The Pro-Motor award 2017 has been awarded to the Food & Process Tech Campus from Zaanstad, which trains process operators for the food industry. This project is about offering 16 year old vocational students a straight route from vocational education to the labor market, which was not possible in the current educational system for process operators. Jury chairman Ab van der Touw (CEO Siemens) praised the joint initiative and perseverance that made this project a success. 

Food & Process Tech Campus (FPTC) – Zaanstad
The Food and Process Tech Campus is a collaboration between 17 companies: IOI Loders Croklaan, Forbo Flooring, Zaanse Olie Raffinaderij, Tate & Lyle, Exter Aroma, van Wijngaarden, Hilton Meats, Olam, Buteressence, Cargill cocoa, ENCI, Sanquin, Cargill multiseed, Cargill soya, PDZ, Randstad and SWA. In association with Regio College, municipality Zaanstad, OVO Zaanstad and financing from the region they have created a facility that offers new vocational level 2 and 3 education in food process engineering. The companies fuse their knowledge, are innovating vocational education and at the same time offer all participating youths a job. In coming years, 900 new employees will be needed yearly to solve the shortage of personnel in the region.

Students at the Food & Process Tech Campus (photo by Maarten Noordijk).

Pro-Motor award for best project
The prize is awarded once a year to an ambitious project to reward quality and stimulate innovation in the participating centers, where institutes for technical education and companies work together to bridge the gap between education and the labor market. The five nominees for the Pro-Motor award 2017 were Aquabots, Hemelswater Bier, Food & Process Tech Campus, Maatwerktraject in Twente and De Garage van de Toekomst.