L.O.G.I.C. Student Spotlight: Jessica Deery

October 17, 2018

Jessica Deery is a member of the pilot class of L.O.G.I.C. (Logistics, Operations, General Warehousing and Inventory Control) at the Food Bank of Delaware. Now in week six of the 11-week training, Jessica and her classmates are learning the ins and outs of the industry and working to become not only OSHA-10 general industry certified, but also forklift and ServSafe certified.

L.O.G.I.C. is the warehousing and logistics training arm of Delaware Food Works, a workforce development initiative of the Food Bank of Delaware.

She learned about the class in the wee hours of the morning. “My three year old was up at 3 a.m., and I was on Delawareonline, which I’m never on,” she explained. “I read an article about [Delaware Food Works], applied, and Jessica [Food Bank of Delaware Workforce Training Program Manager] called two days later.”

This program was meant to be for Jessica, and thanks to generous funding from the Delaware Department of Labor, there are no out-of-pocket costs to her.

Prior to enrolling in L.O.G.I.C., Jessica had spent time at Amazon and Mike’s Harley Davidson. While she came to class with previous experience, she says she is learning a lot.

“I have learned different types of picking and packing, different types of warehouses,” she said. “We are learning the different types of fork lifts, pallet jacks – the riding pallet jacks, the deep reach, which I haven’t had experience on. I had experience with pallet jacks, but not the riding pallet jacks, deep reach or sit-down fork lift – those have all been new experiences for me.”

Jessica and her classmates spend the first half of the day in class working on OSHA training computer modules, life skills like financial literacy from $tand By Me and other instruction. They spend the second half of the day in the warehouse where they work hands on with a variety of equipment.

So far, Jessica has passed all of her OSHA certification tests.

In addition to classroom and warehouse work, the students have also gone to a job fair and the Food Bank’s future home at 222 Lake Drive in Newark. Additional guest speakers and field trips are planned to close out the 11-week program.

Upon graduation on November 28, Jessica hopes to obtain steady employment. One day she would like to be employed in the Food Bank’s own operations department. “I think it’s a great place and opportunity,” she said.

For now, she is soaking in as much information and telling as many people as she can about the new program.

“I tell them, ‘I found this really great program. You get a lot of certifications, and it’s really helping to guide me to where I feel I want to be,'” she said.

Interested in a career in the warehousing/logistics industry? The next 11-week class of L.O.G.I.C. begins January 7. Click here to learn more or to apply online.

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