Punxsutawney Spirit

IUP Culinary receives $1M to build new facility

HARRISBURG — State Sen. Joe Pittman (R-41) and state Rep. Brian Smith (R-66) on Monday announced Indiana University of Pennsylvania and its Academy of Culinary Arts received a $1 million state grant for a major Jefferson County project to replace a 32-year-old learning facility and improve the educational offerings of IUP Punxsutawney’s Culinary Arts program.

The grant funding from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program will help fund the construction of a new 45,000-square foot education and multipurpose commercial site anchored in downtown Punxsutawney, with the facility to serve as the main educational and experimental hub for students and the surrounding community.

“The new technologyfocused culinary kitchens and laboratories will provide critical spaces for optimal learning of students,” said Pittman. “Exceptional lab spaces and classrooms will meet workforce needs for highly skilled culinary arts chefs and bakers.”

The project is expected to allow for an additional 50 to 70 full-time students annually. IUP sees the building as key to achieving the goals of the university’s strategic plan, supporting and growing crucial partnerships in the community, such as K-12 schools, business, government, healthcare and nonprofit organizations.

“IUP’s Academy of Culinary Arts has a solid, well established track record for offering numerous career and trade programs that many local high school graduates take advantage of to prepare for future occupations in the hospitality industry,” said Smith. “Our region is always in need of more highlyskilled professionals, and this funding will allow IUP’s already outstanding culinary program to build a trend-setting, state-ofthe-art facility to properly train students for the wellpaying, family-sustaining jobs that are waiting to be filled right now.” “The Academy of

Culinary Arts is definitely a jewel in the crown for IUP and for Punxsutawney and Jefferson County,” IUP Council of Trustees Chairman Samuel Smith said. “The Culinary Arts master plan will expand the opportunities for students interested in the culinary arts and will significantly contribute to the downtown Punxsutawney landscape and the economic development of the region.”

The RACP funds will be used for capital costs, including part of the demolition, construction, renovation of property and buildings where classes will be held, as well as the permits and equipment necessary to move forward with all aspects of the project.

Since its founding in 1989, more than 4,200 IUP students have studied in Punxsutawney at the Academy of Culinary Arts. The 16-month Academy program, nationally recognized and accredited by the American Culinary Federation, includes a paid externship placement for students, many at fourstar restaurants and resorts throughout the nation.

RACP is administered by the Office of the Budget for the acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational and historical improvement projects. RACP projects are authorized in the Redevelopment Assistance section of a Capital Budget Itemization Act. They must have a regional or multi-jurisdictional impact, and generate substantial increases or maintain current levels of employment, tax revenues, or other measures of economic activity.

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2021-12-07T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-07T08:00:00.0000000Z

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