Editor’s Note: Over the next few months, R&FF is teaming up with FCL Builders to bring you expert perspectives and real-world insights from across the cold chain. Joining Editor in Chief Kelley Rodriguez on this series is Greg Camp, vice president of project development at FCL Builders. Greg brings over 25 years of F&B experience to the industry, including extensive technical expertise in industrial refrigerated environments.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, transportation and warehousing sees about 3% of its workforce turn over every single month. Annualized, you’re looking at 30 to 40% turnover each year—and that’s before you factor in the harsher conditions of cold chain manufacturing and distribution environments. This is more than a hiring problem — it’s a retention and sustainability challenge at scale.

A project in the early 1990s with the Chicago International Produce Market helped launch FCL’s cold storage division, said Carmen Dodaro, retired CEO and board member at FCL Builders. He started as a project manager at FCL with virtually no cold chain experience at the time.

"As we picked up more work, I would stay involved and I trained project managers in that field and then they were able to move on and train other project managers, etcetera. So that's where we started and we were able to grow it. And now we have a national cold storage team," Dodaro said. "I actually started as a customer of FCL. I worked for a developer and hired them and the way that they became a partner and helped us design the project, help us manage the project was something that I really enjoyed. So, they asked me to join them with the promise of potential ownership. I stayed there because it was exciting. Especially when we started growing around the country, you know, finding that needle in a haystack – somebody who could run a division – was fun."

As the company grew to a nationwide footprint, opening offices in different regions presented a new set of challenges.

Cold Chain Culture: Retired & Extremely Dangerous

Carmen Dodaro, retired CEO and board member, and Lisa Pinion, chief human resources officer, both with FCL Builders, talk culture in cold chain operations.

"From a recruitment standpoint, it's about delivering consistent story and experience and being able to deliver on a consistent employee experience and ability to tell candidates about how they can make an impact, how they can learn and grow and then deliver on that from day one. So that's how we've been successful in recruiting talent to FCL and then it's up to us obviously to make good on the those promises," Pinion said. "Acquiring talent is one piece, but we also focus on developing talent from within because we've had the greatest success in developing our own bench."

The company still prides itself on promoting from within. For example, Chris Linn worked his way from field operations to the firm’s current president and CEO, Dodaro said.

He and Pinion agreed that culture is not about foosball tables and gimmicks.

"It's about how you're treated on the tough days. It's about how you feel when you wake up in the morning and you're ready to go to work. It's about feeling valued and respected and part of something and that's what a great culture is all about. When the actions and the words of leadership align and people feel that they can do work that they love, with people that they truly enjoy, and that everyone is rowing in the same direction, that's a great culture," Pinion said. "As employee owners, we want to make sure that every person in this company feels proud to be an owner and feels a vested interest and ownership in everything that they do. Doing the right thing for the people is always the right thing for the business. In terms of talent acquisition, hire for attitude and train for skill."