MEIRxRS's subsidiary, Rx Research Services is the only provider of nine apprenticeships specifically designed for life sciences. The presentation shows how our program is used in the food industry.

1. Apprenticeships
&
the Food Industry Compliance
Collaboration
Rosemarie Christopher
President
Rx Research Services & RxRS Foundation

2. History
• Rx Research Services - Federal & State Approved
Apprentice Training Committee Status
• Proof of Principle – 2015 - 5 Apprentices
• Innovative Apprenticeships for Life Sciences Industry
2016-2017 grant –DAS & Miramar College & Rx
Research Services
– Build a workforce pipeline to address the workforce
and training gaps for regulatory affairs and quality
control careers in the FDA regulated life sciences
industry.
– Target Populations: Veterans and
unemployed/underemployed STEM degree holders.

3. Need
Employers have
identified quality
and regulatory
positions as hard
to fill across the
state

4. Why QC Apprenticeships
Quality
Control
Food
Technologist
Microbiologist
Warehouse
Supervisor
Supplier Auditor
• Understanding Quality is
important in multiple roles
• There are multiple career paths for
QC apprentice
• End of program, apprentice has 2
years of experience and two
industry certifications
• 87% of Apprentices are offered
positions, much higher rate than
interns
• Industry certifications insure
industry best practices are
followed: important to FDA
• Candidates with certifications and
1-6 years of experience are the
most difficult to uncover
Apprenticeships

5. Value add
• We provide three promising
apprentice-candidates (same
commitment as our full-time
search services)
• Insure the apprentice stays on
track with trainings and
experiential requirements
• Coordinate and pay for tests and
trainings
• Provide mentor if one is not
available
• Work with veterans groups, local
universities and social services to
uncover candidates with promise
• Ensure compliance with federal,
state and local laws and program
requirements
• Ensure apprentice follows ethics
established by the profession
http://meirxrs.com/fsma/
Apprenticeships

6. Breakdown
• Certification materials and exam
are covered by the program
• Mentorship stipend available
(mentors must have industry
certification)
• Wages, employer taxes and
benefits account for 1.46X hourly
pay according to Bureau of Labor
Statistics*
• Learning hours of 6-8 weekly paid
by CA DAS grant
www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2016/employee-benefits-cost-employers-10-dollars-and-70-cents-per-hour-in-march-2016.htm
Apprenticeships

7. Apprenticeships Status
Apprentic
e
Host
Companies
Position
Title
Veteran Hours
Completed
Certification
1 4 food
companies
Quality
Control
Technician
2043.33 CQIA
2 1 food
company
Quality
Control
Technician
834.40 CQIA
3 2 food
companies
Quality
Control
Technician
1637.83 CQIA
4 2 food
companies
Quality
Assurance
√ 1329.68 CQIA
5 1 food
company
Quality
Control
Technician
√ 1503.97 CQIA
6 Food Test Lab Micro QC
Technician
500
7 Biotech Test
Lab
Chemistry
QC Tech
 X 300

8. Possible Business Objectives
 There are third-party certifications we wish to earn
 Our customers will be checking our documentation
 We want to ensure our choice of suppliers does not lead to a product recall
 Line-level vacancies go unfilled for long durations of time
 We want to beat our competitors in product quality
 We want to stay out of the crosshairs of FDA.
Questions:
Rosemarie Christopher
rchristopher@meirxrs.com
213-999-0138
http://meirxrs.com/apprentices/
Apprenticeships

9. CALL to Action
Protect your BRAND
• Do NOT let lack of, or
insufficient
Documentation
Bring YOUR Company down
ATTEND 20 hours of Preventive Controls
TRAINING- Make your company
COMPLIANT to FSMA now- Avoid the rush
for this required training:
http://meirxrs.com/fsma-class/
• HOST an Apprentice
www.meirxrs.com/apprentices
AVOID COSTLY RECALLS: The economic
losses to industry, including farmers, are
enormous, estimated at over $75 billion
per year.