Meeting the need for Certification of local restaurant staff

The Cooking Studio and Larimer County Workforce Center join forces to meet the certification needs of food service managers in northern Colorado by 2019.

Fort Collins, CO, April 19, 2018–  The Colorado Department of Health & Environment announced that retail food service establishments must employ at least one manager that holds a Certified Food Protection Manager Certification. This new requirement is in effect starting Jan 1, 2019 and affects restaurants, delis, cafeterias, grocery stores and other food service/retail establishments in Colorado.

To help Northern Colorado food services meet this new regulation, The Cooking Studio & Larimer County Workforce Center have joined forces to offer The National Restaurant Association’s ServSafeÒ Certified Food Protection Manager Certification prep classes and proctored exams.

Significantly adding value to this training, and helping to ensure all managers have the skills to ensure food service employees buy-in to the new regulations, Larimer County’s Leadership & Management Training experts from Elevate will be including practical training on employee retention, communication, conflict management and leadership.

 “To ensure effective enforcement of food safety practices, managers need enhanced skills in managing people for the consistent application of these safety practices across all shifts and employees. Teaching managers basic skills for the retention of employees and decreasing of staff turnover enhances the food service training significantly.”     – Mike Kohler, Elevate Training Coordinator

“At FISH, we had to drive to Denver to take the prep classes & exam, and they only covered the food service information, nothing on retention and managing employees effectively.  This collaboration between The Cooking Studio and Larimer County’s Elevate is very welcome to Northern Colorado restaurants.”   – Ryan Damasky, Head Chef at FISH in Old Town Fort Collins.

The Cooking Studio Fort Collins is a subsidiary of O’Neill Education Services, LLC., a Colorado based educational service company.  Classes are held at The Cooking Studio, located in The Opera Galleria in Old Town Fort Collins.

Elevate, of Larimer County Workforce Center, has the mission to support and strengthen management and business leaders in northern Colorado.

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