Leadership training program for seafood processors returns
Alaska Sea Grant is inviting applications for the Alaska Seafood Processing Leadership Institute (ASPLI), a professional development program for rising leaders in the seafood processing business. The 80-hour training begins in November with a week-long session at the Kodiak Seafood and Marine Science Center, providing hands-on technical training in seafood processing. After the Kodiak session, participants return to their jobs and work with a mentor to apply what they have learned to a project that has an impact on local plant operations. In the spring, they attend another week of training in Anchorage focused on leadership, project management, human resources, and developing effective management styles.
Alaska Sea Grant specialists Quentin Fong and Chris Sannito lead a team of experts providing instruction and activities on topics including the science of seafood, quality and safety, product development, lean manufacturing, new technologies, marketing, project management, regulations, and effective management. The sessions build leadership and management skills, expand participants’ knowledge, and give mid-level managers the tools to succeed in their positions.
The program is designed for production managers, assistant plant managers, quality control supervisors, seafood engineers, and human resource, corporate or administrative managers, as well as small seafood processors. More than 75 professionals from 28 companies operating in 21 coastal Alaska seafood plants have completed the leadership training program. ASPLI alumni have gone on to become plant managers in Unalakleet, Nome, Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Atka, False Pass, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Naknek and Homer.
Eligible applicants need to be working in Alaska and able to attend both sessions in person, November 7–11, 2022, and March 6–10, 2023.
Applicants are asked to identify a mentor who can provide support for the in-plant project, and a source of funding to cover the cost of the program. Applications should be submitted by October 3, 2022. For more information and to apply, visit the 2022 Alaska Seafood Processing Leadership Institute website.