With over 45 years of experience in beverage manufacturing, Dave Baldwin is exceptional in his role as Quality Systems Supervisor and is a key contributor to our Quality Systems department. Dave is passionate about problem-solving and is always willing to help others with mechanical or troubleshooting issues. As part of this month’s employee highlight, we wanted to share Dave’s story with his coworkers and friends.

Dave was born in San Francisco, California but grew up in Corte Madera in Marin County. Dave’s father loved the outdoors and nature, and Dave grew up having the same interests as his father. They would both go hiking, backpacking, and other physical activities together in their free time. Dave enjoyed learning everything about nature and the outdoors. Dave decided to join The Boy Scouts of America at a young age and achieved an Eagle Scouts badge, which is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts.

Dave attended Redwood High School and graduated in 1969. Upon graduating, Dave went to the College of Marin where he studied Biological Sciences. He transferred to UC Davis and switched his major to Zoology. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Zoology in 1973. After graduating, Dave decided to join the military. His main concentration was flight training and Dave was active for two years. Dave returned home in 1975 and began working as a Chemistry tutor and was the head of the department at the College of Marin. He was a tutor for a year until he decided to make a career change and joined the beverage manufacturing industry.

Dave started working for Hills Bros. Coffee in 1976 and was primarily in quality control. He was with the company for 4 years and left in 1980. Dave then worked for Sebastiani Vineyards in Sonoma for 10 years. He was in quality control and wine production and was a supervisor. Dave moved to Amcan Beverages Inc. They were a major beverage manufacturing company that had numerous customers. When Dave first joined the company, he oversaw the retort operations. Dave also held numerous positions in various departments including quality control, sanitation, maintenance, and other supporting technical positions. He loved to learn all areas of the operation and learned as much as he could during his tenure with the company. Dave worked for Amcan for a total of 17 years. In the last 6 years of his career there, the company was acquired by The Coca Cola Company. By the end of 2009, Dave decided to retire.

Many of his former coworkers from Amcan (The Coca Cola Company) went to work for Nor-Cal Beverage. Two weeks into his retirement, Dave received a phone call from his former coworker, Albert Lee, asking if he would be interested in working for Nor-Cal Beverage. Without hesitation, Dave decided to go back to work and joined Nor-Cal Beverage in January 2010. He started as a Sanitation Production Supervisor and later became the Quality Systems Supervisor. Dave still holds this position today.

Dave has been with Nor-Cal for over 13 years and  enjoys what he does with the company. “I can always count on having a very high evaluation with my job responsibility because I enjoy doing it.”, he said. Dave s also likes solving problems and troubleshooting and his job requires him to do both. His team is small, but Dave enjoys training and teaching the ISO coordinator in all Quality Systems functions. He feels his team has come a long way and even though their work has doubled over the years, they still manage to produce perfect scores when it comes to audits. “We have passed every single audit and have gotten better and better and better over the years.”, he said. Dave has stayed with Nor-Cal for as long as he has because he is able to help others. He likes being able to concentrate on Quality systems but if someone needs help troubleshooting, he has the skills necessary to help them. “Troubleshooting is the thing that I love doing and helping fix issues”, he said.

Having an active lifestyle has always been a big part of Dave’s life. During his free time, Dave enjoys all sorts of outdoor activities. He is a very active person and likes spending time with his children outdoors. Dave has been married for 11 years and has 4 daughters, 1 stepdaughter, and two stepsons. He mainly cycles and mountain climbs now and loves doing these activities with his children.

Nor-Cal Beverage is grateful to have Dave Baldwin as part of the Nor-Cal family. Dave’s accuracy and attention to detail are what make Nor-Cal’s Quality Systems team one of the best in the industry. Thank you, Dave, for all your years of service and for your continued dedication to the company!