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Cermount’s Supplements and Food Packaging Brand Expansion Promotes Pride and Purpose

Cermount’s Supplements and Food Packaging Brand Expansion Promotes Pride and Purpose

Cermount, recognized for its SQF level dietary supplements and dry foods packaging services, offers quality-centered contract manufacturing while employing an all-inclusive and mission-driven workforce. Along with its parent company, Transylvania Vocational Services (TVS), and ongoing contracts with the US Government for food banks and the US Military, Cermount has continued to thrive and expand its private label food manufacturing and supplements business during these last two years.   

Cermount is invested in the future with a current facility upgrade and line expansion. New vertical and horizontal form-fill-and seal equipment, additional filling lines, and a high-speed Bosch encapsulation machine are just a few of the recent investments.  Additional square footage was added to accommodate new growth and dedicated line space for dietary supplements blending, encapsulation, bottling, and powder filling opportunities.  

 

“Cermount plans to continue to expand our facility and capabilities to accommodate the growing needs of our customers and the market,” said VP of Business Development and Marketing Beth Rich. “We also have exciting new capabilities planned for the upcoming year—such as single serve cups, different pack sizes and styles, and additional material offerings. We have been fortunate that our recent growth has allowed for us to make these types of investments back into our organization.”

Cermount is flexible with a variety of packaging options, production run sizes, and an overall ease of market entry. The R&D Team can assist new customers with custom food development or simply enhance a current formula.  Overall, Cermount is responsive, easy to work with, and there to help meet the start-to-finish manufacturing needs of most any project requirements.   

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“Certified Quality. Trusted Service,” the Cermount motto, is built on the mission of its parent company, Transylvania Vocational Services (TVS), providing competitive employment to adults with disabilities for over 50 years.  TVS has a state-of-the-art dry food manufacturing facility fulfilling contracts for the federal government.  Cermount’s new capabilities and expansion combined with TVS’s mission and expertise make for a winning combination and why both are trusted and respected by industry partners.  By “manufacturing with a mission” these organizations work to enhance the dignity and quality of life of individuals with disabilities and barriers to employment.  For more information visit www.cermount.com

 

A decade later and Dan Fisher is stilling hanging in there like a hair in a biscuit

A decade later and Dan Fisher is stilling hanging in there like a hair in a biscuit

It isn’t every day that you get to meet a man who has an affinity for cats and a secret hatred for Mr. Rogers – but at TVS, we have had the pleasure of working beside him for the past 10 years and we are looking forward to many more!

TVS Quality Director, Dan Fisher works to, “ensure that TVS puts out a quality safe product for our customer and consumer. Whoop, there it is.”

It’s hard to not find Dan with a smile on his face. He enjoys providing employment for individuals with disabilities and barriers to employment as well as being able to feed the world with awesome products. “It’s pretty cool,” he says. “I thank the Lord, and thank my blessings for being a part of TVS.”

Dan was hired as the Quality Director in 2012 after, “my wife and I decided it was time for me to come out of retirement,” Dan said with a laugh. His experience in quality grew at Tropicana in Florida, where he worked for 35 years. “I fell in love, had kids, and went to work at Tropicana,” he explained. “I started as a Lab Tech before moving up to the Quality Packaging Manager.”

TVS Quality Director John Safi has heard all the juicy stories about Tropicana, “they beat him to a pulp,” John says with a chuckle.

John has worked with Dan for the past 5 years. “He is a good-hearted guy and a true follower of Christ,” he says. “We have a lot of audits together, and they are more fun with each other. During one, an auditor grabbed Dan’s stress-reliver ball, shaped like a cow, and threw it at me because I kept asking questions. Dan then handed her a Tropicana stress-ball and said, ‘here – you can throw this one too,’ and she did.”

Just like the stress balls being thrown at John, the puns and compliments about Dan – they just keep coming.

Heart of gold, always positive, and “the best supervisor I’ve ever had” are just some of the other kind words coworkers had to say.

Jackie Compton has worked with Dan during his decade at TVS. “One of my favorite stories with Dan is when he was on his hands and knees chasing a fly with an electric fly swatter,” laughs Jackie. “He did get the fly after several hits and some electrical recharges.”

Over the years, Dan has traded this electric fly swatter for an electric bicycle. When not working, he can be found hitting the bike bath with his wife and friends, as well as, camping… or glamping.

Dan shares his smile with everyone around him. His light-hearted humor and extensive list of puns is the highlight of conversation. “Take the time to get to know the people. Life is short, and relationships are important,” he says.

 

Looking ahead, there may be opportunity to see Dan letting his hair down at the next company picnic and maybe beating Jackie again at Cornhole.

I have a million of them,” said Dan thinking back on his memories. “But the overriding theme is all the smiles on employee faces as they come to work.” Over his decade, Dan has seen TVS grow by over a hundred employees.

Brevard used to have less people, less beer, and less bikes. But it’s all behind us now.

As for Dan’s explanation for his aversion to Mr. Rogers, he says, “It’s not a beautiful day in the neighbor, there might be cat fever going around.”

TVS increases capacity to continue assisting with international famine relief efforts

TVS increases capacity to continue assisting with international famine relief efforts

Brevard, NC (May 11, 2021) — Food insecurity has surged in recent years across the world. As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, more individuals are affected or at a higher risk than ever before. To help combat this growing rate of worldwide food insecurity, Transylvania Vocational Services (TVS) installed new equipment during the 2020 year to continue meeting increased demands with the production of its SuperCereal Plus (SCP) blend.

“As a supplier of further processed grain based and dairy commodities to USDA, USAID, and the US Military, TVS is pleased to announce a significant increase in plant capacity to process and package SuperCereal Plus,” said TVS VP of Operations Steve Green. “This was made possible by forming a strategic alliance with grain suppliers in the US Midwest along with extensive engineering studies and capital investments in high speed processing and packaging equipment.” 

Currently TVS’s expansion has continued to support SCP production with an overall increase of 55%. Green said, “following 10 years of direct product experience and newly increased plant capacity, we are prepared to support USAID feed programs for another decade.”

SCP is a specially formulated cereal that offers complete nutrition for children ages 6-24 months when combined with fresh drinking water and used in conjunction with breast milk.

“TVS’s SuperCereal Plus business and our assistance with international hunger relief is something that we’re particularly proud of as an organization,” said TVS CEO Jamie Brandenburg. “We worked with the USAID and the World Food Programme to aid in the formulation and development of this complete nutritional supplement, and we continue to supply this product to various parts of the world.”

The manufacturing and packaging process of SCP began collaboratively with the USDA in 2010.

“As one of the first suppliers of SuperCereal Plus in North America, we are proud to invest and grow with our distribution partners to continue supplying a nutritious feeding supplement to families and children of developing nations that are in need,” said Green.

TVS has recently produced 1600 metric tons, or 3.5 million pounds, of SCP to aid in global hunger assistance efforts. Over the years, many regions of Africa and various other areas of the world have received TVS’ SCP.

Click here to read the full PDF.

Joshua “Living the Dream” Smith — Quality Technician

Joshua “Living the Dream” Smith — Quality Technician

Featured employee Joshua Smith quality checks a Super Cereal Plus bag.

“It is a family-oriented business, I love what they offer to individuals with disabilities. This is especially important to me since I have a child with autism.”

Featured employee Joshua Smith quality checks a Super Cereal Plus bag.
  • Graduated from Rosman High School in 2010
  • Started at TVS in May 2018
  • First job at TVS: Quality Technician (level 1)
  • Quality Technician (level 2), in a nut shell: “Making sure lot codes are correct and upholding the integrity of our bags and products. It has a lot of paperwork and organization but it guarantees that the equipment is working correctly and that the products are safe.”
  • Why Quality? “I knew I wanted to work in quality because of paperwork skills and I knew that TVS was a great place to work because my Mother-In-Law used to work here.”
  • Career goals? “Continue moving forward in the company by first becoming a level 3 Quality Technician and be able to provide for my family.”
  • Previous Work Experience: Gaia Herbs in Shipping and Receiving and as a Liner Accelerator Tech and Press Tech.
  • Favorite part about working at TVS? “The people are one of the best parts. I am a social butterfly, I love talking to everyone especially coworkers and INTERACT participants.”
  • Favorite TVS memory? “I am currently enjoying coaching the TVS Softball team and I also really have enjoyed past company picnics.”
Michelle Ekeanyanwu — Quality Technician

Michelle Ekeanyanwu — Quality Technician

Featured employee Joshua Smith quality checks a Super Cereal Plus bag.

“It is an ongoing job and I am excited to become more knowledgable with Safe Quality Food (SQF) rules and regulations.”

  • Grew up in Connecticut, moved to Brevard after High School
  • Started at TVS in May 2008
  • First job here: Production member
  • Quality Technitian, in a nut shell: Ensure the integrity of our product and make sure the product meets the customer specifications and make sure all the paperwork is correctly processed.
  • Why TVS? “Employers like this are hard to come by. I enjoy the flexability of my job here, along with the care and benefits offered by TVS.”
  • Previous work experience: Continental Treves and WelchAllyn
  • Favorite aspect of TVS? “The support and care that the company has for employees.”