Southland Park pledges $1 million to MSCC hospitality program | News

(WMC-TV) – Budding restaurant owners and hospitality experts will have a new way to hone their skills thanks to a million dollar gift to Mid-South Community College.

Southland Park Gaming and Racing has pledged to give the school $1 million over the next decade to help train workers in the hospitality industry. The school’s president said MSCC officials have been interested in starting a program that would serve students interested in working in hotels and restaurants.

“As our business grows and evolves, our need for trained employees continues to increase,” Troy L. Keeping, Southland Park regional general manager, president and general manager, said in a written statement.

The money won’t just help train workers for Southland though. It was also help a project aimed at giving food entrepreneurs help.

The $1.8 million “Delta Cuisine: A Southern Kitchen Incubator” is expected to launch next year. The program will give technical support to business owners and provide them with facilities and equipment that might be out of their reach otherwise.

“The funding from Southland creates a golden opportunity for us to take this incubator collaboration to the next level and will allow us to bring additional expertise to the hospitality, entrepreneurship and curricular equation,” Dr. Glen Fenter, MSCC president, said in a written release.

At first, the hospitality program will offer certificates of proficiency in food science, product development and expansion, but the school plans to expand the curriculum to include an associate degree in hospitality management.

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