In late April, our Educational Foundation hosted a national competition for high school students who are studying culinary, food service management, and hospitality restaurant management. These are literally 16, 17, and 18 year olds competing, one team from each state, in our version of the Olympics of culinary skills and restaurant management. It is inspiring to see these young people, and their deep sense of maturity, responsibility, and their devotion to contributing to the world. These high school students truly awaken excitement about the future.
George:
Indeed, and I believe that many people, especially in Washington, discuss the importance of soft skills. The industry is really focused on this, helping folks grow, and bringing about the talent pool that really encompasses this notion of soft skills, which is so critically important to success in any field.
George:
And so, how does the industry consider the future to develop solutions to today's challenges?
Dawn:
The first job that many young people have is in a restaurant. We want to seize that opportunity to train America's workforce, not just for our industry, but for any industry in which they may go. To do this, we are focused on building an apprenticeship program. We have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Labor Secretary Alex Acosta and to be part of a very small group of national leaders who have been asked to develop the next generation apprenticeship program for, in our case, the restaurant and hospitality industry.
Dawn:
We have identified the core skills that are necessary to advance in this industry, a clear path from coming in the door as a front of the house employee, or a back of the house employee, and working your way to assistant manager, or manager of a restaurant. We are enrolling apprentices currently, and we have several hundred now. I expect we will have tens of thousands over the next few years who will help build mentorship programs for people coming into the industry. This program will reduce turnover for our own industry, increase productivity, and create a real sense of accomplishment and career satisfaction for the individuals who are involved.
Dawn:
Apprenticeship programs create a more skilled and a more competitive workforce because we know that restaurant jobs are great stepping stones to a great future for so many. Under the current leadership of Secretary Acosta, we really are excited about bringing a whole new sense of achievement and pride to the restaurant industry workforce.
George:
That's right Dawn. It's just incredible to see the innovation, and the impact of all the work that's being done in the industry, and especially with your leadership at the National Restaurant Association. You talked about 800 billion dollars, approximately, in revenues from the industry. You talked about 15 million employees. Dawn, where do you see some of the greatest areas of impact of the restaurant industry? I'll preface that by saying, we probably need a third show to just talk about this one question. But, could you touch upon a few areas that you see as the greatest areas of impact of the industry?
Dawn:
I would say for decades one of the things that we have been the most proud of in terms of the restaurant industry's contribution is in food safety. We have a very significant program that we have actually grown in multiples over the last four or five years called, ServeSafe.
Dawn:
This program emphasizes food safety in every position in the restaurant. Particularly, those who are most directly in contact with food preparation, as well as serving, and restaurant management. We have a similar program for alcohol safety and the best practices surrounding serving alcohol safely. And so, food safety, and alcohol safety are really high priorities for us. We are very proud of our ability to do everything we can to make the food that people consume away from home as safe as possible.
Ideagen Intersection
7
Interview with Dawn Sweeney, cont.