Communities
Deepening Our Connections
Everything we do — from reducing packaging waste to scooping ice cream — is done to lift up our employees, our neighbors and our customers. People have always been at the heart of our cooperative, going all the way back to 1909.
Our fair share of summer fun
County fairs are the marquee events of the summer for our Tillamook and Boardman communities. Every year we show up in a big way to share our love for our friends and neighbors.
TCCA and 4-H volunteers sold ice cream to fund 4-H programs in Tillamook County.
Volunteers finish their scooping duties and get ready for a night of fireworks in Boardman.
The ice cream bus stopped by the Farm-City Pro Rodeo and raised $4,682 for the Hermiston Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter.
GETTING OUT AND GIVING BACK
No company exists in a vacuum. Each member of the TCCA team is part of a much larger community, and we all work to strengthen the ties that hold us together. Here are just a few ways we gave back this year.
WE BELIEVE IN PORTLAND
Along with our Tillamook and Boardman facilities, a sizable portion of the TCCA family lives and works in Portland, Oregon. This past summer, 20 members of our Portland Outpost took part in the We Believe in Portland campaign working to revitalize the city’s downtown. We spent the morning with other local businesses cleaning up a stretch of NW 13th Ave., a bustling, historic stretch of the city’s Pearl District.
BOARDMAN VOLUNTEERING
Our Boardman team makes regular trips into the community to lend a hand to their friends and neighbors. In April 2023 alone, 24 employees volunteered 112 hours of their time. From reading to students at Sam Boardman Elementary School to building homeless shelters with Stepping Stones Alliance, they made their mark all across town.
DAM HUNGER FOOD DRIVE
Nearly one in four enrolled students at Oregon State University (OSU) faces food insecurity. This past fall, we partnered with OSU Athletics and Safeway to help fight the food insecurity crisis. Together, we collected 800 lbs of canned food from the community, and 9,000 lbs of Tillamook products were donated to the OSU campus Basic Needs Center and other vital food banks throughout Corvallis.
B CORP DAY OF SERVICE
One of the many benefits of being a Certified B Corp is having the opportunity to partner with other B Corps in giving back to our communities. This year, members of TCCA joined Grow Portland at Gilbert Park Elementary in rehabilitating a school garden for students to learn about their connection to food and nature in a hands-on setting.
SCOOPS FOR YOUTH
For 13 years we’ve hosted a Tillamook ice cream booth at the Tillamook County Fair, featuring many TCCA employee volunteers. 100% of the proceeds go toward our local 4-H youth development programs. Since 2010, we’ve raised $175K for 4-H, and we look forward to continuing our support for years to come.
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130 grants provided
Every year we fund organizations working on worthy causes focused on agricultural advocacy, food security and healthful children. 2023 was a big one.
These partnerships go beyond simply cutting a check. We engage with organizations to assess their needs and brainstorm solutions that will make a meaningful impact. We often volunteer our time to make these improvements a reality.
Three cheers for our team
The passion shown by our employees every day is beyond inspiring. To show our appreciation for the people who make TCCA what it is, we regularly hold employee appreciation events in our Tillamook, Boardman and Portland facilities. 2023 featured three events attended by over 700 employees.
Gifts with great taste
The best gifts aren’t bought. They’re made. Every TCCA employee receives a gift on their birthday. This year we partnered with Tillamook High School’s Agriculture Sciences and Industrial Technology Program and Tillamook’s FFA Chapter to hand-craft custom, stainless steel trivets. The gifts weren’t simply a kind gesture, either. The project helped two students complete their senior project and gave over 20 students college credits from Tillamook Bay Community College.
BREAKING DOWN LANGUAGE BARRIERS
As TCCA has grown, our workforce has grown with us, becoming more diverse and presenting new challenges and opportunities with English and Spanish speakers working together. This past year we worked to break down these language barriers and build stronger connections between colleagues through a handful of initiatives.
We started a partnership with Tillamook Bay Community College that designed and launched an English as a Second Language (ESL) program. Eleven learners from TCCA completed the pilot program, and the program has been such a hit that we’re expanding it to Boardman and beyond in 2024.
In addition, we’ve implemented bilingual technical work instructions in high-priority departments, translation services for new hire orientations, real-time translators during company presentations, on-site Spanish programs for native English speakers, and Rosetta Stone language-learning software licenses, all to help us better communicate and connect with our colleagues.
A WARM WELCOME WITH COLD ICE CREAM
Decatur, Illinois, is the future home of our newest ice cream manufacturing facility, our first outside of Oregon. To give the community a taste of what’s to come, we’ve partnered with the nearby Overlook Adventure Park to stock their on-site scoop shop with over a dozen Tillamook ice cream flavors.
