When a need arises in the community, leaders get together to find a way to meet the need. And that’s why construction of the culinary arts at Central Virginia Community College is about to begin.
About four years ago, a group of local business leaders approached the community college about adding a culinary program. They cited a growing need to improve the employment pool of high quality chefs and restaurant managers.
CVCC officials responded with a survey in 2005 that identified food service as a growth industry in the region. According to the survey, local business owners planned to hire more than 620 full-time and 485 part-time cooks over the next three to six years.
Where would those restaurants and food service managers find all those cooks?
Armed with data showing a high demand for the program, the folks at CVCC set about working toward establishing a culinary arts school at the college. The result will be a $2.4 million project on which construction will start early next month. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine included $1.4 million toward the project in an education bond package the General Assembly approved in 2008.
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Later this month, the Virginia Tobacco Commission will review a $250,000 grant proposal that would cover some of the equipment costs. The community college will cover the balance of the costs.
The result will be a more than 4,000-square-foot brick and glass building that will include classroom space and a teaching kitchen.
The school expects no problem recruiting its first class, which is scheduled to begin next fall. “The word has gotten out on the street to a certain extent and we’ve literally gotten inundated with phone calls from students,” said James Lemons, dean of business and allied health.
The culinary school will offer two tracks: a one-year certificate program in restaurant management and a two-year associate degree for students looking to become chefs.
And who will employ all these budding young chefs who will be learning their trade at CVCC? The industry is bigger than most would think. Among those seeking skilled chefs are restaurants, hotels, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and others that need to prepare and serve food on a daily basis.
An advisory committee of local restaurateurs and food service workers will offer advice on the new school and the curriculum it will provide.
Lynchburg needs more chefs who are trained to cook from scratch with fresh ingredients, said Andre Ellis, executive chef at Boonsboro Country Club. “We’ve got a lot of restaurants here, but we don’t really have a lot of cooks that are trained properly,” he added.
The growing need for trained chefs and food service managers is a healthy sign for the local economy. The new culinary arts school at CVCC will not only meet that need, it should also lead to improved cuisine at a number of restaurants in the region.
That makes the project one of those win-win situations for the restaurants and their patrons.
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