

Ever since the program has moved to the Workforce Career Center, the Culinary Arts program has grown. “Right now, we have 80 students in culinary, both part time and full time,” Sweet said. “We have a really wide cross-section of folks. You might see someone right out of high school, or maybe someone who worked in a factory for 20 years and was laid off and said, ‘You know what, I’ve always wanted to do this for a living, and now’s the time.’ We see a good variety of ages, races, male to female. It’s a good mix of folks here.” “Once students are done here, there are a variety of paths that you can take with your career. It’s not just going to go work at a restaurant, standing in the kitchen or waiting tables. The industry continues to grow, the food service industry is one of the largest employers, and it’s one of the largest growing employers. There is the standard restaurant scene, but the scope goes well beyond that. You can be a prep cook, a line cook, a sous chef, executive chef. You could be a server, a bartender. “I try to stay in constant communication with people in this area, and even further, in terms of what positions do you have open for people in this industry. Whether it be independent restaurant owners, hotel managers, assisted living places, we stay in contact with them for jobs. The jobs might be for folks who are in school now and want to work in the industry, people who need to complete their internship, or people who graduated and are looking to move on. It can be tough to stay in touch once they graduate to find out where their path goes. I maintain a job board in the hallway. We have a Facebook page available to the public for little fun things we have going on here,” said Sweet. Their Facebook page is called Lincoln Land Community College Culinary Institute.