Huron County's Economic Development Department is introducing a new program to help the local tourism industry find staff for this summer's tourism season.
Cultural Development Officer, Rick Sickinger, says a recent survey indicated fifty-two per cent of the tourism operators in Huron County were having problems finding staff, particularly for the busy summer season. Sickinger adds, the help wanted signs that are prominent in the county would support that. So the Economic Development Department was looking for ways to support the local tourism industry.
Sickinger says one of the challenges they faced is the very low unemployment rate in the county. Another is the difficulty of bringing people in to the county to work when there isn't any housing for them.
“This project we're helping with in terms of doing a social media campaign is really targeted at local people, so that we don't have that housing challenge. We really need to find people that are already living here or returning home to live with their parents for the summer.”
Sickinger says tourism businesses looking to hire people this summer can go to Huron County Jobs Face Book page.
“If you're a tourism business looking to hire people this summer, if you go to Huron County Jobs Face Book page you'll see posts about how to participate. Just send us your information through Survey Monkey and we will create a branded campaign post for you and help share it.”
For this program, eligible tourism businesses include restaurants, accommodations, breweries, wineries, indoor and outdoor recreation, tourism sites and attractions, and more.
The OWCJobs campaign will also provide information to job seekers about the many different types of career opportunities available in the tourism and hospitality industry by profiling Huron County tourism businesses and people working in the industry locally. The campaign will run on social media until the end of June, 2022.