With much attention focused on the upcoming World Series, the Snack Food Association will sponsor a double-header of its own that will offer industry management personnel a chance to swing for the fences of success.

Two meetings back-to-back — the Management Workshop and Pretzel & Baked Snack Seminar — will be held at the Wyndham Gettysburg, in Gettysburg, Pa.

“I want to encourage every SFA member company to be represented at these meetings,” says SFA president and CEO Jim McCarthy. “It’s a terrific way to learn and to prepare for the tough competition that every company and manager faces every day.”

The Management Workshop, October 21-23, will feature top business speakers including:

• Steven Bernard, founder of Cape Cod Potato Chips and Chatham Village Foods, Inc. and, most recently, co-founder of Late July Organic Snacks;

• Daryl Thomas, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Herr Foods, Inc.

• Clebe McClary, motivational/inspirational speaker and recipient of a Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for military service in Vietnam

On October 23, following the conference, attendees and those registered for the Pretzel & Baked Snack Seminar will tour the Utz Quality Foods, Inc. plant, where they will see that company’s state-of-the art facility in action.

Then, companies that supply products and services to the snack food industry will provide tabletop displays during a buffet dinner with entertainment that will precede the opening of the 2007 Pretzel & Baked Snack Seminar. The displays will give suppliers an opportunity to strengthen business relationships with mid-level and senior sales and marketing or operations/manufacturing executives who will be in attendance.

The business program gets underway the morning of October 24 with remarks from Phil Bernas, Herr Foods, Inc., chairman of the SFA Pretzel and Baked Snack Committee. Then, Martin Hahn, an attorney with Hogan & Hartson LLC, Washington, D.C., will present a discussion of regulatory issues facing the baking industry.

Dr. Richard George, Saint Joseph’s University, will discuss “Marketing Performance in the Baking Industry.” SFA consultant Lisa Katic, a registered dietitian, will discuss developments in the nutritional arena, including products for schools.

Dr. Koushik Seetharaman, Cibus Consulting, Inc. will cover “Components and Their Impact on Baking Product Quality,” followed by a presentation on “Sustainability in the Food Industry” by Scott Kran, Heinz North America.