Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 19 M AY 3 , 2 0 2 1 F O C U S H O S P I TA L I T Y / T O U R I S M them," says Jenkins, who wears her recruiting hat everywhere she goes. At a retail checkout line, for example, she might encourage a friendly cashier to apply for a table-games dealer job at Hollywood Casino. Her basic pitch: "If you want to have fun at work and enjoy working with people, we've got a job for you." Among statewide food-related com- panies, French-owned Sodexo, which employs 760 people in Maine, is seeking to fill 100 positions this fall. Dan Roy, a Sodexo district manager in Lyman, says that culinary positions are hardest to fill, particularly in rural areas. He frequently underscores in first interviews that a willingness to learn is more important than experience, adding, "You don't have to be perfect from day one." He also says that while Sodexo's benefit package was robust pre-pandemic, it recently added tuition coverage for employees' dependents as an extra incentive. Franchisee frustrations Elsewhere in the industry, franchisees are also experiencing hiring headaches. Mike Connor, who owns Dunkin' franchises in Lewiston, Lisbon, Richmond and Boothbay, currently employs between 43 and 50 people in total with plans to hire up to a dozen by summer. "We're always hiring because turn- over is so high," says Connor. "I'd love to get to the place where we're hiring to replace. It's like a never-ending battle." A former Boston Globe press- man who opened his first franchise in Lewiston in 2005, he recently moved that business from inside a gas-station convenience store into 2,000 square feet of space in a newly constructed 7,000-square-foot building. at new location opened in February. Besides posting openings on job sites including Glassdoor and Indeed, Connor has a contract with TalentReef Inc., a Denver-based recruitment firm with a focus on high-volume, location- based hiring for hourly positions. Job fairs haven't yielded many employees. Connor says that pay rates vary by location. In Boothbay, where Hannaford hires at $19 an hour, "I've got to be competitive." For now, he's not looking to add new locations unless something comes up for sale, noting, "We're still trying to recover from this new con- traction," he says. It's a similar story for Firehouse Subs, which has five Maine fast-food restaurants. "It's the one consistent message that we hear from every one of our franchi- sees — hiring and retaining good quality labor is a challenge, and it has been for a while," says Robert Baldacci, a Firehouse Subs area representative for New England with his wife Elizabeth. Firehouse Subs, a Jacksonville, Fla.- based chain with franchises in Bangor, Waterville, Topsham, Auburn and Biddeford — and Westbrook's Rock Row set to open this summer — has 15 to 20 people at each location. Baldacci, who's been in the res- taurant business his whole life, got involved with Firehouse Subs more than a decade ago. While hiring at each location is left to individual fran- chisees, the Baldaccis help make sure job openings are posted on sites such as Indeed and CareerPlug and provide corporate marketing materials. Speaking to Mainebiz after a call with other area reps nationwide, he says, "I heard this morning that a new restaurant was scheduled to open up in the central part of the U.S. and they're holding off because they can't find enough people to staff their opening, because it's tough." From his regional vantage point, Baldacci sees how his franchisees struggle daily to offset higher labor costs with higher prices or sales volume but remains cautiously optimistic for Firehouse Subs. "As franchisees are continuing to see increased sales," he says, "they'll hope- fully increase some of their salary and wage packages to keep good people." HospitalityMaine's Hewins is bullish on the sector as a whole, saying, "I am optimistic about the 2021 season because consumer demand is strong and Maine's hospitality industry has proven during the pandemic to be innovative, resilient and adaptable to any challenge." TIQA's Haleem is also positive and determined to keep the staff he has, say- ing, "I worry about them and look for- ward to reopening with them on board." R e n e e C o r d e s , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t r c o r d e s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ r s c o r d e s I'd love to get to the place where we're hiring to replace. It's like a never- ending battle. — Mike Connor Dunkin' franchisee

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