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Monday, July 17, 2006
Businessman to share wisdom - Training program will give students hands on look at the hospitality industry. Read more....
The Herald Sun, Durham, NC – By Paul Bonner
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Café, Culinary Institute partner to train underserved. Read more....
The Triangle Tribune – By Sommer Brokaw
Monday, April 23, 2007
Career Cooks - Institute expands to serve people, hospitality industry. Read more....
The Herald Sun – By Leah Konen
Monday, July 17, 2006
Businessman to share wisdom - Training program will give students hands on look at the hospitality industry
The Herald Sun, Durham, NC – By Paul Bonner
In the art of hospitality, James “Bochie” Davis has reached a master level.
Now he’s ready to impart what he’s learned to those just getting started.
Today, the Milestones Hospitality Training Program begins at Milestones, Davis’ banquet and meeting venue business in the lower level of Northgate Mall.
“There’s a lot of turnover in the industry,” Davis said. “We’re training them so they’ll be armed with certification to be able to go in with the skills they need to have when they first enter the hospitality industry.”
Besides teaching skills, Davis hopes to inspire his students. The low-income and at-risk people who enter the training program may face hurdles. But then, so did he. Although blind, he does much of the work at Milestones himself, including setting up tables and chairs.
“I hope and I feel like I may be an inspiration to them,” he said. “Just because you may not have all five senses, the world doesn’t stop.”
And a toehold in the hospitality industry could enable his students to climb to independence, he said.
“I think most people have dreams of owning their own businesses” Davis said. “I think a lot of people are afraid to step out and do that, maybe because of economic conditions. You just have to believe in what you’re doing and have faith it’s going to happen.”
The six-week program of 120 hours of instruction will take place Mondays through Thursdays. Trainees will receive a hands-on introduction to such activities as processing reservations on computers, table setting and menus – with an emphasis on upscale dining.
“It’s going to be a career, not a job,” he said.
People, ages 16 and older and able to work, can be referred to the program by the state Division of Vocational Rehabilitation or other agencies, or by contacting Milestones at (919) 286-3938 or www.milestones-inc.com. Tuition and fees are $950, but people can qualify for a waiver.
A number of agencies and organizations including Durham’s Economic and Employment Development office have endorsed the idea.
“Once they complete it, we’re looking to get some on-the-job training for them. We’re going to be partnering with different businesses,” he said.
Students can then receive state certification. But Davis hopes they’ll go on to pursue a degree from N.C. Central University’s hospitality business program, which has also endorsed the program.
He’s expecting the first nine trainees today; an ideal enrollment would be about 30, Davis said. He hopes eventually to add an evening schedule for people with day jobs.
Davis got the idea while wondering how he could increase his business on weekdays.
“It just came to me. ‘Why don’t you use what you have?’ I researched it and talked to a lot of people to find out the needs for training and found out there’s a great need for it,” he said. “Everybody I talked to was very excited about it”.
Other topics covered are event planning, banquet operations, how to set up a banquet, safety and first aid, sanitation and menus, including instruction in wine varieties. Instruction will be available in Spanish as well as English.
Davis began Milestones five years ago, after encountering a high cost of booking a hall for his daughter’s wedding reception. He sought to provide people a more reasonably priced, flexible venue for a reception, meeting or retreat that would allow them to choose an on-site food service or their own caterer. He came up with Milestones Meeting and Banquet Facilities Inc.
“I’ve enjoyed working and talking with people,” he said. “Being in the hospitality industry, you work with a lot of different kinds of people. You’re serving people and you’re constantly making people feel good by serving them.”
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Sunday, April 8, 2007
Café, Culinary Institute partner to train underserved
The Triangle Tribune – By Sommer Brokaw
DURHAM – Steven Matherly and James Davis want to put more citizens to work in Durham.
Matherly, owner of the soon-to-open Five Points Café, and Davis, founder of Milestones Culinary Institute, are partnering to bring a new culinary program to the area.
Matherly, who formerly owned Rhythm Alley on Lakewood Drive, will open Five Points Café at 347 W. Main St. later this month.
“Things are really coming alive,” he said. “I think I’m very fortunate to find this place right when the boom is happening.”
However, Matherly said the most exciting part about being involved is his partnership with the culinary institute.
We’re doing something for the community as far as helping folks get a job that pays more than minimum wage,” he said. “There are a lot of folks in Durham that aren’t doing so well, and hopefully we’re making a dent in that.”
Milestones Culinary Institute is the brainchild of Davis, who owned Milestones Meeting and Banquet facility for six years at Northgate Mall. A year ago, Davis decided to expand his business to include a hospitality training program, and Matherly was recruited as an instructor. Then last summer, Davis, the staff and the board decided to expand the program to include the culinary arts.
“I found that there are people in the community who need culinary training.” Davis said. “We didn’t have any program like this in Durham.”
Davis is renting space at the Urban Ministries of Durham, a homeless shelter on 410 Liberty St., to run two six-week culinary programs. He also plans to have casual weekend culinary classes at the Five Points Café.
“This location is a good fit for what we are trying to accomplish because our mission here is to get dislocated workers and the at-risk population careers in culinary.” Davis said. But, he also said they are not disqualifying others who might be interested.
Lloyd Schmeidler, executive director of Urban Ministries, said he has been wanting to get a culinary arts program in the facility for some time.
“Time will tell what kind of student participation we get, but we’re hoping that it’s going to be win-win for Milestones and Urban Ministries, and for the people who are trying to get back on their feet, “ he said.
Classes began last week with a small group of students and two instructors: Chef Vincent Thomas and Qianna English-Fletcher. Thomas is owner of Creative Catering of Raleigh and has over 30 years experience in formal, informal and casual dining.
English-Fletcher took culinary arts for two years at Hillside High before the program was transferred to Northern. She has worked at the Marriott, Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club, and Blue Mountain Café.
“The main focus of the curriculum is for people to be able to walk into a commercial kitchen and if somebody asks them to develop two or three recipes, they could do it without having to ask any questions,” English-Fletcher said.
Students who graduate will earn a certificate in Culinary Arts and a certificate from the National Restaurants Association. They will also receive three months of case management support, and those who don’t get a job are eligible for up to 12 months of employment support.
Milestones is a certified job provider with the following agencies: Workforce Investment Act, Vocational Rehabilitation, Job Corps and Operation Breakthrough – Adult Services. Those eligible for food stamps also qualify for funding.
Student Paul Davis is a resident of Urban Ministries.
“I want a good paying job, and this will help me to be certified in a trade,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to get away from the shelter and become more successful in society.”
Peg Grossman, a representative of the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau, sits on Milestones’ board.
“I think it’s going to help the community quite a bit,” Grossman said. “It’s going to help a lot of kids who don’t know the direction they want to go to, and this is another option for them.”
Tuition is $950 for the six-week program, but Davis said it’s worth it.
“That might seem like a lot but it actually equates to $7.92 per hour,” Davis said. “We are working to get to the point of having corporations, agencies, churches, community groups and civic organizations to help sponsor our students.”
For more information or to sign up for classes, call, 688-7700 or visit www.milestonesculinary.org.
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Monday, April 23, 2007
Career Cooks - Institute expands to serve people, hospitality industry
The Herald Sun – By Leah Konen
Between breakfast, lunch and dinner for two growing boys, stay-at-home mom Mary Okafo does plenty of cooking.
But through the Milestones Culinary Institute in Durham, Okafa learns about cooking like she never has before.
“I’ve been cooking all my life,” Okafo, 46, said. “But I’m, learning a lot more about presentation and things like that. We learn in French words; we’re using the terminology of different things.” she said.
And among her newfound tools and terns – a melon baller, paring knives and “roux,” a flour-based thickening agent used in many French sauces.
After her six-week, 120 hour training course, Okafo wants to start her own catering business, because although she’s worked part-time as a banquet server, she said that she’s never had a place behind the scenes in the kitchen.
The institute was started last July as a vocational training program for the hospitality industry and expanded to a culinary training program this month. Morning courses are held from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday at Urban Ministries of Durham. Night and weekend classes are held at 347 W. Main St.
At $950 per person, the program is nonprofit and targeted toward people who have recently lost their jobs or are looking to find a more long-term career and, for whatever reason, can’t afford traditional culinary training. James Davis, executive director and founder of the program, said that the institute is trying to set up a scholarship program to offset costs and open it up to more students.
“It helps a person who doesn’t have a lot of income.” Okafo said. “I’m a stay-at-home mom, so it’s kind of hard to do some of this on my own.”
Adelaide Banks, employment specialist at the institute, speaks at training events and programs such as G.E.D. courses to get people interested.
“The first thing I ask when we present before a group is who enjoys cooking,” she said. “We identify people who would be suited for careers in culinary because they enjoy working with food, designing food, presenting food and working in that atmosphere where people are enjoying a meal.”
Banks said that she wants to give her students something long-term. “I focus on creating careers, not jobs,” she said. “We don’t look to fast food restaurants or positions that are more job-oriented. We look to opportunities for advancement in the culinary field.”
The institute works with students for up to a year after their graduation to help find them jobs.
“Some of our students have more challenges than others in terms of employment, for instance, if a person has had a criminal background,” Banks said. “A first employment opportunity may not be best suited for that particular graduate, so we work with them to find a position that is better suited for them.”
And Okafo said that she is excited about the class and her prospects afterward.
“It’s making me want to go on and take more classes,” she said. “I’m in love with it so far”.
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