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Story: Daniela Grimes

Daniela Grimes, a 19 year old, African-American, City of Santa Monica “opportunity youth” and Santa Monica High School graduate, was unemployed and living in a CCSM affordable housing unit. She learned about the Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) program from her mother who attended a presentation by HTA staff at a holiday event at her building. Upon enrolling with the HTA, Daniella immediately underwent a series of trainings that included everything from resume writing and interviewing skills to dressing for success and customer service skills training. Excelling in the program and eager to embark on an exciting new career in the hospitality sector, Daniela had the opportunity to interview for a position at LAX Airport where she was quickly hired by Areas USA to work as a Cashier at Sammy’s Woodfire Grill, in Terminal 4 where she sells on average $10,000-$13,000 in product per week and has earned the title of “Top Seller”. Having passed her probation period at work, Daniella is now a proud member of the union, UNITE HERE Local 11, and has a bright future – working a job with a good starting wage and a trajectory for career growth, built in salary increases and full benefits including medical and dental.

By lahta On October 6, 2015  0 Comment
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LA’s Hospitality Training Academy Attending White House Summit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 22, 2015
Adine Forman, 310-597-1898,

LA’s Hospitality Training Academy
Attending White House Summit

“Upskilling Summit” highlighting best practices in Southern California programs

DOWNLOAD PRESS RELEASE PDF – CLICK HERE

LOS ANGELES – On Wednesday, April 22, 2015, the Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) will participate in a White House summit focused on the need to “upskill” America’s workforce. The summit will feature a diverse group of stakeholders, including members of both the business and labor communities, that are helping workers train to get ahead. HTA, UNITE HERE Local 11’s training fund, has been recognized for its best practices in working to upskill America’s frontline hospitality and food service workers.

“Upskilling”—the expansion of economic opportunity for America’s frontline, low-wage workers through skills training—enables workers to advance their careers, receive promotions, earn more for their family, and become larger contributors to their local economy.

In conjunction with attending the summit, the HTA has partnered with the soon-to-become Hyatt Regency Hotel LAX to upskill 150 members of its current workforce plus train 50 new employees, the first upskill hotel project in a long line of potential large-scale renovations being proposed in Los Angeles in the coming years.

After nine years in a LAX restaurant, Evelyn Foster faced unemployment when her concession was closed as the airport underwent a $4.11 billion modernization. She entered the Hospitality Training Academy where she and her co-workers were taught the skills they needed to raise the bar and win jobs and promotions at the airport’s new, higher-end concessions.

As airport concessions switch from fast food to fine dining, and hotels and stadiums remodel and upscale, the HTA ensures that union members, who are largely immigrants and/or people of color, are prepared to take the next step, securing higher wages and job security. With established training programs in several major cities, and new ones forming in cities like Washington DC, UNITE HERE local unions and participating employers are working to meet the needs of members, their families, and their communities.

WHO:              VP Joe Biden, cabinet secretaries, business leaders, labor leaders, and other stakeholders

WHAT:           White House Summit on Upskilling America’s Workforce

WHEN:           April 24 from 10 AM to 3 PM

WHERE:         Eisenhower Executive Office Building, 1650 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20502

MEDIA AVAILABILITY: Adine Forman of the Hospitality Training Academy (, 310-597-1898) is available for interviews during the following times:

• April 23rd from 5 – 10 PM ET

• April 24th from 8 – 9:30 AM and 3:30 – 9 PM ET

The Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) a non-profit organization and a labor-management/Taft-Hartley Fund serving and providing training benefits to employers, the union and its members. The HTA is designed to improve Southern California’s hospitality, food service, and tourism industry sector by increasing the skill level of its workforce. Training is provided for both new hires entering the sector and current/incumbent workers seeking promotions through improved job skills and work experience.

UNITE HERE Local 11 represents more than 20,000 workers in hotels, restaurants, airports, sports arenas and convention centers in Southern California.

By lahta On April 21, 2015  0 Comment
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Tom Bradley International Terminal New Restaurants

By lahta On August 25, 2014  0 Comment
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Linda’s Story

Jiraporn “Linda”  was born and raised in a small town in Thailand by her mother, with her sister and three brothers. She attended school until the age of 15, and later opened up her own small clothing boutique. Linda’s sister arrived in the United States and sent for her in 1989. Linda left her mother and three brothers back in Thailand so that she could seek better opportunities in America. Linda was still young and could only babysit her newborn nephew while her sister worked. Linda looked for a job for a year but because she did not have her working papers and she did not speak English well, she was only able to work as a cook in small Thai restaurants throughout the Los Angeles area. In 1996, Linda and her sister decided to send for their mother to come to the United States because their mother was aging and they desperately wanted to care for her. It took 10 years for Linda to get her working papers, complete her mother’s paperwork and earn the money to bring her mother to this county, but in 2006, Linda’s mother made it to Southern California and was reunited with her daughters. Linda sought a higher paying job with health benefits. In 2007, Linda was hired by HMS Host as a Fry Cook at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and joined the UNITE HERE Local 11 Union. In 2012, Linda was laid off from HMS Host, as her restaurant closed down due to the $4.1 billion dollar modernization project at LAX. Linda possessed limited cooking skills, but was able to fry foods and prepare Thai cuisine. Linda heard about the Hospitality Training Academy’s (HTA) training program, and its culinary instructors from both HTA and Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC). The class met five days a week, 8 hours a day, at an LAX commissary for 320 total hours of culinary training. Linda tested into the program, and enrolled. Linda hoped to advance her culinary skills and find better employment with her upgraded skills upon graduation. Linda excelled in the training program and earned a blue neckerchief as one of the top students for attendance, grades and class participation. In 2013, HMS Host rehired Linda in a higher job classification, as a Cook 2, with a pay raise, and she returned to UNITE HERE Local 11 as a proud member. Linda said that the best thing about the class was learning all the different cooking techniques and honing her knife skills. She enjoyed making food from scratch, including the five Mother sauces. Linda also loved to prepare new cuisines, such as Italian and Mexican. One of the challenges that Linda faced is the language barrier in both English and Spanish, but she has, and will, continue to study hard every day. Linda sees the Culinary Arts as her lifetime career, and is learning and growing so that she may accomplish all of her dreams and goals in life.

By lahta On August 21, 2014  0 Comment
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Laurence B. Frank

Larry Frank picLaurence B. Frank, President of Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC), has been a pastor, union organizer, community and political organizer, an attorney, faculty leader, deputy mayor and now president of Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. LATTC has a rich 89-year history of providing the best career-technical education in the region. As a leader in curriculum innovation and competency-based learning models, this community college has secured vital industry partnerships and grant opportunities and has built respected workforce development partnerships. President Frank’s eight-year experience as deputy mayor of Los Angeles enhances Trade Tech’s reputation as a pipeline of critical training that follows career pathways straight into the workforce. Frank’s city experience includes community development, external labor relations, contract administration and workforce development, giving him the tools to connect the campus with industry trends and opportunities. Frank has worked within the higher education landscape as a faculty member at UCLA, where he was the research and staff director of the Center for Labor Research and Education. Frank graduated in 1990 from the UCLA School of Law and has a religious studies degree from Saint Lawrence University. He served ten years on the Prison Industry Authority, developing opportunities for inmate training and he currently serves on the California Workforce Investment Board.

The HTA is pleased to be partnering with Larry Frank and LATTC on many of our culinary training programs, as well as through the new American Job Center/WorkSource Center that is opening up on the LATTC campus in the summer of 2014.

By lahta On August 21, 2014  0 Comment
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Levinia’s Story

Levinia was always raised to believe that when opportunities come your way, you have to grab them. The oldest of three, Livinia was originally born in Compton, California but later moved to the community of Rowland Heights in the San Gabriel Valley after her parents divorced. As a product of a single-parent household and coming from a family situation where she had no interaction with her father, Livinia was called upon to step-up and help out with the family from an early age. As such she learned the importance of having a good work ethic, as well as how to be a high achiever and endure whatever life throws your way. Growing up, some of Levinia’s favorite memories are of learning to cook all types of food with her mother, who took great pleasure in exposing Livinia and her siblings to all sorts of cuisines from around the world. In Livinia’s house, cooking was not viewed as a household chore, but rather as a way in which to bring the family together. As such, Livinia always had a great affinity for cooking, but it wasn’t until she enrolled in the Culinary Training Class offered by the Los Angeles Hospitality Training Academy (HTA) that she discovered she had the ability to turn her passion for cooking into her dream job by becoming a chef. Prior to joining the HTA culinary training class, Livinia worked a number of jobs to help support her family within the food service sector at such companies as El Pollo Loco and Chillis at LAX, where she was recently one of 52 workers laid-off as part of the LAX Airport modernization plan that is replacing lower-end chain/fast food restaurants with local eateries that offer fresh, made-from scratch, cuisine prepared by a well-trained culinary staff. As a union member with UNITE HERE Local 11, however, Livinia was able to participate in the HTA’s free 8-week (320 hour) culinary program. The class, which was led by top instructors from Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC), met for five days a week for 8 hours a day and was made possible with the help of Workforce Investment Act (WIA) program training funds made available by Community Career Development’s Compton WorkSource Center through a grant from the County of Los Angeles. Distinguishing herself as a stellar student in the class, Levinia says she was blessed to be part of the HTA program through which she attributes finding out, without a doubt, that cooking is the career for her. Since graduating the HTA program in June 2013, Levinia has been re-hired by HMS Host and is very excited to now training be training to work at the Umami Burger that is opening at the LAX Tom Bradley International Terminal. Further down the road, Levinia looks forward to opening up her own restaurant one day, which she promises will, in tribute to what her mother so lovingly taught her growing up, will focus on diversity and will offer a wide array of foods featuring the cuisines from around the world.

By lahta On August 18, 2014  0 Comment
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