ACS Welcomes New Board of Directors Member
Since attending her first ACS Conference in 2012, Kari has been a strong supporter of ACS's mission, volunteering annually at conference, serving as a Judging & Competition judge, contributing to the ACS Body of Knowledge, and teaching classes around the CCP™ exam. She brings to the board a robust background in finance, marketing, cheesemaking, and education, as well as a deep passion for our industry.
Kari will fill a board seat recently vacated by Tim Gaddis of In Demand Cheese as he is returning to his passion for law enforcement. ACS thanks Tim for his past service to the cheese industry, and for his current service to the Peachtree City Police and Fire Department!
We are grateful to Kari for filling this gap and for her commitment to the ACS board, our members, and the cheese community!
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ACS Certification News
2019 CCP™ Recertification Period Still Open
If you passed the ACS CCP™ exam in 2013 or 2016 you
must recertify by November 30.
ACS CCPs™ are required to renew their certification every 3 years by demonstrating continued professional development in the cheese industry.
Looking for Subject Matter Experts
Calling all cheese experts! The ACS Certification Committee is looking to build our pool of "Subject Matter Experts" (SMEs) who assist the certification program in a variety of ways including question writing, exam review, passing score review, new certification development, bibliography review, and more. Please also share this opportunity with your networks. As a volunteer organization, ACS relies on industry professionals like you to help so
apply today!
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500 words or less could get you $500 and a trip to France!
The eighth annual Comté Scholarship for ACS Certified Cheese Professionals® gives CCPs™ the chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip (and a $500 cash stipend) to the Comté region of France to learn first-hand about the cheese's history and production, as well as explore the Comté region and its culture.
This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity could help expand your cheese-knowledge and resum
é.
Applying is easy and there's nothing to lose! Don't miss the chance,
apply by December 2.
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ACS Membership Corner
2020 Membership Renewal
Log into the
ACS Member Portal to renew and check out our
how-to guide for steps on logging in, renewing, and changing your organizational contacts.
Renew by December 31 and be entered for a chance to win a complimentary 2020 conference registration!
Membership Benefits - Did You Know?
Did you know that as an ACS Member you have access to previous ACS Conference educational session presentations and recordings? Sessions dating back to 2013 are available
online for download.
Review all ACS membership benefits and levels
here.
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Legal View: Paying People Properly
The potential for improper pay is present in a wide variety of circumstances. By adopting pro-active policies and closely monitoring when and what employees are doing, many of these types of claims can be avoided.
Attorney Rich Alaniz reviews this issue in your workplace and steps to take.
Note: the views, opinions, information, and concepts shared in this piece are not necessarily the endorsed views, opinions, content, and concepts of ACS.
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Letter from the President
Collaboration and Teamwork
"
You need to be aware of what others are doing, applaud their efforts, acknowledge their successes, and encourage them in their pursuits. When we all help one another, everybody wins." - Jim Stovall
The ACS staff hve been working diligently on getting ready for the 2020 Annual Conference:
Blazing the Trail for Cheese while the Board of Directors reviews some proposed changes to ensure member needs are met. This includes the schedule, sponsorship opportunities, and the Cheese Sale. As it was stated to me: "It is a joint effort, with every staff member participating, to pull together the research and information needed to prepare for the proposed changes." The ACS staff has been able to work together to assess the schedule, discuss pros and cons, and determine what is needed to make the 2020 conference the best one yet.
Education Committee Co-Chairs, Brie Hurd and Lance Lynn, have been working with their committee to put forth a very informative conference schedule. The schedule should be finalized soon, but as of right now, it looks like topics will include a You Be the Judge Tasting session, supplementing a small-scale cheeses business, and an increased focus on best business practices.
The ACS Judging & Competition is also being assessed, with much of that effort spearheaded J&C co-chairs, Rich Rogers and Rachel Perez. The committee is reviewing entry categories, amounts of cheese submitted for the competition, and food safety practices. If you would like to provide feedback to the competition committee, please contact Rich or Rachel, as any input would be greatly appreciated.
Overall, the ACS staff has been quite busy. They have felt empowered, energized, and engaged in moving ACS forward. If you happen to talk to one of the ACS staff members, tell them how much you appreciate all their hard work. "When we all help one another, everybody wins."
Sincerely,
Marianne Smukowski,
President
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Letter from the Executive Director
There is No Box
People love to talk about "thinking outside the box", but to paraphrase the movie The Matrix, there is no box. Too often, whether due to fear of change or contentedness with the status quo, we feel confined by parameters purely of our own making. When struggling with a challenge, we focus on what we cannot do rather than what we can. We focus on what could go wrong rather than what might go right. We rail against "the box" yet feel comforted by the clear limitations it provides. Thinking leads to movement and progress comes from that momentum. But when we believe there is a box, ideas have no space to even take that first step.
Heading into the holiday season, the busiest for many ACS members, you will undoubtedly find yourself tested and stretched thin many times. Whether you feel overwhelmed in the midst of filling orders, or overburdened with personal obligations, stop and take a few minutes to consider how things might be different. Instead of the "shoulds" and "musts", think instead about the "what ifs." Reconsider your processes, re-prioritize your to-do list, and most of all remember that when you start feeling like the Grinch, it's usually because you have been busily constructing your box. Stop feeling limited by a non-existent box! Now gift boxes, those are real, and I can't help you there.
Sincerely,
Nora Weiser,
Executive Director
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Search Underway for New ACS Executive Director
ACS has engaged Susan Brown of the Center for Nonprofit & Volunteer Leadership (CNVL) to conduct the search for ACS's next Executive Director. The search is being led by an Executive Search Committee comprised of current and past ACS leaders and stakeholders. Applications for the position are now being accepted. The job description and information for interested applicants are available on the
CNVL website.
Current ACS Executive Director, Nora Weiser, will continue in her role through January 31, 2020. After that date, she will assume the title of Director Emeritus and will remain available to assist the association as requested by the Board of Directors to ensure a smooth transition. "The ACS Board of Directors is thrilled with what we have achieved together for the artisan cheese industry over the past ten years," says Weiser. "ACS is living its vision to be the leader in promoting and supporting American cheeses, and is poised for great things in its next phase!"
ACS will complete its current Strategic Plan 2020 in the first three quarters of next year, and the new Executive Director will lead the development and implementation of ACS's next Strategic Plan intended to take the organization through its 40th anniversary in 2023.
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ACS Member Feature
 Union Star Cheese Factory - Fremont, Wisconsin
The American Cheese Society strives to be a proactive resource and advocate for the cheese industry, something that Union Star Cheese Factory in Fremont, Wisconsin, an ACS member since 2011, has experienced first-hand.
Running and growing a small business can be challenging and requires owners to wear many hats, and Jon Metzig, co-owner of the family-run Union Star Cheese Factory, looks to ACS to help support him in this. "ACS puts value in the education portion to help grow the industry and guide producers both small and large, which I love and appreciate."
Read more of Union Star Cheese Factory's story
here.
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We Heard Your Feedback and Are Blazing Ahead!
Next summer in Portland we'll be Blazing the Trail for Cheese together with some exciting changes in the works for our Annual Conference & Competition! As part of ACS's data-driven initiatives, we've reviewed your feedback, heard your thoughts at our Town Hall meetings, and compiled focus group input - and we are hard at work to make this key annual industry event more impactful, better for our community, and provide even more value while maximizing your time. See next month's issue of CheeseBytes for more information and details about how ACS Conference 2020 will serve you better than ever before!
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ACS Fall Meeting with the FDA
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On November 15, ACS leaders met with the FDA to share updates on the work of each organization. The FDA mentioned that their assessment of the
review of literature on non-toxigenic e. coli as an indicator organism is moving forward, but they could share no details on the content, timeline for release, or potential recommendations. The updated Listeria Guidance documentation also remains in the works, with no anticipated publication date to share at this time. Mickey Parish, Director Senior Science Advisor Staff, CFSAN, provided a
PowerPoint presentation that covers the current thinking and provides an overview of the current
2017 Draft Listeria Guidance. Paul South, Director, Division of Plant Products and Beverages, Office of Food Safety, CFSAN, shared information on
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and although levels in milk and cheese h
ave not been of concern, this appears to be an issue that will ultimate
ly be found to have impact across the food and consumer goods industries.
ACS asked for information about how the FDA was responding to Qualified Facility Attestations submitted by small-scale processors for the exemption to the full requirements of the FSMA Preventive Controls for Human Food rule. The response from the FDA was that they were not sending confirmation to companies making this request, and that if companies did not hear back from the FDA that they should assume their exemption was granted, no news is good news. ACS also updated the FDA on its upcoming plans for 2020 on the food safety front, including the completion of projects that will wrap up ACS's Strategic Plan 2020. These include the release of an updated and more searchable version of the Best Practices Guide for Cheesemakers, a Retailers Toolkit, and an interactive online Cheese Safety & Quality Checklist for producers.
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Update: 2020 Call for Presentations
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The ACS Education Committee reviews 2020 conference session proposals. |
The Education Committee recently met to review the 75 unique and interesting proposals they received for 2020 ACS Conference sessions. The committee has selected the final sessions and will soon be sending out official invitations to
present.
Based on member and attendee feedback, some exciting updates will include:
- More advanced and intermediate level sessions
- Refinement of session tags to help attendees find sessions that interest them and that are at their skill level
- Featured sessions around Oregon's unique terroir and geography
- ...and more!
The ACS Management Team and the Education Committee would like to thank everyone that submitted proposals and ideas for next summer's conference. Look to the January edition of CheeseBytes for more details!
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