Baking & Snack - August 2009 - 89

MEETING PREVIEW

Removing
Barriers
The Tortilla Industry Association's 20th annual convention
and trade exposition brings together tortilla industry
professionals for networking, problem solving and learning.

he Tortilla Industry Association
(TIA) will hold its annual conference Sept. 20-21 at Bally's in Las Vegas, NV. TIA prides itself as the only
trade show featuring the latest equipment and components, equipment,
ingredients, packaging and services exclusively for anyone involved
in the tortilla industry.
In a continually challenging economy, this year's theme
"Removing Obstacles" is sure to hit
the right note with attendees. The
conference will address concerns such as
valuing your business, transitioning
operations from a family venture as well
as increasing professional and personal
knowledge through seminars, training
sessions and exhibits.
This year's hot topic is the Employee
Free Choice Act, which will be addressed
by Randel K. Johnson, vice-president, US
Chamber of Commerce. The proposed
"card check" legislation would make it
much easier for unions to organize. Cecilia
Maldonado, PhD and associate professor,
Workforce Education and Development,
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, will present "Turbulent Times - Making Employee
Development Pay Off." John Eagan, vicepresident and senior general manager,
Costco Wholesale Corp., will share "How to
Do Business with Costco."
Preconference activities include a board
meeting Friday, Sept. 18 from 5 to 9 p.m.
Conference exhibitor move-in also begins
Friday. Golfers will gather Saturday, Sept.
19, for a golf tournament noon to 6 p.m. at

BAKER GIVES
"STARTING FROM
SCRATCH"
A NEW MEANING

the Boulder Creek Golf Club. A welcome
reception and raffle will follow the golf tournament Saturday from 7:30 to 10 p.m.
The conference officially kicks off Sunday, Sept. 20 with two industry sessions
running 9 to 10 a.m. and 10 to 11 a.m.
A noon luncheon in Bally's events
center will open the TIA Expo,
which runs until 5 p.m. An evening
banquet and reception will take
place in the Bally's Skyview room
with entertainment provided by Las
Vegas singer Johnny Fortuno.
Monday, Sept. 21, morning sessions will
run 9:30 to 10:15, 10:15 to 11 and 11 to
11:45. From 11:00 to noon attendees can
learn about TIA accomplishments and future plans at the business meeting along
with a celebration for new Hall of Fame inductees. TIA Expo will reopen at 11:45 a.m.
and runs through 4 p.m with lunch at noon.
TIA has reserved a block of rooms at Bally's Las Vegas. Single rooms are available
for $169 until Aug. 20. Please reference
the group code SBTIA9 or call the hotel
at (800) 643-3434. TIA asks that attendees
stay at Bally's hotel block in an effort to
keep costs down for future conferences.
Deadlines for exhibit booths and sponsorship are Sept. 1.
For more information, contact TIA at
(703) 610-9036 or info@Tortilla-info.com.
The economic stimulus discount of 10%
off registration has been extended beyond the original deadline. Participants
can download a registration form at TIA's
Web site www.tortilla-info.com. ■
- Jennifer Barnett Fox

f
geiv

ndependent baker Fred Piechocki
comes from a proud family of
bakers. However, during the Great
Depression, his grandfather, Stanley,
and father, Edward, lost their bakery.
As a result, this third generation
baker had no recipes or business to
carry on.
So what did Fred do? He started his
bakery from scratch. In 1979, Fred
opened The Cakery Bakery in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ten
years later, he moved to Warrington,
Pennsylvania, where he and longtime friend, Henry Stoughton,
opened the Warrington Pastry Shop.
Fred describes his business as a
European style, traditional bakery
where products are baked from
scratch every day.
Best known for the 60 to 100 decorated cakes it produces a week,
Warrington Pastry Shop also turns
out 10 to 15 wedding cakes a weekend during prime wedding season.
It is also well known for Danish,
regular cakes, cupcakes, butter cakes,
cinnamon buns and donuts.
"My greatest accomplishment is to
consistently produce a high-quality
product," said Fred. International®
Bakers Services has played a key role
in maintaining this quality.
"When I started out, I received a
sample of International® Bakers
Services B&V® and I have used IBS
flavors ever since," Fred recalled.
His bakery also uses chocolate,
banana, rum, coconut and hazelnut
flavors. "I am very happy with IBS
products," Fred stated. "They are
easy to use, very consistent and
economical. Most importantly, the
flavors hold up."
"Using ingredients that will keep
product quality high will make you
proud to be an independent baker,"
Fred advised. If you value consistent
quality, you should get to know
International® Bakers Services.
Contact us toll-free at (800) 3457175, by fax at (574) 287-7161, or in
writing at 1902 North Sheridan Ave.,
South Bend, Indiana 46628. We have
the flavors your customers deserve.
For more information, see Page 105

August 2009 / BAKING & SNACK

http://www.tortilla-info.com

Baking & Snack - August 2009

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