Genesee: Made for the Trade, Volume 10

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.

Veronica Ocasio really likes the fast-paced environment she encounters every day at work. And that’s certainly good when things are whirring and buzzing around you as you’re surrounded by the controlled chaos of one of the Genesee Brewery’s multiple packaging lines.

She and her co-workers are surrounded by the constant clacking of empty glass bottles. But through the seemingly ceaseless cacophony, Ocasio said there is a satisfaction in knowing they are packaging products that the community appreciates.

She is a machine operator in the brewery’s packaging department. She is part of the team responsible for making sure the brewery’s various products are packaged efficiently and made ready to head to the shipping warehouse.

Veronica Ocasio, a Rochester native who has worked in packaging for 17 years, is the latest Genny employee to be featured in the brewery’s Made for the Trade campaign.

The campaign shows the wide range of rewarding careers at the brewery. 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 showcases careers in packaging, operations, maintenance, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, security, and so much more. It aims 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 Veronica:

Q: When you started at the brewery, what job did you have? What other jobs have you had?

A: I was in pre-packaging. I ran some of the machines in packaging.

Q: What job do you have now?

A: I run the depalletizer. I know how to do the label packer. I how to do pretty much everything (in my department).

Q: How would you describe your job?

A: I run the depall. I get the empty bottles ready to run through the whole line. I run the machine that takes the bottles off the pallets before they are filled.

Q: How did you train for your job? Did you receive on-the-job training or go to college or something like that? Can you tell me about that?

A: On-the-job training.

Q: What does that say about Genny that you can learn a new skill and have that turn into a career?

A: We do have a big opportunity to learn anything we want. It’s a great place to work.

Q: What’s your favorite part about working with Genesee?

A: I like the people, because they’re friendly and we’ve been together for a long time. And our job is very easy if we work well together. We don’t have to stress a lot.

Q: What advice would you give someone hoping to work at Genesee?

A: To go ahead and do it. It’s a great place to start. Not just start, you could retire from there.

Q: What makes you most proud about working for the brewery?

A: It’s a company that’s been here forever and I get to be part of it. It’s been in Rochester forever and I’m part of it now.

More about this partnership

Genny wants to hire you! 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/