Preparing the Next Generation of Hospitality Leaders - April 2026

By Farouk Rajab, President/CEO, RI Hospitality

In mid-February, Rhode Island students gathered at the Community College of Rhode Island’s (CCRI) Newport campus for the 14th Annual Rhode Island High School Culinary Arts, Foodservice and Hotel Management Competition. Hosting the competition at CCRI highlights the growing coordination between secondary education, higher education, and industry leadership that defines Rhode Island’s hospitality workforce strategy.

Nearly 800 students across the state are enrolled in ProStart®, a two-year culinary and restaurant management program developed by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. Nearly 400 more students participate in Hospitality and Tourism Management programs aligned with the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute. Together, these pathways form a coordinated system that introduces students to restaurants, hotels, tourism venues, and the broader hospitality economy long before graduation. 

CCRI plays an increasingly key role in that continuum. Through our partnership with the college, including expanded culinary and hospitality programming at the Newport campus, we are strengthening the bridge between high school instruction and post-secondary credentialing. Students who compete at the high school level can see the next step in their education directly in front of them. They can visualize a tangible pathway and connect classroom learning to long-term professional opportunity by earning a certificate, degree, or advanced training that builds on the skills they are already developing. The competition evaluated students in Culinary Arts, Foodservice Management, and Hospitality Management. More than 30 hospitality professionals served as judges, evaluating knife skills, timing, cost control, operational strategy, business planning, teamwork, and professionalism – standards of our industry.

Warwick Area Career and Technical Center earned first place in both Culinary Arts and Foodservice Management while Chariho Career and Technical Center secured first place in Hospitality Management. Both Warwick Area Career and Technical Center teams will now travel to Baltimore this April to compete at the National ProStart® Invitational.

The national competition brings scholarship opportunities, recognition, and raised expectations. Students are evaluated alongside top teams from across the country. They defend their concepts, execute under pressure, and measure themselves against national benchmarks. That experience will reinforce a professional reality: hospitality is competitive and excellence requires discipline.

Workforce development does not begin when an application is submitted. It begins when students are introduced to the pace, precision, and accountability of real hospitality environments. In these programs, students design full restaurant concepts, calculate food costs, develop operational budgets, and present business plans to working professionals. They receive feedback from operators who understand what it takes to sustain a successful business in a dynamic marketplace.

With this structured education model, students graduate with practical skills, employers gain access to prepared entry-level talent, and the industry benefits from individuals who already understand expectations before stepping into their first full-time roles.

For RI Hospitality and the RI Hospitality Education Foundation, the annual competition goes beyond event day and acts as a visible checkpoint within a broader workforce strategy that demonstrates progress, creates accountability, and highlights the tangible results of collaboration between educators, higher education institutions, and industry leaders.

As our state champions prepare for Baltimore, members of our Board and industry partners will travel with them to attend in support of Rhode Island’s students. That presence carries meaning – it signals that the pipeline is valued and that the next generation is a priority.

The students stepping onto the national stage this April are competing at the highest level.

They are doing so because Rhode Island built the pathway that led them there.