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Yuma Manufacturers’ Association Spurs Industry Training
The Yuma Manufacturers’ Association was formed in 2006 to address concerns about workforce issues raised in a business survey. A customized training curriculum was designed around the common needs of local industry:
- Industrial Electric
- Programmatic Logistic Controls
- “Super Manager” course was designed in conjunction with the technical training
Courses were developed through the cooperative efforts of local groups, with equipment donated by a local industrial equipment shop; classroom space provided by Arizona Western College and computers by the Workforce Investment Board.
Companies can send their employees to centralized training sites or opt to have someone from their own staff become a certified instructor at their place of business.
There are currently 10 active members of YMA, and the group has passed approximately 120 individuals through the multiple training courses. In addition to college credit, participants now receive National Certified Accreditation.
Yuma Manufacturers’ Association and Dole
Dole Fresh Vegetables was one of the first companies to participate in the Yuma Manufacturers’ Association and played an instrumental role in helping form the group. The company has had a long standing presence in the Yuma region but employee skill deficiencies and training needs were not being addressed at a local level. The cost of outsourcing training and travel had become a very large expense to operating the facility.
Through a collaborative effort between Dole and their fellow manufacturers, training curriculum was created to help improve the skill sets of the employees at the respective plants. As of to date, Dole has utilized the program to provide machinist training in-house, supervisory skills training, and industrial electrical education to staff.
“The formation of the Yuma Manufacturer's Association has been instrumental in the emergence of a strong sense of community, teamwork, and great resource development. Dole is an active participant and supporter of this Association that is successfully focused on providing resources for the growing opportunities common to businesses in this area."
- Bill Hackett, Plant Manager
Dole Fresh Vegetables
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Why Yuma for Food Processing?
Located near the junction of California, Arizona, and Mexico, Yuma is a natural transportation hub with over 50 million consumers within a one day truck haul via Interstate 8 or US 95 both of which run directly through Yuma County. Some of the major advantages for business in Yuma:
- Is Arizona’s Epicenter of Agriculture
- Is noted for having rich, deep and fertile river bottom soils
- Low cost utility rates
- Workforce with experience in the Food Technology industry
- Affordable labor rates
- 175,000 Acres of Colorado River irrigable land
- A 350 day growing season with sunshine 95% of the year
- Has 25 fresh produce coolers, 6 date and 4 citrus packing facilities
- Produces over 90% of leafy greens for the nation in winter months
- Grows approximately 150 different types of crops
- Salad plants process up to 2,000,000 pounds of lettuce daily
- Uses GPS technologies on 100% of the available acreage
Leafy Green Marketing Agreement
- Arizona and California are the only 2 states where leafy greens are grown under an unparalleled collection of guidelines
- The Leafy Green Marketing Agreement (LGMA) in Arizona is funded by one cent per carton assessment
- The LGMA will likely become the production model for leafy green growers across the United States
State Crop Rankings for Yuma in 2009
- Ranks #1 for lemons and tangerines
- Ranks # 1 for watermelon and cantaloupe
- Ranks # 1 for winter vegetables
- Ranks # 1 for Pima cotton
- Ranks #2 for field corn
- Ranks # 3 for Upland cotton
Safety
- Has a low dry desert environment which plays an integral role in food safety
- Growers use the most advanced standards in food safety production guidelines
- Arizona Leafy greens have never been implicated with any food safety outbreak
Agribusiness
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Cooler and Packing Plants in Yuma, Arizona
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Wage Comparison for Agribusiness Occupations
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Average Use of Electricity by State
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Radius Map
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Incentives
Markets & Suppliers
- Greater Yuma’s economy is driven by our $3.1 Billion Agriculture Industry. This includes the growers of fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy
- Mexico Supply Chain — A number of companies, including Dole take advantage of our border location for twin plant and maquiladora operations.
Distribution
- New San Luis Commercial Port of Entry II
- New Area Service Highway
- Renovation of San Luis Port of Entry I
- Yuma International Airport - Flights to L.A and Phoenix
- Over 10 major trucking companies
Dole Fresh Vegetables (a unit of Dole Food, Inc.), one of the largest processors of fresh vegetables operates a plant in Yuma, Arizona. Dole opened its first vegetable processing facility in 1993 in Yuma, Arizona providing the highest quality product with quick delivery of the freshest produce on the market. This facility also produced Dole’s first value-added pre-cut salads and vegetables.
Sarah Farms is categorized as a Produce-Handler Dairy. The integrated dairy and milk processing operations at Sarah Farms provide approximately 700,000 gallons of fluid milk each month to Costco Wholesalers and independent retail chains such as Basha's and Food City.
McElhaney Cattle Company is family owned and ranks in the top 50 privately owned businesses in the state. The company employs approximately 130 persons from the local area on a full time basis and adds about 5 million to the local wage base. The processing of approximately 130,000 head a year with the average inventory running between 115,000 to 125,000. In an average year in excess of 145,000,000 pounds of beef (live weight) will leave here for market. On a retail weight basis and based on the average annual per capita consumption, this yard would provide the beef requirements of a city of almost 900,000 people.
