Cooks in some Delaware restaurants can now participate in an apprenticeship program through the state.
Delaware’s Department of Labor is partnering with the Delaware Restaurant Association to pilot the program.
Paid employees at some Delaware restaurants can now register as apprentices and receive 2-years of on-the-job training as well as related classroom instruction at Sussex Tech.
“Everything we do at the Department of Labor is to help connect the job seeker and the employer and ensure that employers have a skilled workforce and apprenticeship is one tool to help meet that need," said Rachel Turney, Employment and Training Administrator for the DOL.
Turney says labor market information and federal grant dollars led the state to expand its apprenticeship program into the hospitality industry.
“So we outreached the Delaware Restaurant Association and said, ‘Hey, let’s talk about utilizing registered apprentice in your industry as a means to accommodate your workforce needs, which they identified as cooks,” said Turney.
Delaware is using federal grants to pay the cost of tuition at Sussex Tech.
Turney says only three other states have restaurant apprenticeship programs.
Delaware’s will be piloted through the Sussex restaurant group SODel concepts for the next year before being made available to all Delaware Restaurants.