Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Culinary training program gets financial boost from federal government

Food and beverage instructor Natalie Rodriguez teaches Monday at the Culinary Training Academy's North Las Vegas campus. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

A native of Poland who emigrated to Las Vegas nine years ago knows first-hand the benefits of the Culinary Training Academy/Nevada Partners program.

Piotr Szczurko has taken two courses at the North Las Vegas academy, a six-month course to become a certified wine server, and a nine-month course to become a certified sommelier.

Today, he works as a sommelier at Pearl at the MGM Grand, making $27,000 a year plus tips.

The chances of success stories like Szczurko's being repeated improved Monday when the Culinary Training Academy/Nevada Partners accepted $2 million from the federal government that will allow the job skills center to double the number of trained workers it graduates, officials said.

The academy is a joint partnership between 24 Las Vegas hotel-casinos and the Culinary union that trains about 2,500 people annually. Nevada Partners is a nonprofit organization that assists underemployed and unemployed people develop job skills.

An $8 million expansion campaign is almost complete and Nevada Partners Chief Executive Officer Steven Horsford said the project will add 15,000 square feet to the existing 20,000-square-foot campus at 710 W. Lake Mead Blvd.

The center is partially funded by hotels, who contribute 3.5 cents per hour for every Culinary worker they employ.

Besides Szczurko, a score of academy graduates and students attended Monday's ceremony.

The academy's director of housekeeping training, Bernice Thomas, said the two-week housekeeper training courses help prospective maids with more than just job skills.

"A lot of these girls have never worked before and they have low self-esteem," Thomas said. "After two weeks, they're bubbly, they're smiling. They know they're ready for work."

Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates, a Bush administration official, and officials representing Nevada's federal lawmakers praised the center.

They credited President Bush for sending the $2 million to Southern Nevada but couldn't resist a few jabs at an administration that has witnessed the loss of almost 2.5 million jobs.

Gates said Bush's performance has been disastrous for workers.

"President Bush's record on the economy has been very poor, and in terms of jobs, I'd give him an 'F,' " said Gates, a member of the Democratic National Committee and chairwoman of the committee's Black Caucus. "When you look at where the economy was when he took office we were at an all-time high, and now we're near an all-time low."

A staff member for Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., read a statement from the congresswoman saying the help is much needed, coming at a time of high unemployment.

U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Chief of Staff Mike Gallagher, who presented the check to Horsford, said jobs are a priority for the president and cited the academy as an example of the kind of public-private partnership the administration supports.

"President Bush will not rest until every American who wants a job can find a job," Gallagher said.