Nothing says “summer” like the red-and-white striped awning of Wilson’s Restaurant & Ice Cream Parlor in Ephraim.
But preparations for the busy summer season start when snow is still flying. Sarah Martin, whose family owns the iconic Door County restaurant, begins hiring her summer workforce in January. She needs that much time to get in place the 75 to 80 people they hire each summer.
“I use a lot of varied platforms to reach potential workers, plus we have job fairs at high schools and then there’s just word‑of‑mouth as we get siblings, friends or even children of previous workers who have heard this is a great place to work,” Martin says.
Finding summer help is an annual tradition for businesses in summer tourist destinations.
“This time of year is when we really work with employers to advertise their opportunities on Jobsindoorcounty.com for the summer,” says Phil Berndt, director of partner services for Destination Door County.
Jobsindoorcounty.com is a website listing jobs countywide ranging from summer help at restaurants and hotels to permanent, full‑time manufacturing jobs.
According to recent Jobsindoorcounty.com statistics, 80% of searches came from Wisconsin residents and a large portion of those looking for summer jobs were hoping to find ones that included housing, Berndt says. Workforce housing is a key issue in the county and some employers provide housing for their employees.
At Wilson’s, Martin uses Jobsindoorcounty.com, social media and Handshake to attract jobseekers who don’t hear about the openings through word-of-mouth or at the high school job fairs.
“We try to start hiring students in high school, so they are with us for a couple of years,” she says. “We are fortunate — about two-thirds of our staff return each year, which shows they like the atmosphere and the work they do here. They work hard and play hard.”
While many workers are from Door County, Wilson’s still attracts workers from other states. Some of last summer’s workers came from Florida, New Jersey, California and Washington, D.C. Wilson’s has housing for about 14 workers, but Martin says many non-local workers stay with relatives who live in the area for the summer.
Laura Colbert, Waupaca parks and recreation director, got an early start on summer hiring. She started in November.
“Usually, I don’t start until February, but we are in dire need of lifeguards,” says Colbert, who is also looking for an adult to help manage Waupaca’s beach and another adult to help with the parks crew from April to September.
The bulk of Colbert’s recruiting is focused on local teens and college students. She uses the school district to help spread the word along with the community newsletter, social media, the city’s website, a printed program and digital displays at city hall, the library and rec center.
“Last year was a rough year for lifeguards, but we were able to find what we needed,” Colbert says.
Attracting foreign workers
Door County utilizes foreign workers through the BridgeUSA program (formerly known as the J-1 visa program), Berndt says. As part of the program, foreign university students work for three months and travel for one month.
“They must be in school when they come here and return to school when they’re done working here,” he says, adding he can tell foreign students are searching for positions on Jobsindoorcounty.com based on IP data.
Wilson’s attracts some employees from overseas through the program. Martin says the visa workers make up less than 10% of the restaurant’s workforce. “They are a nice addition since they stay longer into the fall than some of our other employees,” she says.
Martin says it’s too early to tell if there will be any issues with the program this summer given the nation’s fluctuating rules regarding visas.
“We’ve been working with the J-1 visa program for more than 20 years and we’ve had some workers in the past who haven’t gotten their visas, but we’ve just moved on. That happened to one of our students last year,” she says.
Destination Door County works with employers to ensure they’re providing an exceptional experience for students who travel to Door County to work, Berndt says.
“We’ve seen steady growth in the foreign worker program the past 10 years. We bring employers together and talk about experiences to help the employees feel more welcomed and connected, like field trips to museums or even a cookout,” Berndt says.
Last year, 550 BridgeUSA students worked in Door County over the summer.
BridgeUSA students can work their primary jobs for 40 hours per week; many of them pick up a second or even a third job, Berndt says.
“These employees are vital for our businesses,” he says.
