Officials Monday will announce an agreement to help local residents train for culinary careers at the MGM Springfield casino.
A portion of previously negotiated annual payments from MGM to the city of Holyoke will be used to fully subsidize tuition for 50 Holyoke residents to enroll in the culinary program at Holyoke Community College.
Program chairman Warren Leigh said a new state-of-the art center for the school’s culinary training and hospitality management courses will open next year in a former downtown factory building.
"This is going to be it. This should be the place for people to get professional development," said Leigh.
MGM estimates it will have up to 900 job openings in the hospitality sector when the Springfield casino opens in 2018.
