Hiring on the peninsula is always on the minds of local businesses and municipalities as organizations hit the homestretch to find help for the quickly approaching summer season.
Joshua Deters, owner of Suttons Bay restaurant VI Grill and Fiddleheads in Lake Leelanau, is heading into the summer season with a team ready to serve up meals and memories.
“I’m pretty much almost set on all front of the house employees, and I’m just looking to pick up a couple back of the house and kitchen staff (at VI Grill),” he said. “I’m really fortunate because I’ve retained a lot of staff over the years and then I have a lot of kids coming back to work here the past couple of summers who are going through high school and college.”
Deters says it’s been different for the 2.5-year-old Fiddleheads.
Despite being new, Deters has managed to build a reliable team.
“I pretty much have the same people working there that I’ve had since we almost opened ... I’m probably looking to pick up maybe two or three more over there at the most ... I think the relationship first and then just making sure that everybody is treated with respect within the workplace (is key to retaining employees),” he said.
Deters has very much relied on word of mouth in filling positions.
“A lot of our staff comes from referrals from other staff members. It’s really important to develop the relationship with the current staff members because they enjoy working here and they make good money,” Deters said. “Having employees recruit people themselves is one of the best things that has worked for me and that just goes back once again, making sure that they enjoy their work environment ... If they do, they’ll go out and tell other people about it and then those people in turn will come in looking for employment.”
David Alberts, owner of Boathouse Vineyards in Lake Leelanau, says the hiring market remains competitive heading into the summer of 2024.
“I don’t mind when we have more wineries come up by way of the competition, that’s healthy, but what it does also is it takes away your pool of (workers),” Alberts said.
Alberts acknowleges the need for quality hospitality workers that can work five-six hours, and at no matter what time, if that next person comes they have to be treated with the same positive
energy.
“That next person that comes in, got to greet them just as well as you greet that first one at noon. (Customers) come up here maybe once a year and they’re coming up, they’re looking foragoodexperience. people that we hire, you a smile on your face and that’s hard sometimes,” said.
Boathouse Vineyards offers on online sites like Indeed, Linkedin, among others, but have not found much success from using the wellknown platforms.
“Hiring right now is more with our existing staff, word of mouth or people that we know. That’s how we do it because half the time you get someone just out of the blue ... but it’s not just anyone, they got to be darn good at customer service. That’s what’s going to keep (customers) coming back to our place,” Alberts said. “We could still use more people.”
In the vineyard, Alberts says help from the H-2A Agricultural program has remained steady over the years. I n the labor industry, Aaron Novak of Novak Painting, would love to find some more steady hands to help with the long standing Leelanau painting business.
“It just seems like the demand is at a high right now to where it’s hard to find help and it’s really hard to find good help that is looking for a long term gig,” Novak said. “We found that Indeed thing, a lot of times you’re just finding six month employees ... We haven’t had much luck hiring long term employees ... It’s also the housing market. It’s hard for an employee to live in Traverse City. If they’re starting out as a young apprentice. It’s hard for them to get ahead nowadays.”
Novak advertises 24/7 looking for help that wants to learn the lucrative skill set.
