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| The Denali Boardwalk is one of the heavily staffed locations in the Denali Park area © L. W. |
Need More Staffing?
More workers are needed every summer. As the need for seasonal staffing grows in Alaska, there have been many workers coming into the state under student worker programs from other parts of the world.
The J1 Visa program is one of them. Around a decade ago, in Denali Park, outside workers tended to come from places like Ohio or California. Now, Bulgarian workers are the dominant group. Young Bulgarians (many of them working toward majors in various fields such as restaurant management, economics, or engineering) can be found throughout Alaska, holding summer jobs in communities with heavy summer tourism traffic.
These places include:
• Talkeetna -- where Bulgarian students worked at the Talkeetna Roadhouse.
• Denali Park -- where many Bulgarians worked throughout the Park area, including at Subway, grocery stores and elsewhere. In fact, one student told us there were at least 300 Bulgarians working near Denali.
• Healy -- north of the park, Bulgarian workers also had jobs in Healy.
• Fairbanks -- where Bulgarian workers held summer jobs at various hotels, including Bridgewater, as well as at local high-end restaurants, such as Gambardella's Pasta Bella.
• Seward -- where the Chamber reported to us that there were Bulgarians at hotels like the Breezeway Inn, and at restaurant locations such as the Seward Subway.
As tourism heightens in the coming years, solving the problem of a need for more staff will become an even greater challenge to many Alaska businesses.
These places include:
• Talkeetna -- where Bulgarian students worked at the Talkeetna Roadhouse.
• Denali Park -- where many Bulgarians worked throughout the Park area, including at Subway, grocery stores and elsewhere. In fact, one student told us there were at least 300 Bulgarians working near Denali.
• Healy -- north of the park, Bulgarian workers also had jobs in Healy.
• Fairbanks -- where Bulgarian workers held summer jobs at various hotels, including Bridgewater, as well as at local high-end restaurants, such as Gambardella's Pasta Bella.
• Seward -- where the Chamber reported to us that there were Bulgarians at hotels like the Breezeway Inn, and at restaurant locations such as the Seward Subway.
As tourism heightens in the coming years, solving the problem of a need for more staff will become an even greater challenge to many Alaska businesses.