Webinars
View Upcoming Webinars here
Past Webinars
Employee Handbook Best Practices
Hosted in partnership with Asure, a VSFA member.
Is your employee handbook up to date? Whether you’re creating one from scratch or refining your current policies, this free webinar will help you build a comprehensive, clear, and legally sound handbook that truly supports your team and protects your business.
What You’ll Learn:
- Key Elements to Include: Essential policies, company culture, and compliance information.
- Best Practices: How to make your handbook engaging and easy for employees to understand.
- Legal Considerations: How to avoid common pitfalls and ensure compliance.
- Customization Tips: Ways to tailor your handbook to reflect your company’s unique values and needs.
Why Attend:
- Learn from HR industry professionals with years of experience.
- Gain practical, actionable insights to strengthen your employee handbook.
- Participate in an interactive Q&A to address your specific questions and challenges.
10 Things to Improve your Online Store
Jacob Dubois, Owner of Uptown Cow, offers tips and solutions to improve your online store before the holiday season. Get clear, immediate steps to take your eCommerce website to the next level.
Plan to Execute, Execute to Plan: Staying Food Safety & Quality Audit Ready!
VSFA Member Plex hosted this panel discussion with industry veterans who shared their perspectives on:
- Common mistakes leading to poor execution of your plan
- Virtual audits: What you need to know
- What’s trending: Tomorrows compliance challenges
Panelists Included: Colin Christmas, Eagle Certification: SQF/BRC certification body; Chad Yiengst, Ledge Consulting: Outsourced quality firm; Bob Combs, Plex Systems: Quality management software provider. Download slide presentation here.
Watch the Recorded Webinar here
Lessons Learned from Co-packing & Facility Upgrading
VSFA held a panel discussion around opening, updating, and expanding food or beverage manufacturing facilities. If you are thinking of taking that next step to opening your first facility, upgrading to a new location, or opening a co-packing facility then this webinar is for you! Thank you to our panelists: Cathy Bacon of Freedom Foods/Hillside Lane Farm, Claire Georges of Butterfly Bakery of VT, Mark Elvidge of Vermont Nut Free Chocolates and our moderator: Food Safety Specialist Omar Oyarzabal.
Watch the Recorded Webinar here
DOL Unemployment Guidance and Trust Fund Update
DOL Commissioner Michael Harrington and UI & Wages Division Director Cameron Wood will help employers better understand what they and their employees should do to successfully utilize the unemployment system during the COVID pandemic and other future downturns. Also discussed will be changes to the unemployment tax rate schedule and the potential increase businesses will be facing next year under the current system.
Watch the Recorded Webinar here
Advanced E-Commerce Optimization Webinar
On this webinar, Bud Reed, Partner, Lean Edge Marketing covers:
- How to increase good quality traffic to your website via SEO and build your email list in the process.
- Keeping visitors on your site longer and converting more of them to buyers. Topics will include usability analysis and abandoned cart programs.
- How to measure the results of your efforts using Google Analytics and Search Console along with other measurement tools, and how to develop KPIs (key performance indicators) specifically for your business.
Trade Spend: What is it? How much does it cost? Where to Account for it?
This webinar will provide an introduction to Trade Spend: the amount a company spends to increase demand for its products, including coupons, preferential shelf display locations (slotting), co-advertising, and more. During this webinar you'll learn distributor and retailer expectations, accounting for Trade Spend, and how to leverage this knowledge in negotiations and profitability planning.
In the spirit of cooperation during these hard times, these Webinars are FREE for all. If you believe there are businesses that would benefit from this information, please feel free to share.
Part 2: HR & Employee Safety (Aired July 29th)
Do you have a business continuity plan? This session will walk you through why you need one and the steps to take when starting a plan...
Shannon Prescott of The Richards Group will discuss what is Business Continuity planning, why is it important and how do businesses get started with a plan. Shannon will use the example of COVID and planning now for the potential Fall surge, but also touch on other situations that businesses should think about for overall crisis management.
Heather Hammond of Gravel & Shea shares that when COVID-19 hit, businesses were forced to make many quick and difficult decisions about their employees in a rapidly changing and uncertain environment. In her presentation, we will look at what has changed since the early days of the pandemic (FFCRA, unemployment, etc) and what has not changed (ADA, FMLA, FEPA, etc.). We’ll discuss strategies to incorporate practical and legally-sound employment policies into your business continuity plan.
Watch the Recorded Webinar Here
VSFA Virtual Spring Meeting
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, VSFA pivoted this year’s meeting to a virtual event in order to continue strengthening and supporting our community during these challenging times. Our Virtual Spring Meeting was held on June 3rd and while it was strange to not be together in person, it was a nice opportunity to stay connected with our community.Thank you to those who attended and participated, we hope you enjoyed the event.
VSFA Members may access the meeting recording here
Webinar Wednesday: E-Commerce Series
The Vermont Specialty Food Association developed this webinar series in partnership with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets. This series will focused on certain aspects of E-Commerce for companies looking to expand, leverage, and grow their current E-Commerce business. Thank you to Lean Edge Marketing and KW Content for sharing their expertise and developing these sessions with us.
1.Optimizing your E-Commerce Strategy, Presented by Bud Reed, Lean Edge Marketing
Watch the Recorded Webinar Here
Slide Presentation - Optimizing E-Commerce Strategy
Best Google Analytics Reports - Lean Edge
2. Selling on Amazon, Presented by Tom Funk, Lean Edge Marketing
Watch the Recorded Webinar Here
Slide Presentation - Selling on Amazon
3. Digital Communication with Consumers, Presented by Katie Wight, KW Content
Watch the Recorded Webinar Here
Slide Presentation - KW Content
Marketing Terms Glossary - KW Content
How to Stay Growth-Oriented and Resilient in Your Retail, Grocery, or Specialty Foods Business
This interactive online workshop from DowntownUp will give you strategic tools, perspectives, and support to sustain and grow your business during the COVID-19 crisis and come out strong as the crisis passes. We will avoid getting stuck in the whirlwind of fear and uncertainty and instead help you create a focused, doable action plan based squarely on what you have proactive control over that will give your business an edge for growth and on-going resiliency.
View the Online Marketing Referrals here
Watch the recorded Webinar here
Social Media 101: The Basics of Facebook and Instagram for Business
Molly Goodyear, founder of 802Social, leads this session focused on the basics of instagram and facebook for businesses. From best practices for account setup to post examples, general trends, and more, this session will provide what you need to get your accounts up and running!
