Algonquin College Biotechnology Students Help to Fill Talent Gaps at Big Rig Brewery
Posted on Thursday, April 2nd, 2020
Big Rig Brewery was founded in 2012 as a small batch brewery and restaurant. In the last eight years, they have significantly expanded across Ontario and now produce over 30,000 litres of beer per year. Their growth in the marketplace has resulted in the build-up of their brew house lab in Ottawa. This expansion resulted in the need for qualified employees with introductory lab skills and the ability to keep up in a fast-paced production environment.
The brewing process at Big Rig Brewery is more than just hops and yeast. Their beer is brewed in a historic style but with modern processes and quality controls to monitor yeast health and cell counts. As Big Rig looked to fill positions in their brewing team they found there was a talent gap. “Many of the skills we are looking for can be found in basic lab techniques and unfortunately there are not many qualified Brewery Technicians”, says Philip Kochanke, Director of Quality Management and Packaging at Big Rig.
“We had hired Electrical Engineering Technician co-op students in the past for our processing line and through this process; we learned that Algonquin College also has a great Biotechnology co-op program”. In the summer of 2019, Big Rig decided to hire two Biotechnology co-op students, “These students brought a formal lab background and experience to their job which helped us to manage everyday brewery operations while our team focused on improving our Standard Operating Procedures as we continued to expand”, Kochanke said.
“Algonquin’s Biotechnology students really helped us. They were able to apply basic biotechnology principals to their role in the lab which included taking and processing samples in a specific way and helping to implement quality control measures.”
Funding opportunities helped in the hiring process. “There are really great financial incentives to hire a co-op student. We were able to hire two full-time co-op students due to the funding that we received from Biotalent Canada. The application process was simple and the staff at Biotalent were extremely helpful in the process.”
When asked about the future of talent in the Brewing Industry, Kochanke said “There is definitely a need for Biotechnology students and graduates in our industry; they can work in roles such as Lab Technician, Yeast Management Technician, and Packaging Line Technician. The skills they learn in their program can help breweries by applying scientific methods to troubleshoot and maintain process management in a production and food-processing environment.”
Kochanke added, “Our experience hiring co-op students has been great, it has been a real pleasure working with everyone from Algonquin and we hope to hire more co-op students in the future.”
If you are interested in hiring a Biotechnology Advanced Co-op student, please contact the Cooperative Education Department at Algonquin College by phone at 613-727-4723 Ext 7623, by email at coop@algonquincollege.com or by visiting our employer request for information form.
Images provided by Big Rig Brewery.
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