Metairie, LA—The Louisiana Restaurant Association Education Foundation (LRAEF) Board of Directors, through its Scholarship Fund, will award $60,000 in scholarships to 22 students. The LRAEF Scholars were honored at “Serving the Future—Celebrating Careers in Hospitality,” March 29, 2023 at Generations Hall in New Orleans.
The LRAEF Scholarship Fund was created in 2009 to provide financial support for individuals interested in furthering their education to support a career in the culinary, hospitality, or related industries. Since its inception, the Scholarship Fund has awarded over $600,000 to deserving students. The LRAEF’s most-prestigious award, the Jim Funk Scholarship, is named for the former LRA President & CEO who guided the creation of the LRAEF during his 30 years with the organization. This year’s recipient of the Jim Funk Scholarship is Morgan Boquet. She is a 4th year LRAEF scholar (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023), attending the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University, and is a ProStart graduate of Lakeshore High School in Mandeville. The Louisiana Seafood Scholarship was established through a generous gift from the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board and is awarded to a qualified applicant who expresses an interest in cultivating, protecting and promoting Louisiana Seafood. This year’s Louisiana Seafood Scholar is Zoe Foster, who is a 3rd year LRAEF scholarship recipient (2021, 2022, 2023), attending the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University. The LRAEF Scholars are individuals who intend to pursue a career in the restaurant, foodservice, tourism, or hospitality industry. ProStart students, who have or will receive the National ProStart Certificate of Achievement are given top priority. This year’s LRAEF Scholars are:
“Honoring the LRAEF Scholars during Serving the Future is a favorite part about my role as Chair of the LRA Education Foundation,” said LRAEF Chair Jason Jones, Sysco. “Meeting them in person, and hearing how passionate they are about a career in restaurants and hospitality, and then seeing their face light up as they accept their scholarship is so rewarding. These scholars are the future leaders and innovators of our industry.” -30- ProStart is a registered trademark of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. ProStart is a two-year, culinary management program for high school juniors and seniors with a curriculum designed to teach students culinary techniques as well as restaurant management skills. ProStart is in 58 high schools statewide and more than 2,000 students participate in the program. The Louisiana Restaurant Association Education Foundation exists to enhance the industry’s service to the public through education, community engagement and promotion of career opportunities. The Louisiana Restaurant Association is one of the largest business organizations in the state, representing restaurant operations and related businesses. The restaurant industry in Louisiana is one the state’s largest private employers, providing jobs to 207,700 residents. Restaurants in Louisiana generated sales of $8.9 billion in 2017. Get up-to-date news about the LRA and the restaurant industry from www.lra.org.
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Are your surcharges souring your customers’ dining experience?
During a weekend trip to Acadiana and several dining experiences there and back, we were caught off guard by the practice of surcharge options for credit card payments. At two different locations, we were hit with a four percent surcharge on our bill – one we were advised ahead of time as it was posted on the menu. At the second location, it was posted on the entrance door, however, we missed it. Neither provided a receipt that indicated the charge, which is a requirement. Here are a few things to remember if you are considering this or doing it at present to be compliant. While adding surcharges to the cost of a purchase is legal in Louisiana, each credit card brand has its own rules that merchants must adhere to. Our partners at Heartland Payment Systems have a thorough article to review here. Some of the guidelines include:
Be careful in changing processors without understanding the exposure you could have to your existing processor under liquidated damages for a breech or early termination of an existing processor agreement. And, remember to read your merchant agreement with Visa, MasterCard and Amex. There are some that require you to provide advance notice to the processor before instituting these charges. Our payment system partner Heartland has a new POS system that can help you with compliant processing of any surcharge, and avoid those on debit transactions. And, accept that you have the risk of a guest choosing to frequent another restaurant for one that doesn’t use surcharging and instead includes its total operating costs in the menu price. Download the State of the Industry report on Restaurant.org.
The report is free to members and $349 nonmembers. During the purchase process, login with your previously established email address/password or select Create Account. Use the same email on your membership to ensure it syncs with your existing member record. The Create Account feature will also show if the email has an existing login. The login for Restaurant.org is different than LRA.org. If you are still receiving the non-member rate after creating an account, please contact Membership@Restaurant.org and request for your account to be linked to your company’s membership. |
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September 2023
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