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Four months in, the Stonehouse Hospitality Academy in Nevada City is growing as the jobs training program and catering service begins to flourish under the radar.
Thanks to funds from the Butte Private Industry Council and the Workforce Investment Act, six young adults are being trained to learn the fundamentals of the hospitality industry in a nine-month to one-year program — an increase of two student-employees in the last month.
And more hires are coming.
“I believe our target is between 12 and 18 (student-employees), depending on how we structure it,” said Henry Harmon, executive chef instructor and manager of the Stonehouse Hospitality Academy.
It's a significant drop from a projected 30 to 40 students who would be served, initially reported in March.
“We haven't worked out all of the fine details of the program yet, but we're off to a really good start in terms of being involved with the community,” Harmon said. “People are really interested in using us.”
The hospitality service is already making inroads in the private functions circuit, serving four weddings in the last couple of months and countless business meetings. The students also bake goods for the cafeteria in the Rood Center and for Afternoon Deli in Grass Valley. The services help offset program costs, according to Harmon.
Today, the academy will host a wedding at the Stonehouse and sell cookies at the 5th Annual Loma Rica Ranch Harvest Festival and Pumpkin Patch.
“At this point we have been operating for about four months without much publicity
and exposure,” Harmon said. “Reason being is we just wanted to start slowly to get our students acclimated to the kitchen and how we operate. We basically wanted to teach them the basic fundamentals of the hospitality industry.”
The Stonehouse Hospitality Academy and Butte Private Industry Council would not disclose how much the program is costing, or how much government funding it has received.
Students typically work five hours per day, unless it's a special event, and are paid hourly.
As Nevada County's unemployment hovers around 11 percent, and the
unemployment for Nevada City is at an all-time high of 17 percent, the academy provides hands-on job training for service sector positions for adults aged 18-21. The student-employees apply through the One Stop Business and Career Center in Grass Valley, which is operated by the Butte Private Industry Council.
The student-employees are mostly Nevada County natives, including new-hire Victoria Browning. She's enjoying the experience.
“I already knew how to cook,” Browning said. “Basically, it's just learning the professional procedures of how to do the cooking. And things like serving, setting tables, arranging the setups and folding napkins.”
The hospitality academy intends to reach its capacity next year, but there's promise for others to get involved now and later, Harmon said.
“It's a slow process,” Harmon said. “We're looking between nine months and a year for an individual to complete the program. That's at least our target at this point.”
And the promise is also there for the students.
“Before I started here, I wanted to be a master mechanic and work on cars,” said Erik Thomas, one of the original four student-employees. “And then I got into this. After this program, I can be a master chef. I'd rather be that because I enjoy
cooking.”
To contact Staff Writer and Online Community Manager Zuri Berry, e-mail zberry@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4244.
Thanks to funds from the Butte Private Industry Council and the Workforce Investment Act, six young adults are being trained to learn the fundamentals of the hospitality industry in a nine-month to one-year program — an increase of two student-employees in the last month.
And more hires are coming.
“I believe our target is between 12 and 18 (student-employees), depending on how we structure it,” said Henry Harmon, executive chef instructor and manager of the Stonehouse Hospitality Academy.
It's a significant drop from a projected 30 to 40 students who would be served, initially reported in March.
“We haven't worked out all of the fine details of the program yet, but we're off to a really good start in terms of being involved with the community,” Harmon said. “People are really interested in using us.”
The hospitality service is already making inroads in the private functions circuit, serving four weddings in the last couple of months and countless business meetings. The students also bake goods for the cafeteria in the Rood Center and for Afternoon Deli in Grass Valley. The services help offset program costs, according to Harmon.
Today, the academy will host a wedding at the Stonehouse and sell cookies at the 5th Annual Loma Rica Ranch Harvest Festival and Pumpkin Patch.
“At this point we have been operating for about four months without much publicity
and exposure,” Harmon said. “Reason being is we just wanted to start slowly to get our students acclimated to the kitchen and how we operate. We basically wanted to teach them the basic fundamentals of the hospitality industry.”
The Stonehouse Hospitality Academy and Butte Private Industry Council would not disclose how much the program is costing, or how much government funding it has received.
Students typically work five hours per day, unless it's a special event, and are paid hourly.
As Nevada County's unemployment hovers around 11 percent, and the
unemployment for Nevada City is at an all-time high of 17 percent, the academy provides hands-on job training for service sector positions for adults aged 18-21. The student-employees apply through the One Stop Business and Career Center in Grass Valley, which is operated by the Butte Private Industry Council.
The student-employees are mostly Nevada County natives, including new-hire Victoria Browning. She's enjoying the experience.
“I already knew how to cook,” Browning said. “Basically, it's just learning the professional procedures of how to do the cooking. And things like serving, setting tables, arranging the setups and folding napkins.”
The hospitality academy intends to reach its capacity next year, but there's promise for others to get involved now and later, Harmon said.
“It's a slow process,” Harmon said. “We're looking between nine months and a year for an individual to complete the program. That's at least our target at this point.”
And the promise is also there for the students.
“Before I started here, I wanted to be a master mechanic and work on cars,” said Erik Thomas, one of the original four student-employees. “And then I got into this. After this program, I can be a master chef. I'd rather be that because I enjoy
cooking.”
To contact Staff Writer and Online Community Manager Zuri Berry, e-mail zberry@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4244.
