Eateries, Educators Partner For Coronavirus Safety Program In NH

CONCORD, NH — Restaurants and educators in New Hampshire have teamed up to create a free, online education initiative for employees and businesses in the hospitality sector to be trained on the latest coronavirus safety protocols for eateries, bars, bakeries, and other establishments.

The "NH Promise" program is a two-hour course that will educate staffers on the latest state and federal safety standards when addressing coronavirus guidelines for restaurants and bars.

The program was developed by educators at Lakes Region, Nashua, and White Mountains community colleges in an effort to help hospitality workers around the state, according to Larissa Baía, the president of Lakes Region Community College. After creating the curriculum, educators pitched the idea to the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association as a way of improving safety standards while also rebuilding consumer confidence about concerns with indoor dining. The Common Man restaurant chain agreed to be the first test subject of the initiative and now, all involved are promoting it to other employees and establishments in the state.

Employees who complete the course will receive a certificate. Potential employees hoping to gain employment can use it when applying for jobs, too. Establishments, where at least 25 percent of their employees become certified, receive decals to let customers know the business has been trained in the protocols.

"What that means, for us, at least, is that those patrons around the state can feel a little bit safer in terms of patronizing those establishments where they see the decal behind us," she said.

Baía said the community college system had a long-standing working relationship with The Common Man so it was a natural to bring them into the fold to see if the program would work.

Sean Brown, the chief operations officer for The Common Man, agreed and said the association, too, was a long-time partner, with a deep commitment to the sector. He said the program was well-thought-out, self-paced, and easy to complete. Brown called it "an extra layer" of safety training for employees.

"We're glad that we did it and we would like to encourage everybody else in the industry to hop on board and do it," he said. "We would like to ensure the public that we will continue to practice the best practices that are available, continue to follow the guidance from the NH Promise training, in an effort to offer them, the safest and most enjoyable experience."

Mike Somers, the president of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, thanked Baía and her team who were "really instrumental" in putting the program together as well as Brown and The Common Man for implementing it in their restaurants. He said the sector in New Hampshire had been hit hard and was just gaining back a fraction of the business lost during the last year. Somers said everyone was working to ensure customers felt safe to return and rebuild consumer confidence.

"We are, right now, just coming out of the darkest stretch for the industry," he said. "The weather has been challenging … I can't even begin to tell you how hard it has been for these guys."

Somers called the program "great" but added there were other ways of supporting restaurants including ordering takeout and buying gift certificates. The association recently worked with the state to create the "Rally for NH Restaurant" initiative for February and March, in an effort to help out the establishments during what is normally a trying time for the industry without coronavirus.

Somers said about 10 percent of the hospitality workforce was still not employed with many others underemployed. He said businesses were hoping to be able to bounce back soon during the spring and summer months, and expected to see "pent up demand" for dining and vacationing, weddings and events, and other opportunities.

"We're hoping for a better 2021," Somers added.

Brown, too, said The Common Man had been able to weather the pandemic and keep their facilities open. However, they were hoping business would increase as the season changed.

Baía said the cost of creating the program was limited since employees who were already working for the community college system created it. She said there had been a drop-off in enrollments in the system both for the hospitality sector as well as other industries but officials were expecting things to bounce back.

For more information about the program, visit the NH Promise for Hospitality Employees at the Community College System of NH website.

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