Volume 3, No. 11. June 13, 2003
Motor
pool
It’s hard to
keep good workers around, but Wild Waves and Enchanted Village has discovered
that, for a good employee source, what goes around comes around.
Lenny Freund, the Federal Way, Washington, park’s vice president and general
manager, calls them Work Campers: retirees who travel the country in motor homes
and stop at locations long enough to do seasonal work before moving on. “We
had one couple work for us the last couple of years and I networked through
them,” Freund said.
This season he has hired 14 such motor home migrant workers, filling slots in
security, admissions, customer service and shuttling employees and guests from
satellite parking lots. “Most of them have commercial drivers licenses,”
Freund said. “They drive motor homes all around the country, so I’m
sure they can handle a shuttle bus.”
Bill Fehlmann, 61, and his wife Beth just started their new lifestyle when he
retired from operating his contract construction company 1 1/2 years ago. “We
want to see the country,” he said. “Our health is good, and now is
the time to do it.” The work, he said, subsidizes his pension, at least
until Social Security kicks in. “Places like Six Flags (the company owns
Wild Waves and Enchanted Village) like to hire us because we’re old and
reliable.” Freund nodded at that statement, presumably agreeing at least
to the reliable descriptor.
Fehlmann said some two million retirees are wandering the country in their RVs,
and employers can tap into this resource via the internet or, as Freund did,
by networking. “It’s fun, and you meet nice people,” Fehlmann
said of the lifestyle and work. After the Wild Waves season ends in the fall,
he and Beth will “head south” to San Diego or the Florida Keys. Or
both.
Come spring, “We’re coming back,” Fehlmann said. “I want
to do a little fishing and a lot of golfing.” And he plans to return to
work at Wild Waves and Enchanted Village. “They’ve done a helluva
job hiring the people they have,” he said, meaning the management and younger
seasonal employees. “And we get a kick out of the kids.”
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
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