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Salt School hospitality training for 140 perspective employees began Saturday morning at the Monmouth County Boys and Girls Club, located at 1201 Monroe Ave. This is the fourth rendition of the intensive course aimed at educating participants in the art of receiving and serving guests of hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues.

This time around, the Salt School, developed by hotelier David Bowd [CEO of Salt Hotels, which operates The Asbury hotel and Asbury Lanes for waterfront redeveloper iStar] is geared toward recruiting area residents for the new 54-room boutique hotel in the Asbury Ocean Club high rise in the waterfront area and beyond.

Leading industry professionals share their expertise in food and beverage service, front desk, housekeeping, revenue management, social media, brand, sales, and marketing.

“The School is the foundation of our company and I am so thrilled other hotel companies have adopted our framework and are now doing location education programs,” Bowd said of the program’s expansion. “[We are] committed to reflecting Asbury Park’s diversity in its hiring practices and seek passionate members of the community. Salt School prepares students for employment in various spheres of hospitality, within Salt Hotels and beyond.”

The 25-hour intensive course, which covers all aspects of the industry, is lead by industry experts, Salt Hotels’ founders, as well as past Salt School graduates, Bowd said. Program participants will be considered for employ at the new boutique hotel as well as at The Asbury and The Lanes.

“Here we are with another incredible response; 150 applications and 140 at school this morning,” Bowd said. “It truly is the best day of the year for me as I get so insured by the individual’s stories and passion to learn something new and join our industry. It was amazing to see friends and families of our existing team along with other locals attend school this morning.”

Bowd said his group has hired an estimated 90 percent of Asbury residents, and those from the immediate surrounding areas such as Neptune, to fill the positions at The Asbury and Asbury Lanes. Asbury residents also get priority in being accepted into the Salt School, which has been held every year since 2016.

“Many of the original salt school attendees are now leaders in our team and are now participating in the school as mentors,” he said.

Those who have attended the Salt Schools come from all ages and demographic groups in Asbury Park and the immediate surrounding areas. In the past, there have been enough openings to hire 70-80 percent of Salt School graduates.

“The school is ultimately, to me, about how do we hire as many local people as possible,” Bowd told the triCityNews newspaper. “Who better to tell you where to go in Asbury Park than someone from Asbury Park? And while the Asbury Ocean Club is a more refined product than The Asbury, the guests who are coming there are coming to explore Asbury Park. Yes, they may be a little more affluent, but they still want to spend their time in Asbury Park while they’re here. So the focus of the school remains the hiring of local people.”

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