Former FFA leader plays management role at Quaker Oats company
Emily Belton is using the leadership and management skills she learned in high school and college as a senior associate at Quaker Foods and Beverages, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
While in high school, Belton was involved in several leadership roles including president of the Centre High School FFA chapter and president of the South Central FFA district. She also served as a state FFA officer.
Belton graduated in 1997 and went on to Kansas State University, where she majored in bakery science and management, with a minor in leadership studies.
Among the many activities she was involved in, she served as vice president of the Bakery Science Club. As a senior, she was selected as a member of the elite Blue Key Honor Society in which she had the opportunity to teach a leadership concepts class to freshmen. She graduated from KSU in 2001.
As a senior associate, a college new-hire at Quaker Oats, she has spent the past year becoming familiar with all the departments in the business.
The plant in Iowa produces all the oatmeal that is consumed in the United States. The plant also produces Captain Crunch, Peanut Butter Captain Crunch, Life, and Cinnamon Life cereal.
Millions of bushels of grain are processed at the plant each year in two flour mills, an oat mill, and a wheat mill.
The facility encompasses 50 acres under one roof. It is 13 stories high and employs 1,300 people.
Belton's core work has been in quality assurance. She supervises lab technicians who test samples of final products from each production line.
She also is working on a written master control plan which includes how to react when the process has veered from specifications. In addition, she trains operators how to use the plan.
She spent six weeks in the operations department, learning how each product is produced.
Other departments she became acquainted with were accounting, human resources, engineering, maintenance, and shipping.
Every three months, she and other senior associates traveled to company plants, including those located at Indianapolis, Ind., Atlanta, Ga., Chicago, Ill., and Phoenix, Ariz. The company is a division of Pepsi Co. Some plants produce Gatorade and Tropicana.
Belton said she has enjoyed her training. The job enables her to continue to do what she enjoyed in high school and college.
"I enjoy managing and working with people in problem-solving," she said. "It's challenging to make sure everything works right every day to ensure a safe and profitable product.
"The people I work with are helpful and want to see me learn," she added.
Belton said the only drawback of her job is that it is a long way from home. Her parents are Ed and Gwenn Belton of rural Tampa.
She is almost finished with her training and doesn't know for sure what permanent position she will assume.
"It depends on what is open and what I want to do," she said.
She hopes to work either as a process improvement engineer or a supervisor.
