1% per year. The increase in cattle should put an end to the high prices and values should be on the decline. The Progressive Farmer Magazine reports, fall prices should rise above the summer lows, but the return of Canadian cattle and another confirmed case of mad cow in late July will limit the typical fall price rally.

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The rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.
Warren Buffet
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EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

In 2004 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 79,432 fillings against employers, with charges of discrimination based on race (34.9%) and sex (30.5%) accounting for the highest number of complaints. It’s important to note that the EEOC data does not reflect private lawsuits, which have increased substantially over recent years. Some employers believe that they are safe from employment practices liability if they are not covered by the EEOC (fewer than 15 employees) or the Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA) (fewer than 20 employees), which is untrue. A small company may be exempt from the jurisdiction of these federal laws, but a disgruntled employee (current or former) can still sue. While many claims and lawsuits ultimately turn out to be without merit, they often involve substantial defense costs.

What can an Employer do to protect themselves?

• Have strong anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies and make it known that management strongly supports these policies.
• Provide multiple avenues of reporting harassment so that an employee can bypass their supervisor when reporting it.
• Require anti-harassment training and have all employees sign a statement that they have been through this training and understand the company’s policy usually in the form of an employee handbook – An employer is normally bound by the actions of its supervisors whether those actions were authorized or not.
• Thoroughly document all actions taken with regards to any harassment or discrimination situation.
• Uniformly enforces all company policies.
• Maintain a clear statement in your employment application that employment is “at will”.

What to look for in an EPL insurance policy?

• Most EPL policies cover a range of employment practices such as sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, negligent evaluation, failure to employ or promote, wrongful discipline, invasion of privacy, misrepresentation, deprivation of career opportunity and negligent hiring. However, an employer should also make sure that the definition of discrimination includes an all-inclusive statement such as “..or any other action that affects an individual’s terms, conditions or opportunities of employment based on membership in a protected class”.
• The policy definitions of sexual harassment should mirror the definition used by the EEOC, covering both “quid pro quo” sexual harassment and hostile work environment sexual harassment.
• Third Party Discrimination such as discrimination against customers or vendors.
• Defense Costs coverage outside the limit of liability so that the limit available to pay damages is not reduced by expenses.
• Included in the definition of loss should be Punitive Damages where insurable by law, front and back pay, compensatory damages, pre and post judgement interest, awarded legal fees of claimant.

Examples of EPL lawsuits

• In August of ’04, $3,000 was awarded to a woman who was given “unpleasant assignments” when she complained about discrimination.
• A 68-year-old purchasing agent terminated because of her age was awarded $1,064,000. In CA

The U.S. Supreme Court and the lower court add to this by continuing to broaden the definition of terms like discrimination. For example, the Supreme Court decided 8-0 on March 30, 2005 that a group of employees could sue their employer under the ADEA using a “disparate impact” argument. In this case, the police dept. of the City of Jackson, MS implemented a new wage policy that gave employees with less than five years of service proportionately larger raises. A group of employee’s aged 40 and over sued under the ADEA claiming disparate impact.

Article provided by SEMA member, Charles Humphrey of Harmon Dennis Bradshaw, Inc. 334.273.7277

ANIMAL ID IN THE WORKS

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced the emerging of the animal ID database. The livestock industry will maintain their private database that only is shared with state and federal animal health officials in the event of a disease outbreak.

QUICK, FSIS DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR

Bryce Quick was named Deputy Administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Quick joined FSIS in 2001 and most recently served as the Assistant Administrator for the Office of Public Affairs, Education and Outreach.

HOW DO YOU DETERMINE YOUR PRICE?

It is always hard to raise prices, but with the cost of fuel, raising insurance and other expenses it is a must. What factors into determining your price? Product-based businesses should consider what their costs are and what the market will bear. The first step is to determine what market you serve. What are your competitors charging? Can you differentiate yourself? Can you charge more for that difference? Are you targeting a large or small business, or individual with mid-to-upper income or individual on a budget?

If you have the lowest price you may be preceded as not having quality. Being overpriced you may be too expensive to do business with regardless of the quality or service. Many businesses neglect passing on the increases for fear of losing their customers. Small, consistent increases are easier on the customer than a large price increase.

As Geoff Williams writes in Entrepreneur Magazine, “determine who you are and what you want your company to be. You’d better understand who your customer is and what they are willing to pay”.

Orlando Sentinel CFB 9/5/05

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The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in not giving up.
Tommy Lasorda
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SEMA INDUSTRY NEWS

Ferril Maddox of Encore Sales and Marketing has a new e-mail address. Please change your records to aferrilmad@tampabay.rr.com or you can call Ferril at 863.647.1767.

Robert Madeira passed away at his home August 16th at the age of 89. Robert served three decades as the Executive Director of American Association of Meat Processors and its predecessor organization the National Institute of Locker and Freezer Provisioners. He was AAMP’s chief lobbyist until his retirement at the end of 1980 and served as Executive Director Emeritus of the Association until 1985.

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THINGS TO PONDER………………
Ever notice how two people can look at the same thing
and see it totally different
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SEMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2005

President, Adam Chernin, Central Beef LLC
Vice-President, Scott Downing, Lowell Packing Company
Treasurer, Wayne Paulk, Robbins Packing Company

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Quality Assurance Manager: Prefer BS degree in Food Science or related field, with 2 to 5 year HACCP or equivalent quality assurance experience preferably in a food industry. Effective technical reading and writing skills and interpersonal communication and oral presentation skills needed. Good math and analytical skills. Ability to use word processing, spreadsheet and similar computer programs. Through working knowledge of USDA food safety regulations (pertaining to HACCP / SSOP / Labeling / Nutrition / etc.) preferred. Must be able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without accommodations. Fringe benefit program includes health insurance, life insurance, disability, SEP, paid vacations, 6 paid holidays.
Send resume to Sunset Farm Foods P.O. Box 963 Valdosta, GA 31603 PH: 1-229-242-2952

Middle Management Position: Looking for an opportunity to work with a major processing company. Besides 30 years in the food processing industry, experience includes training in OSHA regulations, supervisor and plant manager in smoked meat and hams plants for 25 years. Working experience also includes hog kill plant, bacon processing and last job, production manager of a beef processing plant processing patty and bulk hamburger. For copy of resume, call the SEMA office 407.365.5661 or e-mail anna_ondick @ earthlink.net

Foodservice Portion Control Market Manager: Central Florida area. Experience needed in portion cutting, production reporting and personnel management. Opportunities for growth, buying responsibility and profit sharing program. Full benefits.
Mail resume to SEMA P.O. Box 620777 Oviedo, FL 32762, or e-mail resume to info@southeasternmeat.com. Resumes will be forwarded.

EQUIPMENT WANTED/FOR SALE

POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS

Advertise here, it is free to SEMA members