Portage College is an institute of higher learning that prides itself on providing innovative training solutions to real world demands, according to president and CEO Trent Keoug. And, with the school unveiling new and in-demand programs all the time—like the SAGD Operator program developed in partnership with Devon Energy—it certainly seems as though Portage knows how to put its money where its mouth is.
And speaking of mouths, a unique Portage program is on its way to becoming a reality at the college’s St. Paul campus. The Food Sciences Training Centre, a new testament to Portage’s penchant for thinking outside of the box, is on its way to being served up to hungry students.
“This institution—and it’s not just a platitude—is about taking challenges and looking for the opportunities,” Keough said. “The best thing anybody can tell us, is that it can’t be done, because then we start looking for ways to do it—we are about unique training opportunities in a very niche market,” Keough said.
The St. Paul Portage College campus is a converted school—Glen Avon—that Portage took over. Right now, the west wing houses Portage College programming, while on the other side the remaining 20 classrooms, gym, and offices are being used temporarily by Racette School students and administrators, while the middle school is renovated.
Looking towards the future however, college officials decided that when the space was once again theirs, they would turn it into a food processing facility, providing small-scale local food processors with access to modern equipment, enabling them to improve their efficiency and increase their production.
The Food Sciences Training Centre hired its first employee this month, and Paul Pelletier, new manager of the FSC, was able to explain the idea in clearer terms.
“There’s two streams we’re looking at doing,” Pelletier explained. “There’s going to be the micro-processing capacity where people who are looking to turn Grandma’s recipe into a business can rent equipment for table-top processing. And then there will be the value for the training of students in the food industry as they assist entrepreneurs as they develop their business and get experience with real world products.”
Pelletier, whose resume includes journeyman baker, internationally certified business counselor, and manager of Community Futures in St. Paul, says that a local food business processing facility has been on his mind for years.
“We’ve been chasing this idea for 10 years. We conducted a viability study, where we hired an independent consulting firm to investigate the demand for a regional food processing facility, and the viability is very good. There is a need and support for it. I worked with Portage College to apply for funding while with Community Futures,” Pelletier said. “[This position as Food Sciences Centre manager] it’s a natural extension.”
After conducting the viability study, Portage and Pelletier applied for funding from the Alberta Rural Development Network, and received $950, 000 to get the ball rolling. The whole retrofit at the St. Paul campus and creation of curriculum will cost $5.5 million, says Pelletier.
“We have $1.4 million on the table right now. We need $1.3 more, and if we can find that, a government agency,” Pelletier said, unable to name the agency at present, “Will put in the rest.”
Pelletier said he couldn’t be more excited about the ground-breaking new facility that will provide for hands-on student training, preparing graduates for work in the field or to start businesses of their own, while at the same time supporting local food industry entrepreneurs to build and develop their own businesses.
“If you’ve got a food business, or an idea, call us, or come talk to us at the office in St. Paul,” Pelletier said.
