State and local officials were on hand today for the grand opening of SOWELA’s $10.8M State-of-the-art Culinary, Gaming, and Hospitality Training Center in Lake Charles. SOWELA Chancellor Dr. Neil Aspinwall says with three big casinos in Lake Charles a facility to train the workers is needed.
“In the last several years we’ve become a mecca in the gaming and hospitality industry. We designed a facility rightly known as the culinary, Gaming, and hospitality center,” said Aspinwall.
According to the Louisiana Workforce Commission, the hospitality jobs sector is expected to increase by nearly 15-percent by 2026. Aspinwall says they want to meet that demand.
“This is our attempt to help build a workforce for this industry in Southwest Louisiana and its working. It’s very critical and it’s answering a need,” said Aspinwall.
The 28-thousand foot square building features a top of the line culinary kitchen, gaming tables and model hotel rooms. Aspinwall says the facility design is cutting-edge.
“There’s a hot foods lab; there’s a baking lab. There’s a restaurant lab. We actually have mock hotel rooms. We have a hotel room, a hotel suite, student break area,” said Aspinwall.
State funding for the facility was approved by Governor John Bel Edwards and lawmakers in 2018.
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