TRA Education Foundation Partners with Texas Gas Services

The Texas Restaurant Association (TRA) Education Foundation announced that Texas Gas Service is one of the partners in the Texas ProStart Invitational Competition which showcases the talents and abilities of high school culinary arts and restaurant management students enrolled in Texas ProStart programs across the state.

The Texas ProStart Invitational is composed of two distinct competitions: the culinary and management competitions. Regional competitions are held in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio and first through third place winning teams from each regional then compete at the state finals in Austin. The two winning teams, one culinary and one management, represent Texas at the National ProStart Invitational.

“The support we receive from companies like Texas Gas Service enables us to put on a truly first-class competition which showcases the amazing abilities of these high school students,” said Tap Bentz, of Outback Steakhouse, who also chairs the TRA Education Foundation. “Every time we see these students in action, we are excited about the future of our industry.”

“Texas Gas Service is proud to sponsor the Texas ProStart Invitational,” said Customer Development Specialist Wayne Snead, Texas Gas Service. “The competition provides an opportunity for high school students to further develop their culinary talents and experience the benefits of cooking with natural gas.”

The Texas ProStart program is in more than 150 high schools across Texas, training more than 12,000 students annually. It provides an industry based education that prepares students for careers in the restaurant and foodservice industry. They gain valuable restaurant skills through their academic and workplace experience.

Texas Restaurant Association Education Foundation
It is the mission of the Texas Restaurant Association Education Foundation to provide educational opportunities for restaurant careers in Texas. www.restaurantville.com/education

Texas Gas Service
Texas Gas Service provides natural gas service to more than 600,000 customers in the state of Texas. It is a division of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE), a diversified energy company. ONEOK is the general partner and owns 42.8 percent of ONEOK Partners, L.P. (NYSE: OKS), one of the largest publicly traded limited partnerships, which is a leader in the gathering, processing, storage and transportation of natural gas in the U.S. and owns one of the nation’s premier natural gas liquids (NGL) systems, connecting NGL supply in the Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain regions with key market centers. ONEOK is among the largest natural gas distributors in the United States, serving more than 2 million customers in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. Its energy services operation focuses primarily on marketing natural gas and related services throughout the U.S. ONEOK is a Fortune 500 company and is included in the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Stock Index.

For more information, visit the Web sites at www.texasgasservice.com or www.oneok.com.