West PA Chefs

Throughout the US and Canada USPCA personal chefs in a given area assemble and create a local chapter to help other chefs with community service, awareness campaigns and overall business development.  Each of the 35+ chapters runs as a stand alone organization with guidance from the USPCA.  Web sites, trade shows, community education programs and volunteer duties are all examined and evaluated to determine which chapter truly went above and beyond during the year.  “The Western PA Chapter had outstanding efforts in every category” stated USPCA President Chef Gail Kenagy.

“Our chapter is like a well oiled machine with each member dedicated to industry excellence with a sincere desire to insure each chef is operating at peak proficiency” stated Chef Hering, President of the Western PA Chapter. “From educational meetings designed to help each member give the best possible service to their individual clients, to combining resources to market our individual businesses, the USPCA, our chapter and our industry to reaching out within our community to help others, the members of our chapter have gone above and beyond what is expected of them and each member and their clients have been enriched because of these efforts.”

Judges for this annual competition consisted of professional members within the USPCA.

(Front to back) Chapter VP Chef Catherine Amatangelo-Alfaro, Treasurer Chef Carole Ortenzo CPC and President Chef Tim Hering CPC at the Brown Palace in Denver, CO at the USPCA national convention

Several hundred personal chefs from throughout the United States and Canada converged on Denver this July to participate in educational workshops, business seminars and to hear from industry experts on a wide variety of subjects of importance to independent culinary business operators. “The annual convention is primarily a business building and educational event designed to help independent personal chefs strengthen their business and expand their service” stated USPCA President Chef Gail Kenagy. She continued, “Each of our chapters represent dedicated working professional personal chefs.  Judges spend countless hours examining each chapter’s accomplishments and growth, which is a daunting task at times seeing as how each chapter is unique and really becomes one within their community.”

“Two chapter members were asked to instruct seminars at this year’s conference,” stated Chef Hering. “I instructed two seminars, “Selling Yourself on a Budget,” and “Fusion Marketing: Promoting Your PC Business with Demonstrations,” and Chapter Treasurer, Chef Carole Ortenzo CPC taught the “Health Supportive Cooking” seminar. Chef Catherine, our VP, also assisted me in doing a short skit on How to Boil Water at the beginning of my Fusion Marketing seminar!”

“Even though we each own separate businesses, we each work well together and it’s been a very rewarding year for us!” Chef Hering continued. “We are technically competitors, but our activities have been designed to help support each other creating a supportive environment which often leads us to refer clients to each other since each of us does have a different style and serves a different part of the Western PA and Eastern OH region.”

Over the past year, members of West PA Chefs (http://www.westpachefs.com) have held educational meetings, including a Seafood Demonstration, a lotion making demonstration and sessions designed to prepare each member for the Certified Personal Chef® examination. Each member who had not yet been certified each took the exam and passed! Various members also have participated as a group in several area food shows including Good Taste! Pittsburgh, Farm to Table and Our Valley Cooks, educating the public on the personal chef industry and their individual businesses. The chefs each also find time to offer various cooking demonstrations throughout the region.

In June, four of the members traveled to Washington DC to participate in the Chefs Move to Schools launch ceremony, which was held on the South Lawn of the White House. Nearly 1000 chefs from all over the country joined this initiative along with First Lady Michelle Obama, many of whom are USPCA chefs. “It may sound cliche, but children are our future and we must do whatever we can to ensure they are getting the proper foods and nutrition education,” said Chef Hering. Several of the chapter members have all ready been paired with a school in their area.

There are 5,000+ working personal chefs with the overwhelming majority associated with the USPCA. Personal chefs prepare custom delicious, nutritious meals daily for a wide range of clients in all 50 states and throughout Canada.  Clients using this special service represent active households, affluent seniors and individuals with restrictive dietary needs.  Unlike a private chef who works for one household in an employer-employee relationship, personal chefs own and operate their own independent business and will service 12-20 unique clients each month.  The direct tangible benefits to each client will be the time saved in the actual meal preparation and the associated shopping, while still enjoying exactly what they’ve requested at a cost no greater than a comparable restaurant.  “The coveted dinner hour which has eroded over the years as career and outside influences demand more and more time of individuals is being reinstated thanks to personal chefs who allow families to unite with minimal effort to enjoy healthful custom prepared meals” Kenagy stated.

Locating a personal chef in the Western PA region (including the Youngstown, OH area) can be accomplished by visiting the West PA Chefs website at http://www.westpachefs.com. To locate a personal chef in other regions, you can visit http://www.hireachef.com, the largest and most widely used search site for personal chefs.

The Culinary Business Academy is the educational division of the USPCA, providing world class culinary business education to individuals having the expertise and desire to create excellent meals.  “The Culinary Business Academy is the only provider of personal chef business education to be licensed by a Private Post-Secondary Commission on Higher Education” stated Phil Ellison, USPCA Executive Director.  “Routinely we help individuals reach their goal of independence through professional education and guidance, so that they may be successful and productive in a career field that is enjoyable and rewarding with a very high level of satisfaction” Ellison continued.

The USPCA also monitors and administers the only federally recognized certification program for personal chefs.  Through demonstrated abilities and the acquisition of industry related education and business development courses, the designation of Certified Personal Chef (CPC) is bestowed.  Continued efforts and ongoing educational advancement are requirements to maintain this highly sought after designation.  All USPCA personal chefs are required to demonstrate a standard level of proficiency, evaluated through a testing series.  Only the USPCA requires testing of each member, and each USPCA personal chef is provided with general liability insurance.

“For a service concept that is 20 years old, the industry has just begun to emerge.  Busy active households and the demand for quality nutritional meals will certainly help shape the landscape of this industry for years to come” Ellison stated.  The USPCA remains ever vigilant to stay ahead of demand by developing new educational opportunities, providing business leadership and recognizing trends in consumer needs.