Ivy Tech Community College Northeast has received a $150,000 grant from the McMillen Foundation, Inc., which will benefit the College’s Hospitality Administration program.

“To adequately prepare students for the hospitality industry workforce, the program must provide hands-on training at the short-term certificate, technical certificate and two-year degree level,” according to the grant request.

The money will go toward a new bakery for students. This will not only attract more students but allow current students to have access to new technology in the industry, says Sarah Hughes, hospitality administration program chair.

This new bakery will be in addition to the current space where students work, which is more geared toward classical pastries.

“With the new space, we will be able to move more into modern gastronomy and some really cool science with the pastries,” Hughes says. “We’ll look at things like sugar pulling and nitrogen.”

Pulled sugar is sugar that has been headed and specially handled to turn into a glossy mass, used to make decorative shapes. In cooking, nitrogen can be used to make frozen foam or ice cream. The ability to learn about and work with these sorts of techniques will make Ivy Tech Northeast graduates especially desirable in the market, Hughes says.

“This generous gift will assist with the renovation of the hospitality program space, allowing us to expand the hands-on bakery kitchen,” Chancellor Jerrilee K. Mosier says. “With this expansion Ivy Tech Northeast will be able to increase the number of students who can enroll in the program and enhance the quality of the student educational experience.”