KAMLOOPS – Statistics show that about half of all university and college grads start the next phase of their lives in a city or town other than the one they grew up in, which means any given community can expect to lose half of its educated youth.
There’s an educational program that seems to buck this trend, however.
“Meat-cutters tend to go back to the communities they came from to work or start their own businesses,” said Thompson Rivers University (TRU) meat-cutting program coordinator Ken Jakes, who has been involved in the program, the only one of its kind in the province, for many of its 30-plus years.
Kelowna’s John Siegmann, owner-operator of Johnny’s Custom Meats, is one of these grads who, after completing TRU’s Retail Meat Processing program in 1991, returned to his home town to ply his trade.
After working as a Cooper’s Foods meat manager for a dozen years, Siegmann, who won two trophies for excellence the year he graduated, opened his shop in Kelowna in 2003 and hasn’t looked back since.
“Business has been phenomenal,” he said. “Way, way more than I ever thought it would be.”
Jakes thinks part of this success may be due to rising population that’s upping meat consumption, while Siegmann points to consumer confidence (and lack of it due to the mad-cow crisis) for the success of small, locally owned meat shops.
The BC government’s Work Futures statistics seem to agree, stating that there are “a growing number of smaller butcher shops that cater to the increasing demand for specialty meats.”
That may be why Jakes is reporting excellent job prospects for his students.
“Meat-cutting grads have their pick of several good positions, and because of the trades shortage, wages are rising,” he said.
“All our grads end up in the work force, and most have several job offers to choose from. This year, the program received two to three times as many job postings as there are students to fill them,” he added.
Siegmann has been reading the industry for the past 15 years, and figures self-employment is the way to go.
“Small meat shops are going to start popping up everywhere,” he said. “And it’s very rewarding being your own boss.”
For more information, please contact:
John Siegmann at 250.860.5646 or by email.
Ken Jakes at 250.828.5351 or by email.
