During a special event held on February 19, a culinary skills lab was named in recognition of Flanagan Foodservice for its generous support of the recent expansion and re-development project at the John W. Tibbits campus in Waterloo.
A culinary skills lab at Conestoga's Waterloo campus was named in honour of Flanagan Foodservice on February 19 in recognition of the company's support of the college.
Designed to inspire the students of Conestoga, the lab includes state-of-the-art equipment that will allow future chefs to practice and refine the culinary techniques that will help them shape Canada’s food industry.
“We’re very grateful for our partnership with Flanagan Foodservice,” said Conestoga President John Tibbits. “For more than 20 years, the company has supported scholarships and awards for Conestoga students and strengthened our programs through involvement on our advisory committees and through the provision of co-op opportunities.”
More recently, Flanagan provided a $100,000 gift to support the expansion of the Waterloo campus. The re-development project has provided increased capacity for education and training programs to serve the tourism sector’s urgent human resource needs, offers new opportunities for product development and testing, and supports development of our local food culture through demonstration kitchens and part-time courses for the broader community. The campus also features an expanded student-run restaurant open to the public.
“The impact of this organization on our community and on our family is significant,” said Dan Flanagan, Flanagan Foodservice CEO. “On behalf of our employees, and our family, we thank you for letting us be part of this transformative journey at Conestoga.”
During the event, Akshay Anand, an international student from India enrolled in the Culinary Management (co-op) two-year diploma program, expressed his gratitude for the “amazing change” the college, its facilities and its faculty have made in his life through the development of skills and knowledge that will support him in his culinary career. He has encouraged his brother to join him in Canada so that he can have a similar experience at Conestoga.
Founded in 1977, family-owned Flanagan is Canada’s largest independent foodservice distributor serving more than 6,000 customers.
Conestoga’s School of Hospitality & Culinary Arts provides a broad range of programs to serve the workforce needs of the growing hospitality industry. Conestoga is Ontario’s only college included in the Institut Paul Bocuse Worldwide Alliance, the leading global network of education excellence for culinary arts and the hospitality trades.