NYS Restaurant Association Announces Appointment of Bill Nolan as Executive Director of Educational Foundation

ALBANY, NY (03/31/2010)(readMedia)-- The New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA) announced today that it has named foodservice educational veteran Bill Nolan to serve as Executive Director of the NYSRA Educational Foundation. Nolan comes to the Foundation after serving as Director of the ProStart program with the National Restaurant Association.

During his tenure at the NRA, Bill was instrumental in the development of several training programs for secondary school teachers. He co-authored and delivered seminars on a variety of topics including Kitchen Economics and Preparing Students for Culinary Competition. Bill has presented these sessions to ProStart educators around the country over the last several years at both in-state trainings and national conventions.

ProStart is a career-building program for high school students that blends both classroom learning and work experience to produce the future culinary and management leaders of tomorrow. It is a two-year program currently offered in 47 states, territories and districts with more than 80,000 students participating nationwide.

Bill was one of the founders of the National ProStart Invitational, a culinary and restaurant management competition for ProStart students. He served as the director for the culinary portion for nine years. Over $1.1 million in scholarships were awarded at this event in 2009.

"We feel so very fortunate to have Bill joining the NYSRA Educational Foundation team," said NYSRA President Rick Sampson. "Bill's 15 years of educational experience coupled with his unparalleled network of contacts are going to help elevate the NYSRA Educational Foundation well beyond what it has already achieved. Our goal is to build the leading educational program of its type in the country."

Bill received his culinary training at Elgin Community College's School of Hospitality Management, where he also served as a chef-educator on the adjunct faculty after graduation.

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The New York State Restaurant Association, founded in 1935, is the leading business association for the restaurant and hospitality industry in New York State. Comprised of more than 56,000 restaurants, bars, clubs, New York restaurants represent more than 628,000 employees and sales of approximately $27 billion - making it the cornerstone of the economy, career opportunities and community involvement. Along with the New York State Restaurant Association and New York State Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, NYSRA and its chapters work to represent, educate and promote the rapidly growing hospitality industry. For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.nysra.org/.