The RI Hospitality Education Foundation programs have grown enormously within the past year. Through grant funding support from the Governor’s Workforce Board, we launched a skills gap study in 2008 that identified areas in which our workforce needed additional training in order to be successful.  This study allowed us to identify opportunities for our workforce in an effort to help them succeed and continue career growth within the hospitality industry.

Through partnerships with community-based organizations like: the Newport Skills Alliance, Dorca’s Place, Exeter Job Corps Academy, the RI Community Food Bank, and netWORKri, the RI Hospitality Education Foundation is assisting adults in the community with the training they need to find good-paying jobs. By forming these partnerships and providing training programs, RIHEF further demonstrates its commitment to the tenets of the Culture of Community.

Additionally, the Education Foundation was able to launch new training programs in 2009; First Impression: Exceptional Customer Service™ and Hospitality: The Third Language. These programs focus on helping employees to develop communication, conflict resolution, leadership, problem solving, and teamwork skills in order to provide service at a level above and beyond what is expected by the customer. The programs have been a great success and we hope to further expand our offerings in 2010 and beyond. 

The RI Hospitality Education Foundation also provides training for thousands of industry personnel each year in nationally recognized certification courses such as ServSafe® Food Safety and ServSafe® Alcohol. These courses are not only a State requirement in many instances; they also provide the information backbone for incumbent workers to better do their jobs.