COLLEGE STATION – Peyton Carter dreams of the day when he can open his own café after graduating from Texas A&M University.

He has visions of serving sandwiches, a variety of coffees – and filling a niche market in The Woodlands of north Houston.

The senior agricultural economics major from Willis jumped at the chance to join a newly formed restaurant and hospitality management club at Texas A&M. The club is spearheaded by Dr. John Siebert, an agricultural economist with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and A&M professor.

Siebert's research has identified opportunities for students to pursue restaurant management positions and make as much as $40,000 a year right out of school.

Consolidation throughout the agriculture industry has slimmed down job opportunities for new graduates, according to Siebert. But his research has discovered a new trend in the restaurant industry that's sparked the interest of several agribusiness majors.

Young, up-and-coming restaurant chains are aggressively expanding and seeking bright, hard-working graduates, Siebert said. They are training recent graduates to manage new restaurants popping up throughout Texas and the southwest.

Companies such as Fired Up Inc., parent company of Johnny Carinos, and Pappas Restaurants, continue to open new eateries at a fast clip, attempting to satisfy an ever-increasing demand for people dining away from home.

"This is the area in food production that is growing very, very quickly," says Siebert. "You have to look at how we spend our money these days. There are a lot of people who eat away from home. When you eat away from home, you have to ask, ‘Could it be others are, and how can you make money off of that?'"

Forty-seven percent of all U.S. food expenditures are now for food away from home, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. National statistics indicate Americans are spending $900 billion on food each year.

"Nearly half of this money goes to a food service facility," Siebert said.

In 2002, restaurants, school cafeterias and a wide variety of other food service establishments sold $415 billion worth of away-from-home meals and snacks, excluding alcoholic beverages, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

At Texas A&M, Siebert found there was no restaurant club for students. While many students work at restaurants while going to school, he said by forming the club they could "leverage their college work experience into a career."

The A&M restaurant club, which began during the spring semester, is helping students network with restaurant recruiters. There's a gold mine of an opportunity for students to get into restaurant management – and executives are welcoming the graduates Siebert is sending them, he says.

Creed Ford, president of Fired Up Inc. and a sponsor of the restaurant club, said the biggest challenge his company faces is educating people for whom the restaurant industry can be a serious career.

"It has been, over the years, a big stepping block to go from making some part-time money and working through college (to a career in the restaurant industry)," he said. "I think the restaurant club is an avenue that will educate people that the restaurant industry is a wonderful, lifelong career opportunity not only in restaurant operations, but marketing, accounting, information technology and other professional positions."

The club has also been identified as a great recruiting tool, said Ken Spitler, executive vice president of SYSCO, a Houston-based food service corporation and another club sponsor.

"John has sent us some excellent candidates for employment, and we've hired a number of them," Spitler said.

Guest speakers from the restaurant industry are invited to speak and network with the students. Beth Stephens, director of recruiting with Pappas Restaurants, spoke to the club during the spring semester.

"This club is something that has been a long time in coming," she said. "Texas A&M is the only college I recruit from that doesn't have a hospitality degree. There are just a great deal of great, quality students there. Just because they don't offer a hospitality degree doesn't mean there aren't great students."

The club meets once a month during the fall and spring semesters and has about 50 members.

"It gives me a chance to rub elbows with the people that normally wouldn't come to College Station," said Carter, who is getting valuable experience working for the university's food service operation this summer. "I'm getting my hands on keeping track of inventory, keeping the menus updated, just keeping everything flowing."

So far, the restaurant club hasn't been a hard sell to students. Since her freshman year, Kelly Lish has been seeking an organization that would help her find a lucrative career after graduation, she said.

"My plan for the future is to manage restaurants when I graduate, go to culinary school, and open my own chic family entertainment restaurant," said Lish, a junior agribusiness major. "This club is exactly what I need because it brings in some of the best in the restaurant field to tell us about their experience and advice on how to succeed."

The club has already helped her land a summer internship with Pappas Restaurants' Pappadeux seafood chain.

"Dr. Siebert has done an awesome job of putting it together," Lish said. "It has been such a help to network with so many new people."

Jared Tusa, who graduated in May, said he has benefitted from the club. After attending a meeting that brought in a recruiter from Johnny Carinos, he landed a management position at one of the company's San Marcos restaurants.

"I haven't been in a club at A&M where you could interact with companies like this," he said. "I think you could for sure get a job with a company if you get involved with the club."

The club's Web site can be found at http://atm-restaurant.notlong.com/ .