Genesee: Made for the Trade, Volume 3
Genesee: Made for the Trade, Volume 3
Campaign highlights variety and quality of jobs available at the state's oldest brewery
Note: This newsletter is a sponsored partnership between the Genesee Brewery and the Cleveland Prost.
When Bill Gergely started working at the Genesee Brewery in 2001, the state’s oldest brewery had been on the brink of closing forever. An outside investor proposed coming in, shuttering the brewery operations, and converting the campus into an ethanol production facility.
But like all good underdog stories, a group of employees banded together, purchased the brewery, and helped stabilize the foundation. Those executives rebranded the brewery as High Falls Brewing Co.
That name persisted for a while before another outside investor came in and restored the brewery’s original identity, the Genesee Brewery.
As he closes in on his 22nd anniversary in packaging, Gergely marvels at the resolve and pride shown by his fellow employees. With stable ownership, the brewery is now thriving thanks to the strength of its employees.
Now Gergely, who works as a bottle house mechanic, is the latest employee to be highlighted in Genesee’s Made for the Trade campaign.
The campaign shows the wide range of rewarding careers by highlighting the brewery’s unsung heroes. Genny employs more than 600 people and the brewing department, which numbers about 50 people, isn’t even the largest department at the expansive 28-acre St. Paul Street campus.
The digital campaign highlights careers in packaging, operations, maintenance, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, security, and so much more. It wants to show the range of careers available without a college degree, those that can be obtained through union and trade training.
More details about jobs can be found here: https://www.fifcousa.com/careers/.
Here’s a bit more about Bill:
What is your role at the brewery? And what do you do?
I’m a bottle house mechanic. We’re in charge of keeping every-day operations of the labelers, fillers, box-makers, all that equipment up and running, doing maintenance work on it. When it is down, we repair breakdowns in the middle of production runs. We rebuild some of our own gear boxes, some of them are sent out. It’s a variety of a lot of machinery and variety of ages of the equipment.
How has the environment changed during your tenure?
I’ve been there long enough to see some of the old equipment and a lot of new equipment come in. It’s great. To see where we’re at today, it’s outstanding. They’ve come such a long ways in the 20 years I’ve been there. It goes from wondering if you’d have to job to wondering if you’ll have a day off sometimes. It’s a great place to work. I’ve always liked going to work. To see them grow into the company they are now, it’s outstanding, not only for me but for everyone who works there.
How has the equipment changed during your time with Genny?
We’ve had a lot of different bottles over the years I’ve been there. I’ve seen a lot of bottles come and go. Obviously the 24-ounce cans came while I was there. I’ve seen a change in the cans, with the lids. The brewery gave me an opportunity a few years ago to go to school for working on the seamers, which holds the lids on the cans. We’re hoping to be able to send a few more guys to, because we’ve got one guy who is going to retire soon. Just overall, going from old equipment to new equipment, all the different changes the brewery has been through, it’s really exciting to be involved in it. They probably got new stuff coming up that we don’t know about yet. Every new little thing we do or every change we make, it’s exciting to actually be part of it.
How did you prepare for your position — on-the-job training, college, an apprenticeship?
Before I started there, I was a mechanic at Kleen Brite Laboratories before they closed. We made plastic bottles there, so I was part of making the bottles and now I am part of seeing the bottles get filled. All of my training started at Kleen Brite and it all came from on-the-job (experience), just working with the guys and understanding what they wanted to do and how they wanted to do it. Just picking up ways of doing things a little better versus the way it has been done. I always say that if you don’t learn something new when you’re at work every day, then you’re not at work. Every day I learn something different, even after all these years.
What’s your favorite part about working at Genny?
My favorite part is not only the people, but I love what I do. I love being a mechanic. I love fixing machines. I’m not good underneath the hood of a car. But you put me in front of a machine and I’ll work my butt off to get it running. And the people there are outstanding. Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of people come and go, lost a lot of good people through retirement, but as they’re bringing people in, it’s like they’ve been there just as long as we have. They blend right in. The atmosphere in our shop is always positive. The guys just want to do good. They want to put the product out.
What’s your advice to someone who wants to work at the brewery?
If they go in there with a positive attitude, work ethic, wanting to learn, a positive attitude, they can go in there and grow with the company. They can achieve just about anything in there. There is room for growth in the brewery. You can start as an operator, inspecting bottles, whatever, and you can work your way up. It’s a great place to work.
What’s your favorite Genesee beer?
I really like Genny Light and Honey Brown.
More about this partnership
Genny wants to hire you! So by highlighting the wide variety of positions available at the brewery, the hope is that folks will see a college degree isn’t a necessity for a great career. Many of these union and trade positions come equipped with opportunity for learning and advancement.
Over the next three months, we’ll highlight some of the people behind the iconic beers in this space.
“We want to continue to attract people to union and skilled trades. There is a shortage of skilled workers, and the industry needs to attract more women and minorities. There are viable career opportunities for virtually anyone who wants to work in beer,” said Mary Beth Popp, vice president of communications, FIFCO USA.
To learn more about working at the Genesee Brewery, go to: https://www.fifcousa.com/careers/