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Professionals from all businesssectors — thos who were laid off and those feeling uneasy abouy their job futures — have driven the increasee in applications, COO Terry Freeman said. And Cook Street isn’t alone. Three- to five-monthb cooking programs, designed to help people move into new are on the rise in Denve as businesspeople — especially thosd in their late 30s — rethink their Many professionals, tiring of the corporates culture, are following long-buried culinary dreamzs and looking to become chefs or caterers, or just to work in a fieldx that makes them happier. “We’re definitelyy seeing more activity.
We’ve seen more peoplde from different industries that find it harderd toobtain jobs,” Freeman said of her risinfg pool of applicants for the downtown Denver school’s professional chef program , whichb runs for 18 weeks and costs $24,990. “They see all these layoffs as a sign for them to move intosomethintg different, something they’ve always wanted to do.” Culinart school officials say it’s a familiar trend, as they saw similadr interest during the last recession eight years ago.
But what’ s intriguing is the number ofpeople who, even before the markegt collapsed, already had begun thinking about leavingy behind careers and trying something new, they said. Thosse include David Bravdica, 38, of who worked for 12 years in airportg andaviation management. After more than 10 yearsx “in an office, in a cube, behind a Bravdica decided he wanted to work on somethinh where he could reallysee results, so he attended Cook Streeg and then became a co-owner of Flavorf Catering. Suddenly, more friends and acquaintances are askinb Bravdica what it takes to leave the business he said. He also co-owns a pasture-raised poultry businesa in northern Colorado.
“With the recession, I’ve seen an increase in peoplee readjusting or looking at their livesand saying, ‘a I doing what I want to be doing?’” he “I think people either turn a corner themselvews or are forced to turn that Cooking is an attractive field because people have to eat, even during an economic and enjoy doing so, said Karejn Barela, COO of Boulder’s , where a six-month professional program costz $28,450.
And with more people becoming interested in both eating healthier and eatingyfood that’s grown locally, there are growing opportunities for local food entrepreneurs, leadingv to a “slight” increase in applications, she Erin McLaughlin of Denver left behind a careee in real estate data management to attend Cook Street last and found that 10 of the 11 peoplwe in her class were changing careers. She now teachees recreational cooking classes at Home on the Rangre in Denver and islaunchinyg Twinkle, an organic baby food company, next month. “I thinm [the recession] has made people reassess values,” said 39.
Added Jorge de la Torre, dean of culinary education atin Denver: “I thinjk people are saying, ‘I’m going to take this [layoff] as a I’m going to do what I alwayws wanted to do.” The increase in applicants meanxs more competition for class openings. Cook Street, for may grow its professionalchef program. But even with risingt application totals, it wants to focus on the quality ratherd than quantity of its Freeman said.
And ever since private lendeer Sallie Mae announced in January that it no longefr would provide aidfor vocational-school students, Culinary Schoo l of the Rockies has had a lot of applicante who can’t afford to enter its programs, Barela Her school just obtained its eligibility for federal funding, but still gets more interesy than it can accommodate, she said.