By pat ferrier • patferrier@coloradoan.com • February 1, 2009
There’s no business like new business.
The spring openings of a Walmart Supercenter, Embassy Suites hotel and southeast library branch provide an island of hope amid a sea of lost jobs, furloughs and frozen pay.
The trio of openings, which promise about 650 new jobs, come as new unemployment reports show Larimer County shed 1,600 jobs from December 2007 to December 2008 — the biggest annual decline in the county’s history.
The county’s unemployment rate in December was a seasonally adjusted 5.0 percent, up from 3.7 percent last year at the same time and 4.9 percent in November. The Larimer County unemployment rate remains substantially below the national rate of 7.2 percent and the state rate of 6.1 percent.
With average hourly pay ranging from minimum wage to $10, the openings — which may have been unattractive in better financial times — are expected to lure thousands of job seekers from retirees going back to work to supplement declining investment income, discouraged workers who have given up looking, to those picking up second jobs to make ends meet.
There’s little doubt employers will have ample applications from which to choose. Embassy Suites has been told to expect 2,000 or more applicants for its 200 jobs.
Despite the psychological boost new jobs give the community, they will not come close to filling the void left by the 1,600 workers downsized, outsourced or laid off last year.
But they will help replace some of the combined 1,200 jobs lost in the retail, restaurants and local government sectors last year, according to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“There are not enough jobs to go around for all the people who are unemployed,” said Lew Wymisner, assistant director of the Larimer County Workforce Center.
That means people who might not have been looking at retail or hotel work, “will look at the jobs and say, ‘Gee this job is better than unemployment insurance or in some cases, no employment. It wouldn’t surprise me if at least they were ‘whelmed,’ if not overwhelmed with applications.”
The influx of new jobs should help moderate the rising unemployment rate and prop up sagging municipal budgets in Loveland and Timnath, but the relatively low wages and plethora of part-time positions will not be reflected in the statistics.
“At the end of the day the plum prize is the high wage job that helps struggling families and benefits the community. Accordingly, primary job creation needs to remain on the policy forefront,” said regional economist Martin Shields.
“These announcements do offer a welcome respite from the onslaught of awful national economic news,” he said.
“While ideally we would also be adding high paying, high benefit, primary jobs, these jobs provide opportunities for some families to either replace a lost job, or supplement their income.”
Embassy Suites, which hopes to open in late March, expects to hire about 200 bellhops, desk clerks, housekeepers and cooks; Walmart Supercenter in Timnath, which plans a late-April opening, should hire about 425 workers. And, the library, with a smaller number or positions, expects to open March 28 with a staff of 25.
The jobs provide opportunities to 650 people who may not be working now, to get a boost — financially and psychologically — perhaps even a full-time job with benefits.
“We will be hiring for smiles, personalities and great attitudes for many of our entry level positions and also trying to operate a fairly lean opening,” General Manager Tom Dwyer said.
“We’re hiring folks looking at second careers, retirees looking to supplement their income or folks tired of commuting,” added Deanna Summerhill, human resources director for Embassy Suites. “They might work for a couple dollars less an hour in exchange for working in the community.”
Walmart officials said they are hiring 425 associates at the supercenter expected to generate about $1 million in sales tax revenue for the town of Timnath, which to date, has no retail base.
Walmart had hoped to open its newest supercenter in March, but a small fire at the store’s entrance in November pushed that date back a month, said Timnath spokesman Kyle Boyd.
Walmart has opened a hiring center in the Mason Street store that closed more than a year ago.
Assistant manager Danny Welch said the company hopes to have its hiring done by March 23 for an opening at the end of April.
Walmart has other supercenters at 1250 E. Magnolia in Fort Collins; 250 W. 65th St. and 1325 N. Denver Ave. in Loveland.