The Barn Factory in Sderot cannot be missed/PR
Let's play a little game.
We ask a question and you answer the first thing that comes to your mind.
There is only one rule - you are allowed to say anything, except for things related to October 7, rockets and Hamas.
ready?
So like this: what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Sderot?
If you live in the center of the country, and later we will also talk about what exactly "center" is, you may be struggling to think of something.
If you are a city dweller, you must be having trouble choosing just one thing.
But if you ask the residents of Sderot, one of the things that symbolize the city is "Barn".
The Barn Factory in Sderot cannot be missed.
What started as a factory for the production of waffles and noodles, has become an advanced technological factory that produces food products that we all have at home, starting from soup stocks and flakes, through sauces that you can't do without, to Bamba in filling, Bisley and Apropos.
Essem saw itself tied to the roots of Sderot and grew along with it: while Sderot transformed from a town to a city with an impressive growth rate, Essem increased the production output from 9,000 tons to about 50,000 tons, as part of its concept that the factory in Sderot is the southern anchor in the overall production system.
"Everyone who comes to the factory feels, at least while he is here, as if he has come home"/PR
A food routine is an existential necessity
"Our factory is in the heart of the Black Sabbath terrorist activity area," says Gidi Goldman, manager of the Sderot Barn factory.
"We saw the photos of the terrorists' vehicles passing by and conducting shootouts near the factory, but because we are a kosher place that does not work on Shabbat, the factory was empty, except for the guard who escaped at the first opportunity."
According to Goldman, many of the approximately 500 employees of Asem Sderot are residents of the city and the surrounding area, some of them were personally harmed, including a manager who was murdered in Kibbutz Holit.
Other workers lost a parent or sibling, and many were drafted into reserve service.
"On October 8, after the initial shock of the previous day, we tried to think about what we could do," shares Goldman.
"We realized that our reserve as workers in the food industry is to get to the factory, start the machines and start producing, so as not to harm the food routine of the State of Israel," says Goldman, "this is also food for the residents, for the children, and for the soldiers in the field."
How do you operate a factory when the entire south is under fire?
"We started with a small core of employees and operated one production line for several hours a day. Every day that passed, another line was put into operation and we extended the working hours. At first, people were afraid to walk around here at night and there was also a fear of traveling on the roads, there were workers who were afraid to leave their family members alone at home. However Little by little, we activated more and more lines, added shifts, until we reached full operation of the plant, and now we are fully operational."
"Sderot is growing exceptionally."
Gidi Goldman/Dor Sebag
From high school to career development - the young people will want to stay in the city.
"I can say," testifies Goldman, "that everyone who comes to the factory feels, at least while he is here, as if he has returned home, to friends, to a loved and familiar environment. You can see how the initial tension dissipates, and a return to normality Doing good to people. Today we feel very safe here."
Following the fighting, Assem, which has been operating in Sderot for almost 45 years, established a fund to support the city's residents in the amount of millions of shekels, and focuses on technological-industrial education.
The fund will allow the residents of Sderot to integrate into the most necessary fields in Israeli industry through the acquisition of science and technology subjects.
"Sderot is growing exceptionally," says Goldman, "and that makes us all very proud. However, a city like Sderot must also develop in terms of employment and offer its residents an employment horizon. We don't want people to move to live in Sderot but travel to other cities to work. The food industry is indeed seen as an industry traditional, but it is built on modern technology. Assem is an organization that is connected to the development and implementation of advanced systems, and this fund will provide a channel for technological education and building a future in the field."
How is the foundation's support for the residents manifested?
"We start with education in the high schools in Sderot, and continue with courses for young people in institutions of higher education, both academic education and engineering schools. With the training that the young people will receive with the help of the fund, they will be able to lead the industry in Sderot, whether employment in the barn or in other factories in the city. We want That people will not look for employment opportunities outside Sderot, on the contrary - that the young people will stay here and be proud of their career path, and this is exactly what the fund will allow them to do."
Assem is not a society that adopts a settlement in Otef just because of the situation, but is actually a part of the city.
How important is it to continue the factory's activity routine on days like these?
"In days like this, our industry is more vital than ever. Food is an element that is first and foremost an existential element, but also for balancing the mood, especially when there are children at home. There are hundreds of thousands of reservists who have been recruited, and in general, the entire food industry, not just a barn, is an essential industry in times of emergency. The whole industry, headed by a barn that is an integral part of the envelope, is part of the country's resilience."
When Sderot was declared a city in 1996, about 18 thousand residents lived there.
According to the data of the Central Bureau of Statistics, as of the end of November 2023, there are already more than 35 thousand people who have chosen Sderot as their home.
The statistics are very far from painting a backward city, thanks to huge investments in education, the percentage of those entitled to a high school diploma has jumped in recent years to 92.7%, well above the national average of 76%, and Sderot ranks first in the entire southern region.
Out of about 8,000 students at Sapir College, about 7,000 live in Sderot and make it a student city, young and vibrant.
More than 100 factories and businesses operate in the city's industrial area, and hundreds more businesses serve the residents in its neighborhoods.
One of the largest employers in the city is the barn factory, which has set itself the goal of promoting the city and creating employment opportunities for young people.
"The fund will jumpstart the city and its residents"
The man whose name is credited to the accelerated development of Sderot is Mayor Alon Davidi, who has been marching the city forward for more than a decade, and is particularly proud of the cooperation with the Asem Support Fund.
"The Assam company is an integral part of the city with an essential factory, whose employees come even in these difficult days and help to drive the Israeli economy and the region in particular, says Davidi. "I am sure that the fund's activities will help the residents of the city and develop the technological industry that already exists here even more for the benefit of the city's growth and its residents."
How do you think the fund will help the city's residents?
"Every philanthropic activity fills in the gaps between the state and authority budgets and the real needs of the city.
I am sure that we will work together, with the aim of developing the industry in the city and helping to create a better future for the younger generation.
in industrial technological education, which will certainly allow future opportunities for integration in the fields necessary in Israeli industry and science and technology professions, as well as in the creation of projects for technological-industrial education in the various educational institutions in the city."
How has the city's recovery progressed since the war?
"The city is still at war in light of the continued firing of rockets and the subsequent directives of the Home Front Command that limit us in opening educational frameworks, workplaces and gatherings.
There are several thousand in total, and most of the residents are in hotels throughout the country, so the municipality continues to provide services both to residents in the city and to those outside it."
How long do you think it will take Sderot to return to normal?
"I don't sit in the political cabinet or in the war cabinet.
So none of us have any idea where it will go and how long it will last.
As a city, as a community, as a local authority, we do everything to provide answers to our residents in all areas.
In education, employment, infrastructure and welfare, basically in everything.
This applies to hotels and accommodation centers and even more so in the city itself when we return.
when will we come back
We will know that the government and the army will give us a hermetic security response."
What does the reader who sits in the center not know about Sderot and is important for them to know?
"First and foremost, in Sderot there is an accelerated construction and development boom, new neighborhoods are established and new employment, trade and entertainment centers are opened.
The new neighborhoods are being built in an innovative and advanced manner with development at the highest level, while preserving the green and environmental aspects.
And it is important for him to know that Sderot is the heart of Israel.
Take the map of the Land of Israel and fold it in half, you will see that Sderot is exactly in the middle point of the country.
That way, those who are now sitting at home or in a cafe in Tel Aviv, know that we are the defender of the state.
And as long as there is construction development and prosperity in Sderot, so our enemy will understand that the people of Israel are alive, when Sderot is strong - Israel is strong and we will not be defeated.
Neither in spirit nor in power."
In collaboration with Asem-Nestle
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