In the spirit of the idea that everything is a market, here's a story about how the closure of a school impacts the local labor market. Beyond that, how it impacts Houston's effort to stay at the forefront of the national restaurant scene.
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The Art Institute of Houston’s brightest culinary school graduates through the years offered a glimpse of success to prospective students. Their accomplishments included winning prestigious James Beard awards, competing on TV shows such as "Top Chef," opening splashy restaurants, writing glossy cookbooks, collaborating with brands on lucrative deals — all glamorous opportunities compared with the daily grind of laboring over a hot stove.
Behind the scenes, however, the school struggled to stay afloat in recent years. Ownership switched several times, and the network of Art Institutes across the country, some of which lost accreditation, faced financial troubles. Some staffers in Houston said they cleaned toilets when the school lacked basic janitorial services. Students thought they would receive career advice but at times had no access to counselors. Basic necessities such as proper knives and ingredients went missing.
On Sept. 30, the Art Institute of Houston, 4140 Southwest Freeway, closed with little warning.
Students and employees were given less than a week’s notice that all eight Art Institute campuses across the country would shut down. The closures — in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Atlanta, Miami, Virginia Beach, Va., and Tampa, Fla., in addition to Houston — left 1,700 students in limbo, according to the Department of Education.
