November 12: Gordon Food Service Corporate Office

In observance of veteran's day, I didn't have to work. Mom and I went to Spring Lake to see Joan Morse's new apartment style condo. Then, we had a nice lunch at Two Tonys restaurant which was across the street.

Later on, I got dressed up in my business suit and headed to Grand Rapids to tour the new corporate office for Gordon Food Service which is located at 1300 Gezon Parkway in Wyoming.

There was an article in our local newspaper on Sunday about the new office. The building is gorgeous. They used mostly West Michigan companies to build the facility, as well as the inside furnishings. Each employee was able to pick out the type of desk and chair they wanted. I like the new adjustable desks.

Our tour guide, Erin, showed us around the building. There were some Art Prize pieces on the walls. The skillet display of North America was a copy of the original, as the original did not include Canada, which is the newest territory they are marketing. They also had the rain display which also was made special by the Art Prize artist.

This tour and professional development opportunity was hosted by a volunteer group called Blend. They do three events per year at different locations.

I asked our tour guide if it was hard to get a job there. He said for every 200 job postings, they get around 6,000 applicants. The typical work week is about 50-60 hours.

They served us some appetizers at the event.

Then, we listed to a speaker, Cliff, who has worked at GFS for 19 years. He said the CEO has an open door policy which is unlike any other company he has worked for. He can go to the boss's office anytime.

He spoke about being a victim or victor when it comes to life's obstacles. He was very inspirational.

After the event, I drove to Rivertown Mall in Grandville and met up with my bus driver friend, Tim Shelton and his lady friend, Katy Newberg. It started to snow last night. I don't care for that wet stuff, especially driving in it. Luckily, it melted right away.