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It isn’t often that one can hold the undivided attention of a busy hotel manager for more than an hour in the midst of a work day.

But on Monday afternoon a group of high school students and early 20-somethings did just that as Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel General Manager Michael J Taylor led them through the behind the scenes operations of the historic Ocean Avenue venue now in its 94th year of operation.

“We’re going to see parts of the building that a lot of people don’t see because I think it’s important that you understand all the different types of opportunities there are in hospitality,” Taylor told the group.

The tour took them through the hotels three ballrooms, kitchen, laundry and boiler rooms, with the pièce de résistance being the two-bedroom suite Johnny Cash called home for many years.

Along the tour he shared is start, working first at the ground level in a restaurant at the age of 16 before moving into the hotel industry.  

“My story is similar to a lot of people stories in this business where you start at a very entry level position and you work your butt off and you get promoted and you work some more and you get promoted…” he said. “I’ve been a general manager for about 25 years.”

The close 20 to young adults are a part of Go For The Gold, a program by the newly revitalized Greater Asbury Park Community Development Initiative comprised of a coalition of partners that on that day included: Caileen Waldron of AmeriCorps VISTA and the Boys and Girls Club of Monmouth County; Kathy Bunton, career coordinator with CVR and Asbury Park HS; Liza DeJesus of Prevention First; Dianna Harris of the Midtown Urban Renaissance Corporation [MURC]; and representatives from Monmouth County Division of Workforce Development; Interfaith Neighbors; and Neptune Township Library Director John Bonney.

Among the Go For The Gold CDI youth participants was budding songwriter Tristan McLean, 23, an Asbury Park native. His interests are many, ranging from from engineering to the arts but getting a stronghold on which direction to move his career aspirations has not been clear cut, he said. In setting out into the workforce, McLean joined the Kula Cafe young adult hospitality training program, a paid workforce development initiative that works in conjunction with CDI.

“One of the main things I’ve learned is leadership skills,”  McLean said. “Since I’m a little older than the rest of the youth, I’ve learned great leadership skills. This is my first time working in a restaurant so it’s a beginning, a first step.”

To that end, Taylor advised how being a part of the hospitality industry is a skill that one can take anywhere in the world.

“The career opportunities are endless because there are so many different ways you can get into our business and move around,” he said. “If you like to travel, if you want to move around, work in a resort at the beach or in the city, there’s just an incredible amount of opportunity. It’s a great business to get into and you don’t necessarily have to come out of college with a PHD or a master’s degree.”  

While in its sixth year, the Community Development Initiative is in the midst of its own resurgence. Their mission is simply to lower juvenile delinquency and create positive outcomes for the youth in the Asbury Park and Neptune Community.

With its Go for the Gold program they concentrate on job readiness for both in school and out of school youth in Asbury Park, Waldron said.

“It has been a partnership between Asbury Park High School, Interfaith Neighbors, and the Division of Workforce Development, she said. “The youth have gone through training to look to better their future.”

At the tour’s end, Taylor gave the young adults applications for summer and part time employment opportunities as well as full time for the adult participants like McLean.

Behind the Program:

Asbury Park became the fifth city in the state selected to form a community initiative to prevent juvenile delinquency and promote positive outcomes for youth in 2011, Waldron said. Selected by the Attorney General’s office it was founded by former Monmouth County Prosecutor Tom Huth and Mayor Ed Johnson.

Currently chaired by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Chris Decker and Mayor John Moor, CDI is comprised of two committees – Out of School Time and Youth Employment. Youth Employment, the host Go for the Gold, and is co-chaired by Heather Schulze of Interfaith Neighbors and Yolanda Taylor of the Division of Workforce Development.

This year the program launched a partnership with the Asbury Park school district, which is headed by Genise Hughes of the College and Career Readiness Institute headed by Brian Stokes.

“No matter what the program is, it is our CDI members who will motivate and do everything,” Waldron said. “They are a great passionate group of people, who already have a great deal of work on their plate. They will then take time out of their days for programs like Go for the Gold to make a difference in the lives of the youth.”

A Go For The Gold program celebration will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Asbury Park Senior Center, located at 1201 Springwood Avenue.

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