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Gifts Benefit Parkland College Hospitality Program

Posted on: Tuesday, 6 June 2006, 12:01 CDT

By Anne Cook, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Jun. 5--CHAMPAIGN -- A Champaign businessman just gave the Parkland College hospitality program two practical gifts a $110,000 scholarship endowment and a brand new $9,000 dishwasher.

"If you're working with food, you need a good dishwasher," said Bill Myers of Franchise Management Systems Myers, who owns Arby's restaurants in the areas, has supported the hospitality program for years, said Marshall Huffman, director of the 11-year-old program for 10 years.

"The program has prospered because of his generosity," Huffman said. "He's paid for things like tables and equipment, products to make the program grow. And he's been giving us scholarships on an as-needed basis for the last 10 years."

Myers' recent monetary gift will be invested so the proceeds can be used for scholarships for several hospitality students, Huffman said.

Meanwhile, the new dishwasher will be installed in Huffman's remodeled laboratory, to be used by the students who prepare test meals for faculty members and cater Parkland events during the school year. Huffman said his students are serving summer internships, working all over the country and even overseas.

"Bill and I have been talking about how to help the program continue to grow," said Huffman, who had about 15 students when he started at Parkland and now has about 70. "He's been in the business forever; he's realized a return on his investment and now he's investing in the future of the restaurant business."

Myers, who's very low-key about his contributions, said graduates of the program typically want bigger challenges than working in his fast-food restaurants, but he's quick to praise their ambition.

He said he graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in restaurant management but he also likes community colleges' practical approach to the business.

"Community colleges have so much to offer," Myers said. "I've recruited at them for years trying to find people for my staff. They're training people to step into frontline restaurants. The Parkland program is very practical and work-oriented and there are terrific jobs out there for graduates."

"The Parkland program has far exceeded what I hoped it would turn into," Myers said. "And the future's only better. The demand for graduates far exceeds the supply. It's a very viable program, that fits with community colleges' purpose."

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Copyright (c) 2006, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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TRY,

Source: The News-Gazette

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