Culinary Training Academy, Nevada Partners uniting

Mathis Winkler

Thursday, Nov. 1, 2001 | 9:02 a.m.

By January, North Las Vegans will have another option when deciding to dine out -- the Culinary Training Academy.

Officials for the organization announced this week that the academy has merged with Nevada Partners on Lake Mead Boulevard. The academy, which trains people for jobs in the hotel industry and operates a restaurant that is open to the public, will move to North Las Vegas from its current location on Fremont Street.

Nevada Partners -- which prepares people entering the work force -- and the academy will remain on separate budgets. The academy will continue its current services, said Steven Horsford, the partnership's new chief executive officer.

The academy, which receives most of its $2 million annual budget from the gaming industry in partnership with the Culinary and Bartenders unions, has about 2,500 graduates annually. Nevada Partners currently serves about 1,000 people per year and funds its $800,000 annual budget mainly through state grants.

"You're taking two very successful programs to bring them together and make them even better," said Horsford, who recently helped organize a one-stop service center for laid-off workers at the Culinary Union.

He said the two organizations began talking about a partnership after the academy's attempts to obtain state money for an expansion proved unsuccessful during the past legislative session.

Mujahid Ramadan, who served as Nevada Partner's executive director prior to the partnership, said he expects the agency to flourish under the new arrangement.

"It's the best avenue to take it to the next level," said Ramadan, who will remain an emeritus board member of Nevada Partners and work as an independent consultant on diversity and ex-prison population issues. He said that he's been thinking about stepping down as executive director for several years and said he plans to spend more time with his family.

Initially, the academy's students will train in a temporary kitchen being installed at Nevada Partners, Horsford said. The cost of the kitchen is $300,000.

The organizations hope to turn the North Las Vegas site into a job training campus by 2003 and are seeking a $14 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to build a new training academy, as well as a child care center and a building that would house the state's social services agencies. Foundation officials are expected to decide on the grant by August, Horsford said.

Though many of those laid off in the wake of the attacks may not be able to return to their old jobs, Horsford said the workers must continue to prepare for the future.

"There are jobs that people need to be trained for, and that training happens here," he said.