Every year on the first Friday of October, manufacturers across North America celebrate MFG Day, or Manufacturing Day. Started by The Manufacturing Institute, MFG Day is an initiative to grow and support the industry’s skilled workers for the advancement of modern manufacturing. Encouraging companies and educational institutions to open their doors shows students, parents, teachers and community leaders the reality of modern manufacturing careers as the industry seeks to fill four million high-skill, high-tech and high-paying jobs over the next decade.
MFG Day is being celebrated by the Innovate78 team by highlighting a few of the manufacturing businesses in North County. This article features Escondido-based Left Coast Engineering, a small business focused on new product design and custom R&D, and Stone Brewing that has a brewing facilities and bistro in Escondido, a tasting room in Oceanside and national distribution center in San Marcos. To read all of our articles, visit innovate78.com/blog.
As a family-owned business for over 75 years, Bimbo Bakeries USA continues to offer and distribute many of the nation’s top-selling baked goods brands such as Thomas’ English Muffins and Bagels, Sara Lee, Entenmann’s, Oroweat Bread, Nature’s Harvest Bread and more. “Our actions work to nourish both people and nature. We are focused on three priorities: Baked for You, Baked for Nature and Baked for Life” said John London, Sr. Director of Sales, Southern California, for Bimbo Bakeries USA.
- Baked for You: Focuses on enabling planetary diets with nutritional diversity.
- Baked for Nature: Focuses on improving the lives of everyone we reach.
- Baked for Life: Focuses on protecting and regenerating our natural systems.
There was no hesitation for Bimbo Bakeries USA when it came to establishing one of many business locations in North County. With access to the freshest products in Southern California, supportive community partners and a dedicated workforce, Bimbo Bakeries USA could sense their ability to boost their efforts in providing outstanding products and services. “North County is a great place to do business. We have a solid infrastructure, excellent access to freeways, a strong workforce and many organizations and businesses to partner with. The City and County agencies are tremendous, and we feel honored to be a part of such a tight-knit community” said London.
Bimbo Bakeries USA dedicates much of their efforts towards giving back and being involved within the community, which is a key element of business. For the Bimbo Bakeries team, this means stocking the shelves at food pantries and donating items to Feeding America food banks to help combat the constant issue of food insecurity. Additionally, the business implements their Grupo Bimbo’s Good Neighbor Program that works to provide their bakeries with funding to accomplish local community service projects as a way to give back to the community. For instance, with the help of their location in Escondido, London said, “the Escondido bakery partnered with a local community garden to build a wheelchair access ramp and built composting units to get them closer to zero land fill and zero waste.”
All of these efforts would not have been made possible without the help of a strong workforce. London particularly emphasized the dedicated workforce at their location in Escondido by saying, “Associates in North County are committed workers and form the heartbeat of our company. Many of our associates have been with us for more than 20 years and live in the area.”
London continued, “We are so proud to employ hard working people and in turn we strive to make a difference in their lives by creating a culture where associates feel valued, offering an attractive work to life balance, competitive pay, benefits and a safe working environment.”
North County provides adequate resources for businesses to prosper and cultivates a supportive community like no other. These key characteristics of North County help give businesses what they need to expand their innovation and there is so much room for continuous growth. Innovate78 is here to help your business find these resources to maximize the business ecosystem in North County.
To learn more about doing business in the City of Escondido, please visit innovate78.com or contact Jennifer Schoeneck, deputy director of economic development, at jschoeneck@escondido.org (760) 839-4587.
