The Virginia Trucking Association presented Smithfield Transportation with five awards for safety excellence during its 2008 Safety Management Conference held April 16-18 in Charlottesville, Va.

Each year, the State Trucking Association recognizes those individuals and fleets that have excelled in improving Virginia's trucking safety programs and who have had a direct impact on the reduction of commercial vehicle crashes on state highways.

Smithfield Transportation and Gwaltney Transportation each received a Certificate of Excellence for maintaining an outstanding safety record for the past year from VTA executive vice president Dale Bennett. Smithfield Transportation reduced its state crash rate per million miles by over 40% and Gwaltney by 100%. Additionally, Gwaltney Transportation received recognition awards for the Most-Improved Fleet in accident frequency and was also named Virginia's Private Fleet of the Year.

Debra Eisner, fleet safety coordinator with the Smithfield Fleet Safety Department, was honored as the Virginia Fleet Safety Professional of the Year. Eisner has worked in the transportation safety field since 1995 and has successfully completed several courses studies through the National Private Truck Council, the Virginia Trucking Association, and the North Carolina Trucking Association. Additionally, she is a board member on the Virginia Safety Management Council and is very active in driver roadside inspection checkpoints and activities.

Congratulations to Debra and everyone at Smithfield Transportation on these awards.

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Front row kneeling left to right: Tom Delameter, Mercer County Fire Chief, Cheri Delameter, Mercer County regional planner; Shane Grooms, Mercer County Associate Commissioner. Back row standing: Doug Priest, Mercer County Ambulance Service Director; Mark Thompson, Mercer County Emergency Management Director; Ralph Dishong, Red Cross Mass Care Specialist; Shane Salisbury, PSF; Opal Smith, PSF; Jason Helton, PSF; Julie Thompson, Mercer County Assistant Emergency Management Director; Kenny Wilson, Mercer County Associate Commissioner; Lee Courter, PSF; Clifford Shipley, Mercer County Presiding Commissioner.

Employees of Premium Standard Farms, LLC, are helping the American Red Crosswith disaster preparations by making a $7,125 donation for the purchase of three Disaster Supply Trailers. The Red Cross will fill the trailers with response supplies that will be used to care for people immediately after a disaster in the Missouri counties of Mercer, Daviess and Gentry.

Seven counties in northwest Missouri had received Disaster Supply Trailers as part of a Homeland Security Grant to the Midland Empire Chapter of the American Red Cross in St. Joseph, Mo. When Mercer, Daviess and Gentry counties did not receive trailers, PSF sought to ensure residents of those counties were able to have access to the quick response supply trailers in their counties.

"As employees of Premium Standard Farms, we are very proud of the communities where we work, live, and raise our families," said Bill Homann, president of PSF. "Wherever we can, we believe it is our responsibility to pitch in and support our neighbors and help meet critical local needs."

A Disaster Supply Trailer provides the basic materials to open any shelter including registration forms, signage, hygiene items, diapers, first aid supplies and many more items. These supplies will be accessible in times of need to County Emergency Managers and American Red Cross volunteers.

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Graduates of the first Brown Belt Meat & Poultry Science Training Program

Smithfield employees in training sessions at Iowa State University

Smithfield employees in training sessions at Iowa State University

Smithfield Foods, in conjunction with Iowa State University, recently graduated its first two groups of employees from a new, first-of-its-kind Brown Belt Meat & Poultry Science Training Program.

Students selected from various Smithfield subsidiaries were invited to Iowa State for three one-week sessions. Topics covered in the program included Basic Meat Science, Thermal Processing, Food Safety Fundamentals, Sensory Evaluation, Microbiology, LEAN Manufacturing, Meat Mathematics, and many others. The program included a number of guest speakers, including industry experts from Smithfield Foods companies, Iowa State University and industry suppliers.

The students attended lectures, participated in hands-on product manufacturing and conducted a LEAN manufacturing project in their plant. The projects generated savings of $2.4 million by improving processes across the various companies.

The program was initiated by Henry Morris, vice president of operations at Smithfield Foods. It is coordinated by Dr. Joe Cordray, professor of meat sciences at Iowa State and Dr. Larry Hand, director of process improvement at Smithfield Foods.

"This program is unlike anything else in the industry – providing the training and tools for Smithfield Foods employees to have a better understanding of products and processes," said Hand. "Not only did the students have the opportunity to learn about meat and poultry science, but they also had the opportunity to learn about the other Smithfield companies and network with employees in those companies."

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Premium Standard Farms was recognized by Second Harvest of Greater St. Joseph as a recipient of the 2007 Humanitarian Award for donating roughly 100,000 meals, over 145,000 pounds of protein, to families in the northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas region.

Murphy-Brown recently donated $25,000 to the North Carolina Boys & Girls Club. The gift will help sustain the Duplin County Club, which provides a safe and fun environment for kids to learn and grow.

Murphy-Brown employees volunteered their time in January for a barbecue in support of the Scotland County, North Carolina chapter of the American Red Cross. The company also supplied meat for the event, which raised $5,000.

Don Butler, director of government relations and public affairs for Murphy-Brown, was elected president-elect of the National Pork Producers Council on March 9. Butler, a member of NPPC's board of directors the past two years, is also past president of the North Carolina Pork Council and the past chairman of the Animal Agriculture Alliance.

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