NMC’s Culinary Institute Feeling Effects Of Restaurant Labor Shortage
Dec. 12, 2016; traverseticker.com
For those interested in a career in the culinary arts, the time is now. From signs posted on restaurants across the region to the phone calls being taken at NMC’s Great Lakes Culinary Institute, the demand for restaurant staff is clear. But that need is actually negatively impacting enrollment in culinary classes at Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) — though that’s only part of the story.
… (Fred) Laughlin says during the peak years of 2008 to 2010, NMC had 285 students in the culinary programs; he considers 175 to 200 to be the program’s “sweet spot.” Today, enrollment is around 150. “That’s true across the state. I talked to an individual in Grand Rapids (at the Secchia Institute for Culinary Education). They went from 800 students to 400,” Laughlin says.
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