Job Training Program -Learn & Earn Internship

About the Classes

Students receive part-time paid training for three months in a classroom setting where they learn food safety and basic math skills. They learn to bake a variety of cookies, breads and pastries in a state of the art commercial kitchen facility. The baking instruction is hands on and is conducted at the FEED Kitchens, owned and operated by the Northside Planning Council.

Following successful completion of the program, students are certified by the National Restaurant Association with a ServSafe certificate. They are assisted with job placement and work with a mentor for one year.

History

The FEED Bakery Learn & Earn Internship is a job training program of the Northside Planning Council, founded in the fall of 2013 by The River Food Pantry. The FEED Bakery Training Program serves un/under-employed residents of Dane County, with a particular focus on Northsiders, by providing valuable baker training and job placement services to program participants.

Commercial Baking Career Path

From Want to Work

Unemployed? Under-employed? Looking for a new career? Apply to be a student at the FEED Bakery Training Program, a job training program of the Northside Planning Council. Applicants must be able to lift 50 lbs occasionally and remain on their feet for 6 to 8 hours. Applicants must be unemployed or underemployed, fill out an application and set up an interview 30 to 14 days before the next class.

Program includes:

Part-time training schedule, Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday for 3 months
Certification of Completion of the Program
ServSafe certification from the National Restaurant Association
Skills and knowledge necessary to work in a commercial bakery
Training curriculum that was set up by retired Master Baker Punky Eagan, from Madison College.
Instruction from Jim McLaughlin, who has over 15+ years of experience in commercial baking.
Supplemental life skills training to enhance employment success
Job placement assistance upon graduation
Mentoring for students as they re-enter the workforce

Graduate qualifications include:

Ability to scale recipes
Knowledge of how to calculate weights and measures
Operating knowledge of commercial kitchen equipment
Food safety certification (ServSafe)
Certificate From FEED Baking Program
Soft skills, including communication, time management and conflict resolution

The FEED Bakery Training Program is putting people back to work. Graduates of the FEED Bakery Training Program are qualified for employment as bakers in restaurants, cafes and commercial bakeries.

Training takes place at FEED Kitchens (1219 N.Sherman Ave).

For more information or to apply, download the application from the link below, complete it and return it to the FEED Kitchens (attention Martee) or call (608) 230-1224, email: coordinator@feedbakery.org

Applications

Program Leaders

Matree Mikalson

Program Coordinator

Oversees curriculum. Helps train in merchandising and team work. Selects mentors for students as they join the workforce. Works with potential employers. Coordinates sales opportunities.
Sales Representative for 14 years with Kessenich’s Ltd., food service equipment purveyer. Current Sales Manager responsible for 10 million dollars in yearly sales. Specializing in bakery, deli and meat department sales opportunities.
50 years’ experience in the food industry. Supervised ten departments in five Cub Foods grocery stores and four bakery departments for Woodman’s Food Markets.

Jim McLaughlin

Teacher/Professional Baker

Teacher for the FEED Bakery Training Program which requires a great deal of patience and understanding when working with the adult students. Experience training measurement conversion, scaling, baking, packaging, labeling, merchandising and team work.
Sales Representative for five years, Procurement and Product Specialist for food service company. Responsibilities included: procurement, merchandising, sales planning and customer service.
Owner and operator of EmIan’s European Bakery & Café for 6 years, handling all aspects of the business: personnel, advertising, payroll, production, payables/receivables and procurement.
Managed La Brioche, a Madison area scratch bakery for 11 years, increasing wholesale and retail business 3-fold.

Bakery graduates have secured employment at the following businesses:

Great Wolf Lodge
Rosie's Coffee Bar & Bakery
The Edgewater
Great Harvest Bread Company
Fresh Madison Market
Whole Foods
Panera
Millers Market
Willy Co-op

Retailers We Sell At