O'Charley's partners with several area schools

CLEVELAND, Tenn. (Aug. 4, 2008)—O’Charley’s recently became an official BEST partner with E.L. Ross Elementary School, Cleveland Middle School and Walker Valley High School.

“I value education because I employ future leaders,” Mark Walkup, general manager of the local restaurant said. Some 60 percent of his 112 employees are students.

BEST, the acronym for Business & Education Serving Together, is a workforce development program of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce. It partners local businesses and schools that, in turn commit to each other their time, energy and expertise.

Walkup treated principals Doug Moore, Jeff Elliott and Danny Coggin and Chamber of Commerce representatives Sherry Crye and Nancy Neal to lunch following the official designation of the partnerships.

“It’s a good thing for the community to see what you do,” Coggin said to Walkup. All agreed that the schools and the restaurant are both in the service industry and provide customer service.

According to Sherry Crye, director of workforce development, the Chamber’s BEST program helps to strengthen the quality of the educational process through the utilization of community resources, to foster better understanding between the business community and the schools, and to expand learning opportunities for everyone involved in the partnership effort.

“A true partnership represents more than just a financial commitment,” Crye explained. “It promotes a greater understanding between the needs of business and what is being taught in our schools and expands learning opportunities for everyone involved in the partnership effort. We hope more businesses will respond to the needs we have in our educational systems and will follow the lead of businesses like O’Charley’s.”

Each public school in the Bradley County and Cleveland City School Systems has one or more local business partners.

For information about the partnership program, call Sherry Crye, director of workforce development, at the Chamber.

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