[January 2009]

If you enjoyed a ham at one of your recent holiday dinners, there is a good chance it came from a Middlesboro institution.

Cumberland Gap Provision Company has been providing quality pork products from its Middlesboro plant since it was started by Ray McGregor and his son R.D. McGregor in 1979. Since its founding it has become an important area employer that employs more than 350 people and has established its presence on dinner tables far and wide.

“Our products are sold throughout the United States,” said Christy McGregor, vice-president of sales and shipping and daughter of Ray McGregor. She added the processing plant’s relatively central location means that its hams, ham steaks, sausages and other products have a wide distribution under a number of brands, including its own Cumberland Gap Provision brand, Smithfield, Bob Evans, Plumrose, Bar S, and others.

The pressures of keeping up in a competitive industry have made it difficult for the company to provide all of the continuing training it would like its employees to have. That difficulty is now easing, however, thanks to a partnership between the company, the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program Inc. (EKCEP), Bell-Whitley Community Action Agency (CAA) and Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College (SKCTC).

A combination of workforce development money provided through EKCEP and state grants acquired by the college has enabled Cumberland Gap Provision to bring its employees’ training up to date in electrical, hydraulic, emergency and lifesaving, and computer fields. The training partnership has been so successful that plant officials say they would like to see it become an ongoing program.

“I’ve been here 28 years,” said Joe Bailey, maintenance manager at Cumberland Gap Provision. “Thanks to this program I’ve got probably the most productive and best team of employees I’ve had.”

“I was having trouble prior to this getting qualified people,” Bailey said.

Newly hired maintenance employees generally have trade school degrees, but they sometimes don’t have hands-on familiarity with certain tasks and ways to “put safety first,” according to Bailey.

“They’re young, they lack experience,” Bailey said, adding that the training helps to “fill in the gaps” in what they know.

Bailey said when he learned that training could be made available at no cost to the employer other than the employee salaries paid during training, he thought it was a “dream come true.”

“It was a lifesaver for us,” he said.

The training was provided both at the plant and at the college. For Bailey’s employees it included electrical and hydraulic maintenance and troubleshooting training, training with programmable logic controllers and safety training on topics such as dealing with arc flashes for short circuits and CPR.

Bailey said his employees responded enthusiastically to the training even though it took place after work hours. The company’s only cost for the training was the overtime pay it paid while the employees attended the training.

As part of the training program, Cumberland Gap Provision also partnered with the Bell County Fire Department for joint training exercises at the plant.

The fire department officials and plant employees worked together to coordinate plans for responding to possible problems, such as an ammonia leak. They also ran through mock emergency drills and on-site trainings. This helped give Cumberland Gap employees a chance to familiarize themselves with the equipment they would have to use in an emergency.

It is important for both the fire department and Cumberland Gap Provision employees to be well trained in dealing cooperatively with any emergency, Bailey said. In an emergency, the knowledge and training of both the plant employees and the firefighters will be needed.

“They suit up, we suit up, and we go in together,” Bailey said.

Cumberland Gap Provision office employees also received training in computer programs such Microsoft Word, Excel and Access, according to Edie Kelley, Cumberland Gap Provision human resources manager. Though most of the employees had some familiarity with the programs, the training helped them to understand the programs better and be more efficient and productive.

Kelley said the company is also in talks with the college to develop training programs for all employees on such topics as OSHA compliance, blood-borne pathogens, and sexual harassment in the workplace.

Crawford Blakeman, EKCEP’s business solutions manager, said the training is an excellent example of how industry and government can work together to further economic development. Helping the company upgrade its workforce so it can stay competitive is an efficient use of economic development dollars.

“Their training needs get met, and it helps the economy by helping one of the region’s most important employers prosper and grow,” Blakeman said.

In addition to providing good-paying, stable jobs, Cumberland Gap Provision has been a good corporate citizen and important part of Bell County life, Blakeman said. The company was operated as an employee-owned corporation for much of its existence. Though it was purchased by Smithfield in 2003, the McGregor family is still heavily involved in its operation, and it is still an important part of the community that provides stable, good-paying jobs.

“We need to do all we can to help Cumberland Gap Provision remain competitive in their industry and help its employees improve their skills,” said Craig Brock, business services manager for Bell-Whitley CAA. Bell-Whitley CAA provides Workforce Investment Act services in Bell County under contract with EKCEP.

Henry Hughes, coordinator of continuing education/community service for SKCTC, said that all the organizations involved in the training program share a goal.

“Our goal is to bring industry in Kentucky to a higher standard of technical expertise and productivity to compete in today’s global economy,” Hughes said.

For more information on Business Solutions services available to employers in Bell County, contact Craig Brock at 606-337-3044.