With the summer season coming to an end Labor Day weekend, and high school and college students heading back to school, the shortage of workers here in the Mount Washington Valley, as elsewhere, is becoming more pronounced.
“My job title is manager, marketing and events, but today I think I’m wearing the additional hat of station master and dispatcher and anything else that’s needed,” said Brian Solomon, overseeing the trains at the Conway Scenic Railroad’s North Conway station on a busy Tuesday afternoon.
Conway Scenic took out a full-page help-wanted ad in The Conway Daily Sun earlier this month.
“We are desperately looking for people to help us handle peak loads in all areas,” said Solomon. “We have had a record number of riders for most of the year. We basically are pitching that this is a unique opportunity to learn about a historic railroad and to work in a fun environment, whether that be on the trains, in the gift shop, culinary, tickets, and buildings and grounds.”
The tourist railroad did fewer runs per day this summer but added more cars to handle the demand, Solomon said.
“We have run only four trains per day versus five and the Mountaineer through Crawford Notch only three days, but come fall we will be going back to seven days a week for the Mountaineer for foliage.”
Like other attractions, CSRR is happy to hire part-time retirees and others just looking to fill in.
Charyl Reardon, president of the White Mountains Attractions Association in North Woodstock, which includes such valley attractions as the Mt. Washington Auto Road, Cranmore Mountain Resort, Attitash, Wildcat and Story Land, agreed that most attractions are having a big summer but that many have had to cut days of operation to five or six days a week due to lack of staff.
“What Brian said is spot on – the biggest hurdle has been the workforce and having enough people to operate seven days a week,” said Reardon.
It’s a common theme heard throughout the valley, not only at attractions but at restaurants and retail shops as well.
Notes Laura Lemieux, events and marketing director at Settlers Green outlet mall in North Conway, the stores are busy – but she worries about “burnout” among stafffers, as do all of the employers contacted this week.
“Retailers are offering competitive wages at starting pay I have never seen before and it is still a struggle to hire,” said Lemieux.
“The employment issues are obviously affecting cities and towns nationwide, but because we already had a pre-pandemic problem with affordable housing and an aging New Hampshire population, I think the problem has compounded in our area,” Lemieux said.
“National statistics are showing that people are leaving the service industry in record numbers, and retail is not sheltered from that. Our mall managers and employees are working hard to maintain their teams and build business as we see more and more visitors pour into the Mount Washington Valley,” she said, adding, “I give each and every one of them huge credit as the stress is tremendous and the customer appreciation is hard to come by at times. Our tenants are surpassing 2019 sales, and they are doing it with half the staff they once had.
“As a mall manager, the goal is to provide shoppers with the best experience possible,” Lemieux continued. “We have reduced our operation hours to create consistency mall-wide for shopping hours to best serve our customers. That’s also creating some relief for certain tenants operating on a shoestring roster of employees.
“It’s really hard, and I worry about all of our employees and the betterment of our valley as we all continue to navigate this labor shortage across all industries.”
Many restaurants and pubs have had to shorten their days of operation and hours of doing business on those days when they are open. Patrons have to do their homework before heading out for dinner to make sure that their preferred restaurant or attraction is open that given day.
Those few that are open seven days a week – such as Horsefeathers Restaurant and Sports Bar in North Conway and the Red Fox Bar and Grile in Jackson – have seen very strong summers.
Everyone is also facing increased costs, including restaurateurs, who are paying higher prices not only for food but for supplies.
Terry O’Brien, co-owner of the Red Parka Steakhouse and Pub in Glen – who has been seen busing tables and working in the kitchen this summer – said everyone is working hard.
“We have raised all hourly staff by significant amounts – consider that the entry-level position of dishwasher is now starting at $15 an hour,” said O’Brien
“The server assistant positions are now getting well above minimum wage, but if you include tips, they are averaging between $15-$25 an hour,” she said.
“Because we don’t have music as often or as late, all the bartenders got a big raise this summer. The servers are making more money than they have ever done.
“But this comes with a cost. Most are working five shifts a week and working harder than they have ever done,” O’Brien said.
“We are open fewer hours but serving close to the same number of dinners as 2019. The drawback is that we are doing this in a shorter amount of time which puts a lot of stress on staff.”
O’Brien says she doesn’t believe in sign-on bonuses, but she has offered a different bonus for those who get vaccinated. “All staff that got vaccinated got a $100 bonus. And right now, I only have one person that is unvaccinated,” said O’Brien.
Sharing her concern is Ken Donabedian, co-operator with his wife, Carol, of the fellow Valley Originals Restaurant, Priscilla’s Country Kitchen, a breakfast and lunch eatery in North Conway Village.
Their shortage of staff at the popular eatery was further exacerbated by the tragic death last week of longtime cook Eric Ray, 52, of North Conway, who was struck by a New Jersey driver the evening of Aug. 16 while crossing the North-South Road.
“We have been running a lot more ads, as has everyone else, to try and attract help, but it has been fruitless,” said Donabedian.
Like others, the restaurant used to be open seven days but is now down to five – and Donabedian says due to being short-staffed, they may decide to close a third day.
Brian Erling, co-owner with wife, Lucy, of Dairy Queen Chill and Grill of North Conway and Glen, said come Labor Day, he will be down to a staff of four plus himself and his wife as he will be losing eight workers (four J-1 foreign workers from the Glen restaurant and four from the North Conway operation). The North Conway DQ is open only for drive-through due to staffing.
Both establishments have been open seven days a week.
“I’m a capitalist and pro-business, but I don’t understand why the town keeps approving all these new businesses when you can’t find staff,’ said Erling, who formerly worked in the construction business before joining his wife in the family Dairy Queen business 12 years ago.
Farther south in Glen, Dunkin’ Donuts has closed after shifting its workers to the North Conway restaurant. The Dunkin’ Donuts within Walmart in North Conway has also closed temporarily due to lack of staff.
Larry Flaherty of the Met Coffeehouse of North Conway Village and Settlers Green (and soon to include a third shop across from L.L. Bean’s in Freeport, Maine) has had to cut back on hours and days of operation to six so as to not burn out his staff. He agreed it has been an incredibly strong season.
He and wife, Diane, provide a benefits package with health insurance and he has upped wages, which has helped to retain staff. He will begin offering a 401(k) package for their workers in a few weeks.
“It’s been a very, very busy summer. Being open six instead of seven days at both establishments has an impact on revenue, sure – but you can only do what you can do,” said Flaherty, who bought the Met in North Conway nearly seven years ago, then expanded to Settlers Green three years ago.
Jen Kovach, co-owner with Kevin Flynn of Max’s Restaurant of the Snowvillage Inn in Eaton, said they, too, have had to adapt to the changing workforce, including cutting back dining to Wednesday through Saturday.
“For the restaurant, we have raised everybody’s wages so that the starting salary is twice minimum wage. We are also offering bonuses. And of course we offer everything the (MWV) chamber has to offer for us as members, including the ski pass, golf pass, etc.,” said Kovach.
Tom Kugel of Cafe Noche of Conway Village said he has had to cut back days of operation to five due to a lack of employees. “As owners we have also worked more hours then in the past. We have also given an average of $2 more an hour to kitchen staff,” said Kugel.
Veteran general manager W. Craig Boyer of the Eagle Mountain House in Jackson agreed that business has boomed but that locally, the demand for employees looms over all.
“It’s probably going to go down as one of our best summers in recent memory but there are a lot of frustrations of not being able to operate at full capacity,” said Boyer, noting the hotel is offering dining five nights a week now (it was six days a week until this past week when many college students left). Boyer said his staff has gone back to wearing masks indoors due to the increase in New England of Delta variant virus cases.
“We have not passed the mask rule onto guests, but we do ask if they are not vaccinated to wear masks,” said Boyer.
Katy Daly of the Red Jacket Mountain View and Kahuna Laguna Waterpark of North Conway said it’s been a great summer. To attract workers, the resort hosted a job fair Aug. 11 that resulted in some successes.
“We had a drawing for all who attended which offered dinner for four and admission to the water park, which were won by one of our new housekeepers and the other by a front-desk person,” said Daly.
Mike Somers, CEO and president of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association in Concord, said that’s just one example of how management has had to be creative in attracting and keeping employees.
He said the labor shortage is not just the hospitality industry and that it’s across the state.
“We are certainly seeing many restaurants due to a lack of staff shut down one or two days a week when they used to be open seven,” said Somers this week.
“Food costs have also gone up – a restaurant owner told me that before the pandemic, a case of chicken wings cost $37; now it’s $157, a 500% increase. Steaks at some places are $50 now. As a result of those increases, restaurants are having to offer a shorter and simpler menu, taking off items because given the price increases, they cannot offer some items at prices that customers will buy,” Somers said.
“It’s been a very challenging year, and my heart goes out to operators who are working day and night to maintain,” said Somers.
On Thursday, Michelle Cruz, assistant director of the Mt. Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce, hosted a meeting on ways to support the workforce on Tuesday, working with Jimmie Hinson and Joe Doiron, both with the Office of Workforce Opportunities, part of the state Department of Economic Affairs. Others attending the meeting included included Tyler Ray of Backyard Concepts of Conway; Nicki Chewning, director of alternative programs at Kennett; Virginia Schrader, from the MWV Career and Technical Center program at Kennett High; and Scott Koblich, who manages the Conway office for N.H. Employment Security.
“We began discussing ways to create a sustainable workforce program in June (taking a look at what has been done in the past and what can work moving forward) and are continuing those efforts,” Cruz said.
Ideas discussed included working on a shuttle service for workers; helping teens get their driver’s license so they have more flexibility to work; bringing in workers from other countries; getting people from other parts of New England to move here; and equipping students to enter the workforce successfully.
In addition, she said the chamber is researching opportunities to work with the National Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce. With the challenges to recruit J-1, H-1B and H-2B staff the National Puerto Rico Chamber has created a program in hopes to support workforce recruitment in the states.
But when those people arrive, where are they going to live? The lack of affordable housing keeps emerging as a big obstacle to raising employment numbers.
Harrison Kanzler, executive director of the non-profit MWV Housing Coalition noted in a Wednesday webinar sponsored by the New Hampshire Housing and New Hampshire Business Review that because of high rents and low inventory, many workers have to commute 45 minutes to an hour to get here from western Maine or central New Hampshire.
In response, he cited employers considering building rental properties for employers – though facing face questions on how do they deal with tenants once they are no longer employees.
He and other panelists also said communities need to adopt more ordinances that allow for workforce housing and greater density in areas serviced by municipal water and sewer.
Add short-term rentals into the mix, and the problems of inventory and price grow daunting.
But like their skeleton crews, employers remain resolute.
“I think that ought to be your story – how this valley is home to intelligent business owners who have a business plan and are working their way forward,” said Stu Dunlop, owner/proprietor of the Wildcat Inn and Tavern of Jackson and the Kearsarge Inn in North Conway.
He took some swipes at Conway town government for a lack of planning and leadership concerning affordable housing and zoning, with the town seeking commercial development at the expense of what he charged is a lack of long-range planning, as witnessed by the heated discussions over the Conway Planning Board’s review of a new large hotel proposed for the north end of town in Intervale.
“The lack of affordable housing, the lack of a sustainable educated workforce … all of it! Town leadership has been absent in all the time I have been here to address these issues and now they’ve come home to roost,” charged Dunlop.
He said his business has been “very strong, maybe the strongest ever,” but that the Wildcat Inn and Tavern is only open “75% of the time.”
“We’re up, but we could be incredibly up! The demand is through the roof! That is the frustration that all businesses are saying,” said Dunlop. “There are plenty of customers to be had but not enough staff to capture that business.”
“Due to short staffing, we are limiting our business to 150 people a night but many nights we are turning away another 100 – so we are turning away almost as many people that we are able to serve.”
He said one customer who was turned away asked where else he could go – with so many restaurants cutting back on their midweek hours, Dunlop said, “I didn’t want to sound like a jerk – but I told him that given the situation, to maybe try a grocery store?”
Many locals have taken the same advice, given the summer craze of business and long lines.
These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.