The hospitality industry continues to struggle from the hard-hitting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite businesses reopening, many in the service industries are facing widespread labor shortages that largely affect the ability of employers to return to business as normal. A recent report found that the leisure and service industry continues to lack almost 2.2 million jobs, nearly ⅓ of the total missing occupations in the United States.
Indianapolis’ hospitality industry is facing similar repercussions as businesses fight to recover from the pandemic. Many local hospitality employers began expressing their adverse experiences in navigating recovery to EmployIndy’s Business Partnerships team this past Winter.
The Business Partnerships team fosters collaborative connections with Marion County employers to better understand the barriers they are facing. Simultaneously, the team helps businesses establish organizational best practices to attract, train, and maintain qualified employees. EmployIndy’s business partners receive wrap-around support in establishing comprehensive career pathways that leverage diverse talent from the Indianapolis community, including young adults
“The Business Partnerships team is always looking for new opportunities to bring together our employer and school partners and create mutually beneficial connections that help establish talent pipelines between community businesses and local students,” says Tracy Murphy, EmployIndy’s Associate Director of Business Partnerships.
In order to better support businesses amid the recovery from COVID-19 and the ensuing labor shortage, collaboration between employers in the hospitality industry and those entering the workforce was necessitated. To further these efforts, the Business Partnerships team collaborated with Matt Simpson, the Associate Director of Talent Bound, EmployIndy’s work-based learning initiative that connects employers to educators and students through a variety of career exposure, engagement, and experiential activities.
On Thursday, September 2nd, Murphy and Simpson facilitated a roundtable discussion in coordination with Visit Indy and Indiana Restaurant and Lodging Association (INRLA), The discussion included seven representatives from local hospitality businesses and a variety of EmployIndy’s K-12 and education partners, listed below.
During the hour-long, virtual roundtable, hospitality employers from across Marion County shared their experiences with economic recovery as well as their ideas on possible solutions to local labor shortages, including the establishment of talent pipelines in Indianapolis high schools.
“This discussion was a great opportunity for the hospitality industry to share its hiring needs and for our school partners to gain insight on the available career pathways in Marion County,” says Simpson.
The agenda contained topics such as wage compensation, work hours, available positions, and transportation barriers. Education providers then shared upcoming events as well as specific contact information with the hospitality employers to promote continuing communication. Both parties curated sustainable working relationships, helping students to find employment and hospitality employers to attract and maintain quality workers.
“As the high school representative for Talent Bound, our goal is to expose young people to as many different career pathways as possible throughout their K-12 experiences, helping ensure that they can make an informed career decision when the time comes,” says Simpson. “The roundtable event connected schools interested in establishing partnerships with local employers who are willing to share industry opportunities with students.”
This discussion resulted in numerous opportunities for hospitality representatives to participate in school events such as guest speaking, career days, and organizational tours. Student internship opportunities with local hospitality employers have been introduced as well, launching a solid foundation for the development of future talent pipelines in Marion County. EmployIndy will continue to facilitate the connection and communication between hospitality employers and local schools, offering guidance on how to best engage high schoolers and present career opportunities within the hospitality industry.
Are you an employer interested in connecting with EmployIndy’s Business Partnerships team? Email Tracy Murphy at tmurphy@nullemployindy.org to get started!
Hospitality Representatives in Attendance:
Education Providers and K-12 Partners in Attendance:
- Ric Wallace, Transition Resources Corporation, Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG)
- Kalyn Miller, Transition Resources Corporation, JAG
- Tracy Avery, Crispus Attucks High School
- Derrick Barnett, Arsenal Technical High School
- Angela Henry, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS)
- Alyssa Criswell, Walker Career Center
- Brian Bulmer, Decatur Central High School
- Charlene Williams, North Central High School
- Shannon Fowler, North Central High School
- Lance Garvin, Pike High School
- Ezalea Allen, George Washington High School
- Gary Carter, George Washington High School
- Jaicelyn Eanes-Moffitt, J. Everett Light Career Center
- Chef Daniel Schifano, Area 31 Career Center
- Scott Borah, Area 31 Career Center
Posted on June 12th, 2019 in
Speaking Engagements Identifying and maintaining gainful employment is, for most individuals, a key outcome and goal of recovery from substance use disorder (SUD). It is also one of the most substantial barriers facing individuals in early recovery. Residents who deal with these issues often struggle to proceed through the ABC (A job, Better job, Career) continuum, but the tight labor market Indy is experiencing offers opportunities because local businesses are in such need of skilled workers.
The Indiana Workforce Recovery Initiative, a partnership between the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Wellness Council of Indiana, invited EmployIndy to present to recovery coaches and others in the recovery community about the workforce resources available for their clients.
Adam Rothrock of Community Outreach Network Services attended “because I wanted to get connected to more career services for our clients who are all re-entry. There is a lot of insecurity from people with a criminal background, so understanding where we can go for a warm handoff or referral is important so they can find success without getting discouraged.”
During the presentation, attendees cited similar interests to Rothrock, as well as a desire for more stability in programs available, citing difficulty navigating a complex landscape of opportunities.
The business community and individual residents both stand to benefit if recovery coaches can better connect their clients to in-demand education, training, and jobs.
After an intro from Mike Thibideau of the Indiana Chamber and an overview of EmployIndy from our COO Marie Mackintosh, our talent alignment manager Jennifer Walde shared information about how recovery coaches and their clients can connect to WorkOne Indy and its community partner locations, along with the career services offered.
Aside from general information and resources, bringing this group together offered a chance to ask questions and discuss issues as with peers.
One key question that was addressed was “when should someone disclose their felony if they have one?” Conversation around this topic reminded the group that it can be detrimental for a job seeker to lead with that fact as the first detail about themselves during an interview – but similarly it can be detrimental to avoid the topic entirely and never mention it (because of the likelihood of a background check revealing it).
“This is a tricky subject, but ultimately we are talking about human beings and their lives that are impacted by the work we are trying to do here,” said Jennifer Walde. This difficult topic lead to sharing of experiences from attendees around the benefit of honestly sharing information about a felony and explaining the life changes that are in place to ensure a positive path moving forward.
Jennifer also shared WorkOne Indy calendars, our employability skills video series, and outlined the strategy behind embedded WorkOne service locations in the city.
“We hope that a better understanding of the resources and services available will help recovery coaches provide value to their clients,” said Marie Mackintosh. “We are giving a broad overview today, and we look forward to learning more about your specific workforce questions and addressing them in more detail as we continue this partnership with the Indiana Chamber.”
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Dozens of students at Arsenal Tech High School who have an interest in starting their own business gathered in the historic courtroom on campus to listen to panelists from a variety of backgrounds talk about their experiences with entrepreneurship. This is because being an entrepreneur is more about having a certain skill set and mindset than anything – and that skill set can be helpful whether it results in founding a business or pursuing a more traditional career.
After a presentation from Kathy England of Regions Bank about the importance of understanding the realities of how financials play a role in starting a business, Joseph Eldridge of 100 Black Men Indianapolis moderated the panel, along with questions from students. Below are some highlights from the panelists:
Chris Hoyt
Chris Hoyt – Founder, Apprenace
“Often, people are searching for how to get to the top when the solution is right next to us. When I found something that I do well, I wanted to see how to turn it into a business – but just because you do something well, does not always mean customers are ready for it. The first thing you need is customers, if you don’t want to fail. Once I had enough people saying ‘yes, I would like to try this,’ then I used their feedback to create my initial product offerings. We did a lot to understand businesses and what their concerns and doubts are so that we are offering something specific rather than ambiguous.”
Melita Carter
Melita Carter – Founder & CEO, Natural Born Leaders Academy
“As you are building your business, you don’t have to be good at every aspect of your business, but you have to know a little bit about everything to make sure other people you hire do their job well… As long as you know a little about a lot, to hire the right people, you can be successful. And that comes from reading and reading and researching and researching.”
NaShana Mitchell
NaShana Mitchell – Founder, Studio B; Co-founder, Design Bank
“You need to ask yourself why, what, who, where? Why am I committed? What am I offering? Who is my customer that will use this? And where do the transactions take place? Is it a building or online? And as you figure that out, it always circles back to ‘why,’ and you go from there. I had a business where once we made a $10,000 mistake – so after that we asked lots of questions and learned from it to make the right decision next time.”
Aundre G. Hogue
Aundre G. hogue – Regional Vice President, PFS Investments
“You don’t have to be good at everything, but your business does. To go to the next level, it is more of a mindset – too many people never get off the ground because they are scared to fail. I don’t know anyone who is successful who hasn’t failed first. You need to fail forward, and keep moving.”
Dani Williams
Dani Williams – Entrepreneur, Creative Leader, Social Media Strategist
“When I decided to become a special media strategist, it is because I found a need… Some people have wants, and some have needs – I have been most successful when I find a need and try to fill it. I am also a big believer in collaboration over competition, so I find ways for entrepreneurs to raise each other up through business.”
“Thank you for doing this. No one has ever done something like this for us.”
– Arsenal Tech student after the event
For more about the panelists, view the program from the event.
