Des Moines, IA- Oct 11 – On Monday October 8th, Drew Beck, Division President of Reinhart Foodservice, was awarded the 2018 ProStart Mentor of the Year by the Iowa Restaurant Association for his commitment and dedication to future industry leaders. Beck was presented the award at a ceremony in Des Moines by the Incoming Chairman of the National Restaurant Association Board of Directors Joe Essa of Wolfgang Puck Worldwide and the Current Chairman of the Iowa Restaurant Association Board of Directors Darin Beck of Barmuda Companies. Beck always knew he wanted to work in the restaurant industry but when he enrolled college at Eastern Illinois University, there was no culinary program, so Drew opted to study business—but his interest in the restaurant industry held and upon graduation he landed a job as an assistant manager for Bennigan’s.  He still looks back and marvels that at age 22 he helped open and operate a restaurant in Peoria, Illinois. He eventually moved to the distribution side of the food industry working at Hawkeye Foods, U.S. Foods and finely at Reinhardt Foodservice. It was in his current role that he became engaged with Cedar Rapids Washington High School and began to mentor their ProStart students. ProStart is a high school program focused on culinary and restaurant management skill development. As a ProStart mentor, Drew sees his investment in the students as a great return on investment for our industry “Year in and year out our industries biggest problem is labor: not enough, not well trained, and not seeing our industry as a long-term career path. I believe in and support the ProStart program because it is proactively addressing our industries need to develop future leaders,” concludes Beck. A video showcasing Beck can be found at www.restaurantiowa.com. Iowa Restaurant Association The Iowa Restaurant Association is an advocacy organization supporting Iowa’s restaurant and bar industry with educational and promotional programs across the state. Media Contact: Josephine Jensen Public Relations Specialist jjensen@restaurantiowa.com 319-464-0766