Fundamental Workforce Partnerships

Industry Stakeholder Engagement Is Key To Building Connections With Local Workforce Boards

In October 2019, the Northwest Oregon Works (NOW) Board of Directors and Consortium of Local Elected Officials voted to approve the addition of the Leisure and Hospitality industry to our regional targeted sector initiatives. NOW is the Local Workforce Development Board that serves Benton, Lincoln, Tillamook, Clatsop, and Columbia Counties. Besides NOW’s established relationship with the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association (ORLA) and the Oregon Coast Visitors Association (OCVA) and within ORLA, the Oregon Hospitality Foundation, the Board and Consortium agreed that this industry could not be ignored. Little did they know that just five months later, the hospitality industry would be devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that Lincoln and Clatsop County would see the highest unemployment numbers in the state for many months consecutively.

NOW has seen firsthand the importance of a healthy hospitality industry in promoting a diverse and vibrant regional economy. We are proud to be the first Local Workforce Board (LWB) to recognize Oregon’s hospitality industry as a major sector in our region. We are working with industry leaders and stakeholders to identify ways that we can close workforce gaps and assist in the important work of rebuilding the success, health, and vitality of our “vacation destination” superheroes. We are also proud to have Zach Poole, Vice President of Pig ‘N Pancake, serve on our board to help inform us on the work of the hospitality industry.

Every May, ORLA assesses their member activity within each county. Below are the total number of foodservice and lodging locations in each of our five counties*: The identification of the Leisure and Hospitality industry as a targeted sector in NOW’s 5-county region sets in motion a series of resources that will benefit industry partners as well as the jobseeking workforce that they need to attract. Local Boards do not deliver direct services. Most services are delivered through or in partnership with the WorkSource Oregon system (WSO). NOW has six WSO centers located in our 5-county region including Corvallis, Newport, Lincoln City, Tillamook, Astoria, and St. Helens. Housed within those WSOs are various partners who work to connect job seekers and businesses. Other functions of the WSOs include outreach and intake, career coaching, linkages to wrap-around support services, training (to include earn-and-learn opportunities), placement, retention, and career advancement.

It is through the WSO system that our service providers, Equus Workforce Solutions and Community Services Consortium, help jobseekers get connected to employment in the Leisure and Hospitality industry. For example, a jobseeker named Lydia came into a WSO seeking employment. She was a single mother with two small children and had not worked in a number of years. Through an individual assessment of her work experience, it was determined that she had been a food server years earlier, prior to having her kids. With the help of a workshop offered at the center, she was able to take a resume writing class to spruce up her resume. She was also able to get assistance with the required food and alcohol serving permits and was given a list of job openings close to her home. Lydia was successfully hired at a popular local brewery.

For Leisure and Hospitality businesses across the state who are not located in NOW’s region, rest assured that you also have a Local Workforce Board and WSOs wherever you are. You have a Local Board that is doing their best to be responsive to the needs of businesses in their area, through the WSO system, regardless of their identified sectors.

• Columbia, 111 • Lincoln, 406 • Clatsop, 228 • Benton, 233 • Tillamook, 182 * Data from May 2021. These numbers may have changed.

On-Demand Course Providing Service While Supporting Safety

Guest Service Tips During Covid-19 Challenges

This online course is scenario-driven addressing common guest service challenges restaurant and hotel staff are experiencing during the pandemic. Choose from a restaurant or hotel version, available in English and Spanish.

Skills Participants Will Learn:

• Guest-friendly communication of safety procedures and expectations • Creating and reinforcing organizational credibility with safety practices • Approaching a non-compliant guest with the goal of avoiding escalation • Creating positive guest experiences despite potentially awkward safety protocols

Course is available for a donation. Funds will help support the Oregon Hospitality Foundation’s mission to provide timely resources such as this course, in addition to operational funding needed to support programs for the hospitality industry’s workforce and philanthropic needs.

SPONSORS AND PARTNERS

RESTAURANT CONSULTANTS

There are nine Local Workforce Boards and 38 WorkSource offices across the state of Oregon:

PHOTO COURTESY OF: WORKSOURCEOREGON.ORG

Those are examples of the boots-on-the-ground activities that happen when businesses partner with the public workforce system. The Local Workforce Board plays a much broader role, however. LWBs are tasked with fund management, research, resource development, systems coordination, compliance, tracking and reporting, continuous improvement, and importantly, community and industry engagement. This is perhaps the most critical function of an LWB. It is through this engagement with industry stakeholders that LWBs gain an understanding of how their resources can best be used to support the industry’s challenges, whatever they may be. Simply put, a recognized industry sector moves into a priority position when investment decisions are made.

One successful formula for a sector initiative is that it is industry led and community supported. NOW does not come to the Leisure and Hospitality table alone. We bring a myriad of public partners such as the Oregon Employment Department who assists with things like Labor Market Information, Business Services, and additional funding for wrap-around resources. We bring our contracted Service Providers, Equus Workforce Solutions, and the Community Services Consortium. We bring our Economic Development and Small Business Development partners, as well as our K-12, Regional Education Service District partners and community college partners to support an industry workforce pipeline. An LWB is often the convener of the proverbial public sector “village.”

Northwest Oregon Works is excited to work with the Leisure and Hospitality industry as it flexes its resiliency muscles. We owe you a debt of gratitude for the creative ways that you continued to serve us during the dark days of the pandemic. We look forward to watching you come back stronger than ever, with the same vibrancy, diversity, and commitment to service that you had before March of 2020. You should know that your patrons likely have a whole new appreciation for you.

WE STILL MAKE OUR CLASSIC

DISHES. BUT OUR FAVORITE NEW RECIPE MIGHT BE ONE FOR SAVING ENERGY.

SERVE UP ENERGY SAVINGS FOR YOUR BUSINESS WITH THE HELP OF ENERGY EXPERTS.

With business booming again for local hotels and restaurants, it’s time to consider improving your customers’ experience through smarter energy use. Energy Trust of Oregon offers a full menu of energy-efficiency tools and resources — so the only thing that’s piping hot in your kitchen is your daily special. Learn more at EnergyTrust.org/for-business Running a kitchen takes creativity and innovation. It takes using what you have in ways that might not be obvious. And that’s the approach that Energy Trust of Oregon brought to reducing our energy costs. Whatever your tastes, savings are always delicious. Find out more at

www.energytrust.org/foodservice.