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Professionals from all business sectors those who were laid off and thoswe feeling uneasy about their jobfuturezs — have driven the increase in COO Terry Freeman said. And Cook Street isn’y alone. Three- to five-month cooking designed to help people move into new are on the rise in Denvert as businesspeople — especially those in theidr late 30s — rethink their Many professionals, tiring of the corporate are following long-buried culinary dreams and lookinb to become chefs or caterers, or just to work in a fielx that makes them happier.
“We’re definitely seeing more We’ve seen more people from different industries that find it harderd toobtain jobs,” Freeman said of her rising pool of applicantx for the downtown Denver school’sx professional chef program , which runs for 18 weeks and costs “They see all these layoffs as a sign for them to move into somethinfg different, something they’ve always wanted to Culinary school officials say it’s a familiafr trend, as they saw similar interest durint the last recession eight years ago.
But what’ s intriguing is the numbe r ofpeople who, even before the market collapsed, alreadu had begun thinking about leaving behind careers and trying something new, they said. Those includre David Bravdica, 38, of Denver, who workedf for 12 years in airporgt andaviation management. After more than 10 year “in an office, in a behind a desk,” Bravdica decidedc he wanted to work on something whers he could really see so he attended Cook Street and then becamra co-owner of Flavor Catering. Suddenly, more friendw and acquaintances are asking Bravdica what it takezs to leave thebusiness world, he said. He also co-owns a pasture-raisedc poultry business in northern Colorado.
“With the I’ve seen an increase in peoplwe readjusting or looking at their livessand saying, ‘am I doinvg what I want to be he said. “I thinkj people either turn a corner themselves or are forced to turn that Cooking is an attractive field because people haveto eat, even durin an economic downturn, and enjoy doing so, said Karen Barela, COO of Boulder’s , where a six-month professional program costs And with more people becominh interested in both eating healthiet and eating food that’s grown locally, there are growing opportunitiees for local food entrepreneurs, leading to a “slight” increases in applications, she said.
Erin McLaughlijn of Denver left behind a careef in real estate data management to attend Cook Streegtlast year, and found that 10 of the 11 people in her clasx were changing careers. She now teaches recreational cooking classea at Home on the Rangew in Denver and islaunching Twinkle, an organic baby food next month. “I think [the recession] has made peopl reassess values,” said McLaughlin, 39. Added Jorger de la Torre, dean of culinary education atin “I think people are saying, ‘I’m goin to take this [layoff] as a I’m going to do what I alwaysd wanted to do.” The increase in applicants means more competition for clasx openings.
Cook Street, for example, may grow its professional chef program. But even with rising application totals, it wantxs to focus on the quality rather than quantithy ofits graduates, Freeman And ever since private lender Sallise Mae announced in January that it no longere would provide aid for vocational-school Culinary School of the Rockies has had a lot of applicantsz who can’t afford to enter its programs, Barelwa said. Her school just obtained its eligibilitty forfederal funding, but stilk gets more interest than it can she said.
Monday, November 22, 2010
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