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Hospitality Event Appealing to More Than Just Insiders

3 min read

The 70th annual Arkansas Hospitality Association Convention & Trade Show will be Sept. 17-18 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. Those in the restaurant industry as well as civilians with an appreciation for food and wine will find the event interesting.

Three groups join to put on the convention: the Arkansas Restaurant Association, the Arkansas Lodging Association and the Arkansas Travel Council.

On the evening of Sept. 16, the AHA will host the 11th annual Arkansas Chefs Culinary Classic, a culinary competition in which chefs compete in four categories: soup/salad, dessert, entree and appetizer. Tickets are $45, which allows guests to sample the culinary creations. The ticket also covers a wine and beer tasting and a silent auction and after-party. For more information call (501) 376-2323, email Holly@ARHospitality.org or visit ARHospitality.org.

A number of now locally famous chefs have participated in the Culinary Classic, including Donnie Ferneau, soon to be occupying the former Argenta Market at 521 Main St. in North Little Rock.

The convention itself also includes the Iron Chef Competition and its Bartending Competition.

The 70th Anniversary Gala Reception & Dinner are Sept. 17 at the Clinton Presidential Center. Montine McNulty, the executive director of the AHA, touted the “red carpet treatment” that will be on display at the reception and dinner and held out the lure of another tasting featuring an all-Arkansas product menu and Arkansas wine and beer. Tickets to the reception and dinner are $70. For more information on that event, contact Jill Thiel at the AHA at (501) 376-2323 or email Jill@ARHospitality.org.

The convention will have about 100 exhibitors, McNulty said, and likely will attract more than 2,000 attendees.

Attendance to the convention itself is free, but guests must register by Sept. 12. Click here to register.

For those in the hospitality industry in Arkansas, one event holds particular interest: the presentation by the Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism of the agency’s 2015 marketing plan, which is scheduled for 8:30-11 a.m. in the Wally Allen Ballroom. This includes a showing of television commercials and print ads.

“It’s very interesting to cities around the state because it gives them some idea of what [Parks & Tourism is] going to be doing and the ways that they can cooperate with the state in promoting” tourism, McNulty said.

McNulty noted the importance of the hospitality industry to the state’s economy, saying the sector had proved to be among the brighter spots even during the downturn. “We’ve been a little bit more stable than other industries,” she said. In June, the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services estimated employment in the leisure and hospitality industry in 2013 at 100,995 and projected a 2 percent increase, to 103,009, in 2015.

“We have grown to be one of the largest industries in the state,” McNulty said.

New Blog

In discussing employment, McNulty cited a new blog, ARFoodJobs.com, operated by Christie Ison, which seeks to link employers and prospective employees in the state. On the blog, Ison declares: “We’re more than a job board. We’re matchmakers for Arkansas’ growing culinary industry and the state’s most talented food job candidates. And we’ve got connections.”

“We’re not just a place to find or fill a job, either,” Ison adds. “ARFoodJobs is a community dedicated to advancing our profession through training, articles on industry topics, certifications or just plain fun.”

It’s worth a visit.

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