Melba Taylor (left) shows off one of the Freedom Inn’s state-of-the art food chillers to Mans Persaud, business counselor from the Maryland Business Enterprise Program for the Blind (MBEPB). The newly-opened 27,550-square-foot Freedom Inn at Ft. Meade, Maryland, managed by Melba Taylor, a vendor in the Maryland Business Enterprise Program for the Blind (MBEPB), is a perfect example of how much concession opportunities available through the program have expanded in the past decade.
The 9.5-million-dollar cafeteria serves three meals a day and 1,227 military personnel in 90 minutes. There are hot entrees, a salad bar, a sandwich station and fresh desserts. The facility offers five dining areas and a veranda, ten wall-mounted televisions and three cashiers. A separate carry-out facility will open in late summer.
At Freedom Inn, the MBEPB provides contract management along with Son’s Quality Foods as the teaming partner. Over 60 employees keep the facility operating seven days a week. As a contract manager, Melba trains and oversees personnel, plans menus, controls costs and solves minute-to-minute operational issues. "The business support from the MBEPB is phenomenal," she says.
The MBEPB and Melba have operated a facility at Ft. Meade for almost four years. She has a Master’s degree in Human Development and worked previously in the human resource field. After retinitis pigmentosa began to significantly limit her vision, she decided to change careers.
Cleanliness is of utmost importance in military food facilities. Melba enforces all aspects of sanitation, including details that many places overlook. "Little things make a big difference," she says. Employees remove crumbs from chairs and fingerprints from stainless steel napkin holders.
Melba and facility manager Frances McAfee (right) recently led the staff in competing in the prestigious Philip A. Connelly Awards for Excellence in Army Food Service. It took close to a year to prepare. The group came in second to Ft. Bragg and was the only civilian-run operation to ever place in the fiercely competitive event. In April, the two traveled to Miami to accept the award on behalf of Freedom Inn employees. "We were celebrities," says Melba.
Melba says that the Freedom Inn is one of the first military facilities to operate with a web-based point-of-service check-out. The system tracks inventory, meal payments and other important patron information.
The Freedom Inn serves Defense Information School students, reserve and guard soldiers, as well as Ft. Meade active duty personnel.
The facility and its employees, such as grill attendant Erena Vicente (right) follow both food service industry guidelines as well as food service guidelines from the U.S. military. Most employees are certified by ServSafe, the food service industry’s standard.
Melba and her staff take customer suggestions seriously.
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