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Work in Progress: How FONA International Put Executives On the Front Line

Food flavors producer FONA International has a sweet, inspiring story about leaders caring for employees amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

FONA, one of the Best Workplaces in Chicago™, invested in equipment and materials for disinfecting ‘fogging’ in its facilities as an added measure to daily sanitation.

The executive team spearheaded the fogging work, spending evenings and weekends cleaning the entire facility, including labs and the production floor. Later, a wider team of employees volunteered to do the disinfecting, dubbing themselves the “ghostbusters” because of the gear they carried.

This week on Work in Progress, we interview Barb Pugesek, FONA’s director of customer and culture excellence, as well as Melissa Valenzuela, a food safety systems specialist at FONA. Learn how FONA has preserved its values, recognized employees and maintained a caring, tradition-rich culture during difficult times.