TRI-COUNTY — Less than five individuals have enrolled in Mountain View Hospitality Academy, a free, six-week training program formed to address the local tourism industry labor shortage, despite a year of heavy recruitment efforts from Mobile Comunidad, the nonprofit that announced the initiative a year ago.
“We have been ready to launch for two or three months here,” said Mobile Comunidad co-founder Jeanine Bishop. “But interestingly enough — despite really substantial support from both funders and employers — we are not getting learners to sign up, of any age.”
The academy has been advertised widely, Bishop said, throughout the greater Trans-Pecos region in newspaper and radio ads, career fairs and local high schools. Partners include Workforce Solutions Borderplex (WSB), the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hospitality Leadership at the University of Houston, Saira Hospitality and Cornell University.
After completion of the six week course — part virtual, part in-person — those enrolled will earn a certificate from Cornell and have guaranteed job interviews with local employers. Housing is also available for students at Mountain View Lodge, a site in Fort Davis run by Mobile Comunidad that supports the academy financially.
Bishop said the current goal is to attract a class of 15 people, who will help dictate the class schedule based on what works for them. There’s also opportunities for students to tailor the program to fit what interests them, whether it’s catering or learning to operate a food truck, Bishop said. Courses include hotel planning and design, accounting, digital marketing, restaurant management and wines of the world.
The only reasons Bishop can think of as to why the academy isn’t taking off, she said, may be because people can be suspicious of free programs, and might be unfamiliar with the concept of vocational education.
For now, Mobile Comunidad plans to keep pushing the program in hopes of attracting people interested in advancing their skills in the hospitality and tourism industry. “I think that in some ways, people aren’t used to this type of concept being available to them and what it might mean for their future,” Bishop said.
While in demand — WSB was recently aware of 1,250 jobs in the hospitality industry in the area — the work is notoriously difficult and low paying. According to WSB, the average salary for those working in hospitality and tourism in the tri-county area is $36,464.
Bishop said she is working with local hoteliers and employers to ensure that individuals who come out of the academy are supported through higher salaries and growth trajectories because they are “recognized as someone who is on a career track.”
“These employers are saying they are going to value these people more, pay them more, put them on a career path, support their employment and move them forward to retain them and promote them,” Bishop said.
The demand for skilled hospitality labor is only likely to grow from existing levels, given the recent renovation and pending reopening of the Hotel Limpia, the Holland Hotel, the Maverick Inn, the Indian Lodge and Black Bear Restaurant as well as the opening of the High Frontier and news of El Cosmico’s expansion.
Bishop said she is aware of around 30 current open positions with three major organizations in hospitality and tourism in the area, with around 100 new positions becoming available between now and spring break 2025 due to expansions.
“That’s a lot of jobs,” Bishop said. “Right now I don’t know how those companies really will hope to fill those, to be honest with you.”
“Even if these organizations go out and they bring people they know — or people who are already apart of their organization from Austin or El Paso or wherever — you have that same problem with they don’t really want to stay here because they are used to big city amenities, so it’s challenging for them to keep those people here,” Bishop added.
Retaining good employees is an issue Bishop is familiar with; Mountain View Lodge and Cafe has been seeking two dishwashers and two cooks for months. She said they have gone through seven cooks who have shown up once then ceased communication. They are offering $15-18 an hour plus tip share, which amounted to an additional $6 per hour the last payroll period.
Bishop said the current cafe employees enjoy their jobs and get great customer reviews. Her situation is that of a general trend in Jeff Davis County, she said, where restaurants are closing due to a lack of hired help, and those that remain open have limited open hours, a situation that impacts both visitors and locals that the hospitality academy seeks to alleviate.
“The one thing that would certainly help right now would be just to fill the openings with the businesses that are still open,” Bishop said.