By Susan Thompson Lake Panorama TimesPosted 5/11/21Long before the Casey’s corporate office announced it plans to add 5,000 employees in the 16 states where it operates, the Casey’s in Panora had help wanted signs posted. And it isn’t just Casey’s that is using signs, print and online advertising, and social media in attempts to recruit new employees.
In March, the National Federation of Independent Business reported 40% of its small business members had job openings they could not fill. Iowa’s March unemployment rate stood at 3.7%, compared to the national average of 6%. The Guthrie County unemployment rate that month was 4.4%.
There are many theories floated to try to answer the question why local businesses can’t fill empty positions. Some say the problem is unemployment pays more than working. Others say wages offered are too low, or people believe they don’t have the skills required for a particular job. Or people who lost their jobs when small businesses had to close because of COVID decided to find a new occupation.
The Lake Panorama Pizzeria (LPP) in Panora is owned by Ryan Smith and his wife Alena. The business opened in August 2019 and quickly found its niche with its wood-fired pizza oven. Since then, a wide variety of food items have been added to the regular menu or offered as specials.
In the past few months, Smith made multiple postings on the pizzeria’s Facebook page, looking for employees for a variety of jobs and shifts. On April 24, he used that same Facebook page to announce a change.
“Due to a lack of help, The LPP will be diversifying its business model. Starting today we will be takeout only, no dine in. Many times we must stop taking phone orders because we are overwhelmed with dine-in and takeout at the same time. We do about 90% takeout orders already, and we just don’t have the staff to accommodate both,” Smith wrote.
“There isn’t a strong workforce to support our busy restaurant, and I don’t see any change coming. Instead of beating our heads against a problem with no solution, we are going to diversify our business model by offering takeout, selling frozen pizzas, chocolate pies, bottling our homemade ranch and marinara sauce,” he said.
Smith now has connected with Sheeder Cloverleaf Dairy in Guthrie Center. This family-owned dairy offers home delivery of its milk and ice cream across central Iowa, plus food products from other businesses. Soon LPP frozen pizzas will be available in the home delivery inventory on the dairy’s website.
“I’m really excited about this,” says Smith. “This is a great opportunity for us to expand our business in a new way.” Once he has this online frozen pizza delivery option with Sheeder’s Cloverleaf Dairy established, he hopes to work on direct sales of Alena’s fresh chocolate pies and bottling and selling their homemade ranch and marinara sauce.
Smith said he feels this is a unique opportunity to make his products reach more people in more areas.
“It is a scary transition, but hopefully people will soon be able to purchase our food at grocery stores instead of having to fight for a table, then wait for it,” he says.
The business has always been closed on Mondays for family time. It now is closed Tuesday and Wednesday, as Smith creates stacks of frozen pizzas. LPP is open for carryout Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The Lake Panorama National Resort has been using seemingly every avenue possible to get the word out about its need for employees. While some positions have been filled recently, the LPN continues to advertise for both full- and part-time line cooks, part-time and seasonal dishwashers, part-time restaurant and banquet servers, and a seasonal laundry attendant.
“For servers, we need more than college students who can work this summer. Especially for banquet servers, we need people who can help into fall and beyond,” says Royce Shaffer, LPN operations manager. “We are willing to train, and we offer competitive wages. Plus, we are able to offer some fun perks not available to most restaurants.”
For instance, part-time and seasonal team members can play free golf at Panorama West seven days a week, and at the LPN on Mondays. The LPN fitness center can be used seven days a week, and the swimming pool is available at no cost on Mondays. Meal discounts of 50% are available once during each work shift.
Full-time employees get full access to the resort golf course, pool and fitness center for them and their family. Benefits for full-time employees include health insurance, company-paid life insurance, flexible spending accounts, a 401K with company match, and paid vacation.
Shaffer says he doesn’t know why hiring essential employees this year has been more of a struggle than usual.
“Maybe it is due to the federal unemployment, or maybe the lack of a workforce in Guthrie County. When it comes to hiring full-time employees, I know the distance from the Des Moines area hurts us. The drive is not for everyone,” says Shaffer, who, ironically, has been commuting from Grimes to Lake Panorama National for more than 14 years.
In early April, Joe Weisz, owner of PJ’s Drive-In in Panora, used the restaurant’s Facebook page to plead for help.
“URGENT!!!! We have officially come to a point where we need to adjust our serving hours drastically due to lack of staff until we can find enough staff willing and wanting to work,” Weisz wrote. “Our patrons deserve the best food with the best service, and with limited staff we struggle making this a reality.”
Weisz said servers make great tips, and cooks are well compensated. And he offered an answer to those who may not feel they have the needed skills.
“If you have always wanted to learn to cook and have a positive attitude and willingness to learn, I’ll teach you personally to cook,” he said.
Weisz has owned PJ’s since January 2012. He and his wife have four children, and their income from PJ’s isn’t enough to sustain the family. So Weisz is in his fifth year working in a local school district operating its food nutrition program.
By early May, Weisz says PJ’s Drive-In still is short two cooks and three servers.
“If we can just get through May, we have some high school employees who will be able to work more hours and some graduating seniors who will be here for the summer,” Weisz says. “But we’re always on the hunt for good, reliable employees who are willing to work hard.”
Employee shortages also are prevalent in the health care industry. Last year, The Lakeside Village was awarded two Future Ready Iowa Grants totaling $246,800. The funds were used to assist Iowans obtain certifications within applicable long-term care career paths. More than 200 people took CNA classes and will go on to be advanced CNAs. Fifty people became ServSafe certified, and 15 took the Iowa assisted living manager course.
Amanda Creen, The Lakeside Village director, said those educational opportunities helped her own staff grow their skills, stay engaged, and earn more money with each certification.
“We can’t just increase our wage to compete with other desperate employers. We want to see effort put in by the staff as well,” she says. “We offer fun, and hopefully a sense of belonging. Our team is close, and we have gotten even closer isolating together during the pandemic.”
Creen thinks employee retention is improving because of the extra efforts.
“We are celebrating one year of service with more than a dozen staff members this year,” she says. “Our core staff members have all been here more than two years. I’m so proud of the progress we made with retention during the pandemic.”
Now Lakeside Village has been awarded $48,000 through Future Ready Iowa for the Summer Youth Internship Pilot Program Grant. This grant allows the senior living facility to offer a six-week paid internship to 10 local youth between the ages of 16 and 19.
The internships are offered in management/marketing, maintenance, nursing and culinary with supervisory career path focuses. The internships will provide on-the-job training, management job shadowing, and certificate programming in each category with a focus on care throughout the community.
“I believe strongly that in order to secure a healthcare workforce for the future we need to build our own locally,” Creen says. “Starting with elementary students at events like Stemfest, moving to internships and career fairs with the high school. We need to engage these students, sparking an interest so they dream of being in the medical field. Then hone their skills and mentor them through internships and education reimbursement with clear career paths.”
Teens interested in applying for one of the 10 summer internships can contact Creen at 641-757-9993 or
director@thelakesidevillage.com.
