The Vienna town government and several partners are seeking to build a pool of certified food-and-beverage workers and place them in jobs in the local restaurant industry.
Vienna Town Council members on July 5 unanimously authorized Town Manager Mercury Payton to sign an agreement initiating the Culinary Careers Collaborative program in partnership with the city of Fairfax, George Mason University, and Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association (VRLTA).
The pilot workforce-training program will prepare 48 local people for various stages of employment in the food-and-beverage industry, which still is recovering from pandemic-related shocks, officials said.
Restaurants had difficulty finding workers during that crisis, “but now that we are out of the pandemic, those big problems are still persisting,” said Vienna Economic Development Director Natalie Guilmeus. “You still have trouble with finding talent. That’s what we’ve heard from our businesses.”
Culinary Careers Collaborative, featuring in-person training and an accredited-certificate program, starting this summer will offer three course tracks for six hours per day over a four-day period. These offerings, which will accommodate up to 16 students each, include:
• Track 1, “Foundational Skills for Beginners,” will teach nutrition, food preparation, knife skills, safety and sanitation, and other basic abilities to people with little to no experience in the food-and-beverage industry. Participants also will learn another vital skill guaranteed to be a major focus in their nascent careers: how to deal with customers.
• Track 2, “Beverage Arts,” will cover bar management and creation of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for budding bartenders and baristas. People taking this course will learn about beers and ciders, wine appreciation and service, cocktail creation, and the licensing and regulatory aspects of this side of the restaurant business.
• Track 3, “Advanced Management for Culinary Professionals,” will provide tools, insights and guidance for established service-industry workers in Vienna and Fairfax.
Participants in the advanced program will learn about market analysis, inventory, cost control, personnel management and building an effective and inclusive work culture.
The initiative will be financed with American Rescue Plan Act funds. Organizers hope to offer two iterations of the pilot program, the first of which will cost an estimated $61,500 (the maximum contribution from the town of Vienna).
George Mason University will host the program at the College of Public Health Nutrition Kitchen on its Fairfax campus. Mason, along with VRTLA, will facilitate instructors and oversee execution of the various learning tracks.
In addition to sharing the overall working group’s responsibilities for running and evaluating the program, the town of Vienna’s and city of Fairfax’s economic-development departments will execute multiple other tasks.
These will include identifying the target audience, marketing and advertising the program, creating a Website with a digital registration form, recruiting participants and attending events, conferences and other meetings to hawk the program and engage with possible participants and partners.
“We would basically train [participants] and pair them with one of our restaurants,” Guilmeus said of the program.
