National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation and Alaska Job Corps Pilot Restaurant and Hospitality Technical Training
Training to be used at Job Corps centers across the country to attract and retain restaurant workers.
The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) today announced a partnership with Alaska Job Corps Center to develop and pilot career technical training curriculum and job opportunities for young workers in the restaurant and hospitality industry. The collaboration is intended to produce a standardized culinary-focused career technical training program to instruct skilled, ready-to-work students in similar Job Corps programs across the country.
The partnership will combine the NRAEF's apprenticeship programs with the Alaska Job Corps Center's culinary arts technical training curriculum, which serves Alaska adults between the ages of 16 and 24. The NRAEF will also help design a new standardized curriculum to facilitate job opportunities for Alaska students.
"Our partnership with Alaska Job Corps is a crucial step in our goal of providing a robust restaurant-industry focused technical training curriculum at Job Corps sites across the country," said Rob Gifford, president of the NRAEF. "Our industry remains one of immense opportunity, and we are optimistic this work will provide the necessary framework to help solve for future restaurant workforce needs."
Malyn Smith, The Alaska Job Corps Center Director commented, "We are so excited to begin this partnership with the NRAEF. The tourism sector in Alaska is growing substantially and the opportunities for Alaskans in the hospitality industry are at an all-time high. The Culinary Arts training at the Alaska Job Corps Center is one of our flagship trainings and this apprenticeship partnership with NRAEF will take it to a higher and unprecedented level."
As a designated Apprenticeship Ambassador by the U.S. Department of Labor, the NRAEF is at the forefront of workforce development efforts in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Launched in 2021 in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, the NRAEF's Restaurant & Hospitality Leadership Center facilitates Line Cook, Kitchen Manager, and Restaurant Manager apprenticeship programs at 118 industry employer partners. RHLC programming currently includes:
- Hospitality Sector Registered Apprenticeship (HSRA), the first-ever apprenticeship program specifically for the restaurant, foodservice, and hospitality industries;
- Restaurant Youth Registered Apprenticeship (RYRA), which connects high school students and young adults ages 17-24 living in Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, and Maryland who are enrolled in the NRAEF's ProStart or Restaurant Ready career readiness programs to restaurant management or line cook career paths; and
- Veteran Apprenticeship and Labor Opportunity Reform Act (VALOR), which supports transitioning military service members with direct entryways into restaurant management, and access to benefits including tax-free housing stipends and regular pay increases.
