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Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Workforce development

The Data Center says that great big robust tourism industry, on which our entire existence depends and to which we must offer daily devotionals of eternal gratitude, may not be quite so as hugely robust as it would like us to think.
While hospitality leaders have long touted the industry’s ranks as amounting to more than 80,000 jobs, the Data Center’s report Tuesday pegs the number of New Orleans residents who make their living from tourism at closer to 30,000.

Part of the issue with such projections, the Data Center notes, is that defining what qualifies within a set industry cluster is “a rather subjective activity, leaving definitions vulnerable to pressures to make industry clusters look as large and inclusive as possible.”

The Data Center’s research relies on parameters put together in 2014 by Harvard University researchers.
Also the report pegs the average annual salary for a full time restaurant employee at $29,464. (Yes, including tips.)  

All of which is why it is so nice that we have dumped a ton of public money into subsidizing pet projects of industry magnates like this.
The school has emerged in a cluster of properties — originally built a century ago for a furniture store — that was previously destined to be an arts center called Louisiana ArtWorks. Though it soaked up millions in funding, Louisiana ArtWorks proved to be a massive boondoggle that never fully opened.

A few years after that project ground to a halt, the property was acquired by NOCHI from the city through a bid process in 2013. The organization later sold it to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center with an agreement in place to have NOCHI operate it as a culinary school. Martin said the Convention Center’s investment was a key piece of moving NOCHI forward.

As a training institute aimed at a clear industry need, NOCHI appears to have broad support. One backer, for instance, is the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers, a trade group that is contributing an estimated $5 million in cooking equipment to the school.
 NOCHI opens January 7. Tuition is $14,000. 

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