Summer Hiring Season

Continued from Page 1 we still need to focus on what makes this area so desirable for visitors and residents alike.” Ring is actively hiring, both for summer and for full-time, year-round staff, looking for people who are passionate about the local lifestyle and the area. “We are actively trying to attract the best people,” Ring said.

Jane Drussel, owner of Hailey’s Jane’s Artifacts and Jane’s Stationery, is also hiring, though she said she is grateful that “we have a good crew and a crew that’s been with us for a long time.” When an opening does become available, she said, “It’s hard to find the right person. Wages have gotten so high that it’s put a crunch on how many people we can hire.” This summer, though, Drussel feels confident about staffing. “I have some college kids who are coming back, so I’m kind of set. It really helps to have people returning who have worked with you before,” she added. She did note, however, that she has seen a change in who is available for summer jobs. “The college kids who are applying are from here. They come home for the summer and can live with their families. Kids don’t really come here anymore to work who don’t live here unless they have a place to stay.” Like many small-business owners, though, Drussel said, she is still very hands-on, “working 24/7.” She said, “I can’t imagine being away very long.”

Positive signs

Despite serious housing challenges, an experienced workforce who is close to retirement, cost-of-living increases, and the other macro and micro issues that are bound to affect the Wood River Valley, there are also causes for optimism. According to Griffith, “The recent influx of primarily Peruvian families—about 300—has helped to fill a variety of jobs in the construction and trades sectors. It is taking a little pressure off.” And Ring said he looks forward to the return of students looking for summer jobs. “We always do well hiring bright, hardworking, high school and college students. They’re here to have fun, and bring with them a happy, upbeat vibe. They work hard and play hard and are an important part of our service culture,” he shared. The most positive news for summer 2023 may be that if someone is interested in joining the workforce, full-time, part-time or seasonal, many sectors are seeking employees with varied levels of experience. If someone wants a job in the Wood River Valley, there is a good chance they can find one.

Where the jobs are

The ‘jobs’ tab on the sunvalley.com website shows a long and varied list of both part-time and full-time, seasonal, and year-round openings in departments from catering and conventions, to recreation, to retail, to operations. There is something to appeal to a wide range of job seekers and Sun Valley has the benefit of offering housing to their employees. But still, a lengthy list of options for job seekers is still available as spring turns to summer. A glance at other ‘now hiring’ posts show openings up and down the Valley; from kitchen managers to deli workers, from maintenance techs to sales associates, from carpenters to digital marketing — people are hiring. Those with a yen to work outdoors can apply to be pool attendants, landscapers, or house painters.

Inevitable issues

In some ways, this summer is like many that have come before, though school schedules seem to bite into more and more of the summer. Drussel said, “College and high school employees get out late and go back early. If I hire a high school employee, they have to go back to school right when I need them — during the ‘back to school’ rush! Somehow, we always make it through, though.” On the other end of the spectrum, many reliable, experienced, full-time older workers are also moving toward retirement age. Ring said, “One of the things affecting the community right now is that people who have worked for decades here are retiring and there is no one to take their place. They had housing security. Today’s high cost of housing, high cost of living, are making it harder to move or stay here.”

Looking forward

With the community readying for a busy season, Griffith and Sun Valley Economic Development are looking ahead and continuing to work with local businesses to create positive, constructive solutions to ongoing challenges. “We are currently looking to do a needs assessment with the construction industry and continue to work with the hospitality, restaurant, lodging, and outfitter industries to see how things can improve. It’s an ongoing conversation.”

The organization will host a community roundtable on June 26 at Zenergy Health Club in Ketchum to discuss employment, wages, and issues affecting the local workforce and businesses. The event is open to the public and will run from 4:30 – 7 p.m.

As far as the short-term for this summer is concerned, Griffith said, “The broad statement is that it looks like there is a little less pressure in terms of securing talent compared to the previous two summers. But the real question is exactly how busy the summer is going to be.”

Wrw Staff

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Christopher Seldon (208) 788-4789 publisher@woodriverweekly.com

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Mandi Iverson (208) 721-7588 mandi@woodriverweekly.com

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Patty Healey

PRODUCTION & DESIGN

Mandi Iverson mandi@woodriverweekly.com

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Wood River Weekly P.O. Box 3483 Hailey, Idaho 83333 (208) 788-4789 woodriverweekly.com

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BLM outlines five alternatives to wind project layout, impacts

BY Tristan Head

Idaho’s Bureau of Land Management recently concluded a commentary period resulting in 11,000 comments regarding a proposal of up to 400 wind turbines spanning nearly 75,000 acres by Magic Valley Energy near Minidoka, potentially powering 350,000 homes in Idaho from the 1,000-megawatt infrastructure, depending on which state purchases the power.

The BLM developed a nearly 600-page Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) outlining five alternatives to not only the layout, but the impact resulting in as many as 486, or as little as 270, miles of newly developed roads on BLM land impacting flora, fauna, and humans alike (DEIS, 58). While citizens of the United States agree sustainable energy is a necessity to curb climate change, it forces individuals to contemplate: How can we evaluate sacrifices required to achieve this objective by 2030?

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador and Representative Dorothy Moon have both emphasized the “harm to people” of Idaho due to the influx of labor from the Lava Ridge Wind Project, resulting in labor and housing shortages. Rep. Moon emphasized, “…the Magic Valley housing market will see a sudden influx of out-of-state laborers, many of them without lawful status to work in the U.S.”

The Magic Valley experienced a growth of 16.1% between the 2010 and 2020 Census, conveying the inevitable growth of southern Idaho, but the DEIS contrasts these statements by showing “…there is adequate housing for short-term residents across the Magic Valley to support non-local workers.”

“The Lava Ridge project will prioritize hiring local contractors and individuals for the construction phase. Certain groups of qualified workers are likely to come from outside the immediate area.”said Amy Schutte, press spokesperson for Magic Valley Energy. With the growth of College of Southern Idaho’s Renewable Energy Systems Technology Program, local students will benefit, since “Magic Valley Energy plans to support local workforce development and educational programs, particularly those that offer pathways to a career in the rapidly expanding energy industry.” With an additional “economic impact report done on the project, more than $80 million will be realized in tax revenue for the State of Idaho, while the region will benefit from more than $500 million in economic output.”

Idaho Senator Ron Taylor (D-Dist. 26) emphasizes another concern to humans: “If you’ve ever fished at Silver Creek, by Picabo, and looked out across the fields and said, ‘Wow, this is absolutely phenomenal’ — that will go away,” Taylor said. “You will be able to see some of these wind turbines while you’re fly fishing.” Yet, Amy Schutte, press spokesperson for Magic Valley Energy, explained a vital point found within the DEIS, “The agency’s visual analysis shows the project will have no visual impact to Silver Creek.”

Another vocal opponent of the visibility and proximity of the project is the Friends of Minidoka, whose official statement included, “… Lava Ridge wind project will forever alter Minidoka’s somber landscape and fails to honor the significance of the events that occurred at Minidoka as a place of reflection, healing, and education for the survivors, descendants, and public. The proposed project places 340 towers in the Minidoka NHS viewshed with 12 of those towers on the historic Minidoka footprint...”

While nearly impossible to measure the impact the project could have on survivors and descendants of Minidoka National Historic Site, in addition to Indigenous tribes whose roots stretch back thousands of years, the BLM did “put forth two preferred alternatives for the Lava Ridge Wind Project that scaled the original project proposal back to align with cultural, community, and wild-