Certified Grocers Midwest promotes distribution leadership.

CHICAGO – March 16, 2007 – If you want to get the best efforts out of your associates each and every day, you must put your best effort into training managers on how to properly lead them. For this reason, Certified Grocers Midwest asked Tom Zosel Associates (TZA) to deliver its first-rate management training curriculum and help their warehouse supervisors gain the essential knowledge needed to become great leaders. Skills developed include delegating, communicating, resolving conflict, motivating associates, and more.

Thanks to this training program, which is specifically tailored to the challenges of distribution environments, Certified Grocers Midwest floor managers will receive practical tips, techniques and solutions they need for supervisory success when coordinating people and tasks. The focus of the courses is to arm supervisors with the skills to effectively lead associates and motivate them to perform at their peak.

“Due to the successful results of TZA’s initial skill-building sessions, we decided to have TZA deliver its full-fledged management training curriculum to our warehouse supervisors, so that they can carry out their management responsibilities confidently. The training focuses on the challenges they face every day on the floor and offers solutions to help them fully achieve their potential – not just as managers but also as true leaders who command the respect, commitment and credibility that moves people to action,” said Todd Avery, Director of Distribution Operations for Certified Grocers Midwest.

“Most supervisors already have the knowledge and skills to perform in their area of expertise. That’s probably what got them promoted in the first place,” said Michael Droske, TZA’s Director of Training. “But being a supervisor demands a new type of skill. A manager’s continued success depends directly on his or her ability to get things done through others. That’s why we designed our management training curriculum, to provide supervisors with management skills without incurring the hard knocks that come with on-the-job training”.

About Certified Grocers Midwest
Certified Grocers Midwest is a group of retailers incorporated as a cooperative to buy groceries at the lowest possible price and compete more effectively with the chain stores. Their assets include warehousing space in excess of twenty-five acres, and a fleet of tractors and trailers. Their distribution center in Hodgkins, Illinois, has one million square feet under one roof, which encompasses grocery, delicatessen, produce and meat products. The Frozen Food Division of the company has a 92,000 square foot conventional warehouse, of which 20,000 square feet are dedicated to Ice Cream and Bakery Frozen items, which are kept at 20 below zero. For more information, visit www.certisaver.com.

About Tom Zosel Associates, LTD.
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Tom Zosel Associates (TZA) is a best practices logistics consulting company. Core competencies include strategic planning, facility design and material handling engineering, optimized labor performance programs, training, transportation system design and logistics software solutions, including labor management software and warehouse management systems. TZA’s critical advantage is its hands-on operational expertise, which allows it to create and implement innovative solutions for even the most complex distribution challenges. For more information about TZA, visit www.tzaconsulting.com.