“Detroit program a job springboard to new jobs, workers (Detroit News)” plus 1 more

Detroit program a job springboard to new jobs, workers (Detroit News)

Posted: 14 Mar 2010 10:30 PM PDT

Hospitality/Retail Career Center helps train, place laid-off and low-income workers

Mark Hicks / The Detroit News

Detroit -- Shardè White spent years dreaming of managing a business but feared she had few prospects.

The 23-year-old single mother, who waitressed in the city for several years, was unemployed for more than a year and unable to find another job as she juggled her communications studies at the University of Detroit Mercy.

Then, last spring, she learned of the Detroit Workforce Development Department's Hospitality/Retail Career Center, which is operated in partnership with Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit. It offers free career training and instruction to eligible displaced local workers and low-income residents.

Graduating last summer from the intensive seven-week program, White attended an internship orientation and immediately landed a reservationist position at the Omni Detroit Hotel at River Place.

"That's the best thing that has happened to me," White said of the program. "It gave me an opportunity ... It's a very good program."

Since 2006, the Hospitality/Retail Career Center has helped train and place about 160 workers in jobs at local hotels, casinos, restaurants and other businesses across Metro Detroit, said Kenneth Nichols, the center's project coordinator.

The program begins with an orientation session at the Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit.

To be eligible, an enrollee must be a low-income adult or displaced worker; have a high school diploma or GED; be able to read and do math on a fifth-grade level; meet a low--income requirement; and have no misdemeanors or felonies, Nichols said.

Participants begin training developed by the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute, which calls for about 180 hours of specialized classroom instruction and on-site experience. Training also provides help preparing for job interviews, Nichols said. There is no cost to participants since program funding is covered by the Detroit Workforce Development Department, he said.

Trainees can later opt to pursue associate degrees in business administration, hospitality management and culinary arts through collaboration with Henry Ford Community College.

"We're trying to update the skills of the current work force to get them into the mainstream," Nichols said.

Upon completing training, participants have the chance to interview for internships at the center's partners, which include the Omni and DoubleTree Guest Suites Fort Shelby hotels and CVS Pharmacy.

If a student works in a specialty area or related business for 90 days, they receive a certificate from the American Hotel and Lodging Association.

At the Omni, where White works, internships up to four weeks in hotel duties or culinary assistance provide crucial "real-life experience," said general manager Shelby Davis. "It prepares them for the one-on-one guest. It's not easy being confronted with someone who demands absolute attention, and that needs training."

White loves her duties -- checking in guests and helping ensure their experience is pleasant. "I just ran into someone who checked in. ... He remembered me and was still thanking me for the service," White said. "It made me feel really good. I like the fact that guests come to the hotel, they're happy and satisfied ... their money is well-spent."

Tyeisha Tukes is another center graduate. The 20-year-old, who previously worked in fast food and retail and lived in a shelter last year, wanted to attend college but couldn't find financial aid. After attending the career center, she interviewed for a housekeeping internship position at the DoubleTree.

Completing a four-week internship, she was hired in October. Tukes now works there part-time while attending Henry Ford Community College.

"I learned a lot," she said. "If I wouldn't have gone, I would still be without a job. It's changed a lot in my life."

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Despite rough economy, South Beach's lodging market keeps growing (Miami Herald)

Posted: 14 Mar 2010 02:35 PM PDT

When Myles Chefetz started building a small South Beach hotel next door to his popular Prime One Twelve steak house, where a rib eye costs $56, he figured the 14-room Prime Hotel would be worth about $12 million.

His lenders recently disagreed, putting the value at about $7 million.

``They want a pay-down to get the loan-to-value ratio right,'' Chefetz said during a tour of the hotel's rooftop pool, which doubles as a 30-foot-long whirlpool tub.

Chefetz said he doesn't worry about the upside-down mortgage because Prime Hotel's first-floor restaurant churns out enough cash to make payments on the property's $9 million debt.

``I'm not in trouble because I've got the cash flow to pay for it,'' he said.

Still, the real estate math confronting Chefetz's latest venture reflects the perils of launching a hotel into a battered tourism market.

But it also captures a trend in South Florida's largest industry: despite the rough conditions, the hotel market continues to expand.

A string of limited-service hotels recently opened near the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport. At the start of the year, the 56-room Tempo hotel quietly debuted in the luxury Marquis condo tower near the AmericanAirlines Arena in downtown Miami.

And within a few blocks of Prime Hotel's Ocean Drive location on First Street, Chefetz faces two other tiny newcomers -- Sense, an 18-room hotel also on Ocean; and the 14-room Villa Italia, slated to debut in the fall on Washington Avenue and Fourth Street.

``Hopefully we'll get open by the time the [winter tourism] season starts,'' said Luigi Vitalini, the Coral Gables architect who designed Villa Italia, as well as the Sense and Prime hotels. ``It's been a tough experience, of course.''

Developer Gregory Gerasimov initially planned to turn the former cut-rate hotel into a condominium. Once the real estate market collapsed, the plan switched back to a hotel, but far more upscale.

Gerasimov said he's cheered by growing occupancy rates at South Beach hotels as the lodging market shows more signs of recovery. Smith Travel Research reported that in January, Miami-Dade hotels saw their first gain in per-room revenue since August 2008, the start of the financial crisis.

``I'm encouraged,'' Gerasimov said. ``Otherwise, I wouldn't be building anything.''

Like any new hotelier this year, he will face some of the steepest challenges once Villa Italia opens.

Most new hotels borrowed money at the peak of the credit bubble, must woo travelers at a time of steep discounts by better-known rivals, and often contend with construction loans coming due at a time when lenders are loathe to refinance.

``Anybody that opens up a hotel in this market has gotta be a little lunatic,'' hotel consultant Victor Lopez said with a laugh.

SLOWING IT DOWN

The former Hyatt executive -- now a vice president at the Continental Cos. in Coconut Grove -- said hotels caught in a downturn mid-construction often switch to skeleton crews in order to delay opening and avoid the payroll expense of a fully-staffed property.

``With most loans, if you keep one or two workers,'' he said, ``you're still a construction site.''

None of this seems to bother Chefetz, a tanned 51-year-old veteran of South Beach's restaurant circuit.

Prime One Twelve -- one of five restaurants Chefetz owns in the First Street corridor -- consistently gets recognized as the Miami area's top steakhouse. The reputation lets Chefetz charge premium prices and count on a loyal following of professional athletes (Alonzo Mourning usually orders the $35 blackened swordfish).

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Hotels Lodging

Monday, March 15, 2010