Northwest Food Processors Association Elects Dean Stearman of DePaul Industries to its Board of Directors

Vice President & Chief Innovation Officer for a unique area food processor will help guide the Association's long-term focus

PORTLAND, Ore., July 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Dean Stearman of DePaul Industries has been elected as a Director and a Vice-Chair of Northwest Food Processors Association (NWFPA), the premier food processing industry trade association serving Oregon, Washington and Idaho. The NWFPA will soon celebrate 100 years of representing one of the first sustainable industries in the Northwest.

Each NWFPA Director serves for three years and is elected by the Association membership. In addition to his directorship duties, Stearman will also serve on the NWFPA Executive Committee and as 1st Chair of NWFPA Education Research Institute (ERI). The NWFPA has more than twenty volunteer-run governing units in addition to a robust and effective association staff. There are 18 members on the NWFPA Board of Directors.

Dean Stearman has been at DePaul Industries since 2007 and currently heads up its FutureWORKS unit, focusing on strategic business development, forward growth opportunities, and increasing revenue through customer relations. He has extensive experience across multiple industries and product/service categories as a catalyst for change. This ranges from being an entrepreneur to C-Level management commercializing or restructuring food, consumer brand, and service companies from concept to launch. He has held senior executive roles in product development, marketing, operations, investment, and board membership of several food and marketing companies.

Food processors in the Northwest export over six billion dollars of food products produced from over 300 regional commodities, employing over 60,000 individuals. Much of this growth is widely credited to NWFPA's consistent, long-term focus. Of great importance to the region's economy is the fact that during the last three years, food processing has been a core and significant generator of job growth in both the urban and rural areas of the Northwest.

This continued and renewed focus is on innovation and productivity, food safety and technical improvements, water, sustainability, labor force, transportation infrastructure and advocacy. This focus, adopted by its members, helps attract increased capital which fuels innovation, customer demand and furthers job creation in the Northwest.

ERI exists to enhance the overall economic health of the Northwest food processing industry and the rural and urban communities it supports. Both ERI and its implementation arm, Northwest Food Processor's Innovation Productivity Center (IPC), work on behalf of the food processing industry. Their efforts increase and enhance innovation infrastructure, workforce development & pipelining, operational productivity, strategic alliances, and research & transportation.

About DePaul Industries:
Since 1971, DePaul Industries has focused on its mission of creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities while growing into the Northwest's most comprehensive outsourcing specialist. DePaul helps people with disabilities to have the opportunity to work through a self-sustaining business model that generates more than 97% of revenue through the operation of three core businesses: food packaging & contract manufacturing, temporary staffing services, and security services. To date, DePaul has trained or employed in excess of 15,000 people with disabilities, including disabled veterans, and has paid wages and benefits of more than $200 million.

DePaul Industries' Food Packaging & Contract Manufacturing division, DePaul Packaging, operates a 100,000 square foot facility on Hayden Island just north of Portland, Oregon, specializing in services meeting total supply chain needs—from pallet kitting and assembly, to dry fill and pouch fill capabilities, to shrink sealing and labeling, to distribution and logistics. DePaul Packaging was honored as the Northwest Food Processors Association prestigious Food Processor of the Year in 2009, and was the recipient of the 2011 PepsiCo Americas Foods Contract Manufacturing Quality Award. For more information, visit www.depaulpackaging.com. 

About Northwest Food Processors Association:
The Northwest Food Processors Association (NWFPA) is headquartered in Portland, Oregon and has more than 450 member companies including nearly 80 food processors with nearly 200 production facilities throughout the Northwest region. Membership is primarily comprised of fruit & vegetable, seafood, dairy, poultry, egg, bakeries and specialty food producers. The association is an advocate for member interest and a resource for enhancing member's competitive capabilities. For more information, visit www.nwfpa.org.

www.depaulindustries.com

SOURCE DePaul Industries