HEATHER SINGLETON, chief operating officer for the Rhode Island Hospitality Education Foundation, was recently elected to serve as vice chairperson of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s 2018 Certification Governing Committee. Singleton has worked close to 25 years in the hospitality industry and has taught travel and tourism courses at the Community College of Rhode Island and Johnson & Wales University, her alma mater. She was featured in Providence Business News’ 40 Under Forty in 2005.
What first drew you to wanting to pursue a career in hospitality? At the age of 15, I had an opportunity to travel to London with a large national organization. I was amazed at the amount of logistical details involved with organizing a weeklong international trip for 500 teenagers from across the United States. From airfare, to ground transportation, to hotel accommodations, meals and entertainment – it was this trip that made me realize hospitality and tourism was going to be my industry of choice.
How have hospitality programs grown in Rhode Island since you became COO of the Rhode Island Hospitality Education Foundation? When I started with the Rhode Island Hospitality Education Foundation [more than] 20 years ago, I remember promoting only three or four training programs. Last year alone, 3,000 individuals received training in 20 different industry-recognized certification courses. These 3,000 trainees are incumbent workers, unemployed individuals, youth, and career and technical education students.
With Rhode Island being promoted more and more as a tourist destination, how much has the need for hospitality employees grown? The growth in our industry is significant. We are one of the top five industries in the state and employ [more than] 80,000 people when you combine the food-service, lodging and tourism sectors that make up the entire hospitality industry. We have new restaurants opening, hotels being developed and a significant number of meeting planners choosing Rhode Island for their conventions.
Johnson & Wales University is prominent with its hospitality programs and there are some programs in place at some high schools. Will there be more of a push to have more high schools implement similar programs? Career and technical education is extremely valued in the hospitality industry. We have partnerships with nine Rhode Island schools that are delivering nationally recognized curriculum to students. Not only do these programs provide work experience, skills competencies, collegiate credit and scholarships to students who wish to continue on to higher education, but they also provide industry certification that proves technical-skills competencies for those students who wish to enter the workforce upon graduation.
What other initiatives do you hope to achieve as the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s 2018 Certification Governing Committee’s vice chair? I am honored to serve in this leadership capacity and protect the integrity of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s professional-certification programs. The food-service industry is highly regulated, and it is imperative that we keep our food safe across the entire sourcing and distribution pipeline.
