After 40 years, NECI to close its doors - WCAX

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MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) - A school that has educated world-renowned chefs for the last 40 years is closing its doors. The New England Culinary Institute is done. Our Calvin Cutler looks into why and what this means for Vermont’s food scene.

College leaders announced they are suspending credit programs back in early November. The last five students are slated to graduate this spring.

“The smaller classrooms and really getting to know the chefs and the students and getting to work with local farms and the community connection,” said Lucas Williams, the general manager of the Reservoir in Waterbury.

Williams graduated from NECI back in 2011. He’s one of the thousands of chefs and hospitality leaders who attended the school which opened forty years ago. At its peak, more than 700 students attended classes in Montpelier and Essex Junction and worked in several flagship restaurants across the state.

The writing has been on the wall for some time. NECI has faced budgetary issues and declining enrollment in recent years.

The pandemic proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back as most of the school’s classes are hands-on and the state’s restrictions made it difficult to deliver classes.

Restaurant leaders say the closure will make workforce problems worse.

“Finding quality staff, if you polled every restaurant across the state, is our number one challenge,” said Noah Fishman, the co-owner of Zenbarn in Waterbury Center.

Vermont restauranteurs such as Fishman say the closure of NECI comes as a hit to Montpelier and Vermont’s food scene as a whole, as many graduates stayed in Vermont and set up their own businesses.

But Fishman hopes the closure will inspire state leaders and the restaurant industry to take a hard look at bolstering the hospitality workforce.

“Not only get them trained up but get them inspired to do quality work and understand what it’s like to put out a great meal for people and why that’s so important. There’s a lot of education and a lot of inspiration behind that,” Fishman said.

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After 40 years, NECI to close its doors - WCAX

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