Success Story: GLCI responds to regional, industry shifts with new certificate
December 3, 2025
Call it shaken or call it stirred, the beverage industry has seen significant consumer shifts over the last five years.
No longer are choices limited to wine, beer or soda. Now there’s ciders, seltzers and spirits. There’s specialty cocktails, often handcrafted. There’s RTDs, or ready-to-drink cocktails, conveniently bottled or canned. There’s no/lo — as in alcohol — options, also known as mocktails. Plus teas, coffees and waters, all of which can come flavored or infused, handcrafted or RTD.
To serve that rapidly growing and diversifying industry, NMC’s Great Lakes Culinary Institute will offer a one-year beverage management certificate beginning fall 2026. Culinary Director Les Eckert said that northwest Michigan’s many wineries, breweries, distilleries and most recently, cideries make the credential a good fit for GLCI.
“We could see the growth happening all around us,” Eckert said. “We knew we had to get involved.”
While there are beverage programs elsewhere in the U.S., GLCI’s stand-alone certificate will be on the leading edge in Michigan. The curriculum also embeds the experiential learning that is an NMC hallmark.
“Given that no single program in Michigan offers a comprehensive blend of beverage training, GLCI knew the timing was right to offer the Beverage Management certificate,” Eckert said.
GLCI introduced a beverage management class (CUL 232) in 2022. That and one other existing course will be part of the certificate, plus 13 new classes.
Those classes are designed to be experiential. Eckert said that up to 50 percent of the certificate’s courses will be conducted off-site, with industry visits built into course descriptions. For instance, NMC currently offers a viticulture certificate in partnership with Michigan State – a relationship that will mark 35 years next year. GLCI can lean into partnerships developed with winery vineyard managers to get students into cellars and tasting rooms.
Graduates will earn two industry certifications (ServSafe, CUL 110, and TIPS) and be prepared to take other industry exams.
“It really opens the doors for you to gain more globally recognized certifications,” Eckert said.
The beverage management certificate is the third new credential to emerge from GLCI’s 2021-22 reimagination process, which engaged the college, GLCI alumni and culinary/hospitality employers in designing changes to increase enrollment, improve financial performance and help students achieve success. In 2023 the college introduced a two-year culinary-maritime certificate, and in 2024 a two-year sports performance nutrition certificate debuted.
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