INDUSTRY NEWS
How The Sea Pines Resort Is Solving Labor Shortages The South Carolina property partnered with nearby resorts and entities to help a community college open a brand-new culinary school. By Joanna DeChellis, Editor
BRILLIANT LEADERS ARE WILLING to think beyond the mundane to develop solutions for problems that everyone in their industry faces. That is the case on South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island, where a number of community stakeholders, including The Sea Pines Resort, teamed up with the Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL) to establish a culinary school that would help fill the pipeline of available talent in the region. “Over the past few decades, Hilton Head Island [HHI] and [the town of] Bluffton [S.C.] have exploded with restaurants, but we haven’t had proper staffing,” says Matthew Roher, Director of Food & Beverage at Sea Pines, who was deeply involved at all stages of this initiative. “Without a local culinary school, a lot of potential culinarians attend schools in other places. Many don’t come back as they become part of the communities where they get their education or externship.” 22
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Roher is passionate about creating a sustainable solution to the labor shortage he and his peers on HHI face. He was certain that a culinary school would not only help Sea Pines, but also help the area further establish itself as a culinary destination. “When I came on board at TCL, there were notes we inherited about potentially opening a culinary school,” says Mary Lee Carns, Vice President for Advancement and Continuing Education with the Technical College of the Lowcountry. “At that stage, it was really only a concept. No one thought it would happen, but once we started to identify partners, the concept became a vision. And with a lot of hard work, that vision became a reality.” The Culinary Institute of the South (CIS) opened in November of 2021. According to Carns, the school is tracking enrollment for the fall of 2022 to be around 150 students. The CIS offers hands-on, practical training in culinary arts, baking and pastry, www.clubandresortchef.com
