HCC Offering Free Hotel Industry Training Starting Feb. 1

HOLYOKE — Interested in beginning a career in the hospitality industry? Holyoke Community College (HCC) is running a free, six-week hotel training program starting Tuesday, Feb. 1.

The hands-on, in-person classes for hotel front-desk workers and hotel-room attendants will take place in HCC’s hotel-training lab on the second floor of the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute on Race Street in downtown Holyoke.

The program runs on Tuesday and Thursdays, Feb. 1 through March 10, 5:30-8:30 p.m. The course will provide students with up-to-date knowledge of the hotel industry, hands-on experience for front-desk and/or room-attendant roles, workplace skills, résumé building, interviewing, job-search assistance, and connections to local employers.

HCC’s hotel lab was equipped using $35,000 from a 2019 Massachusetts Skills Capital Grant, which funds purchases for educational initiatives linked to workforce needs. The lab is a classroom set up like a hotel reception area with front desk and adjoining guest room and equipped with industry-level technology and software.

“Hospitality is a significant industry in our region,” said Jeff Hayden, HCC’s vice president of Business and Community Services. “The hotel lab gives students the ability to learn in a model hotel room and reception lobby, gain knowledge about key-card access systems, and understand point-of-sale technology. This is the kind of experiential training employers have been asking for.”

No high-school diploma or GED/HiSET test is required for admission. Offered as part of HCC’s Business & Workforce Development division, the hotel training course is free to qualifying applicants.

For more information, contact Laura Smith, HCC’s job-placement assistant and Career Development counselor, at [email protected] or (413) 552-2833.