Target recruitment spotlights need for jobs in the Mat-Su

WASILLA — City council often hears the pleas from residents to attract more and better-paying jobs to Wasilla.

If there was any doubt locals want jobs, it was erased this weekend at the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex, where hundreds packed in to apply for jobs at the new Target store, scheduled to open Oct. 12.

Scott Hayes, the store manager, said he’s looking to fill about 300 jobs at the new store, located at the intersection of the Parks and Palmer-Wasilla highways. Hayes estimated that by the end of the day Friday, nearly 800 applicants had attended the job fair.

And there was still one day left.

There weren’t many parking spots left at the sports complex Friday, and there was even less standing room inside. A line of potential employees snaked away from a table making appointments for interviews over the next few days. The extra interviews were set up because more applicants than Target planned for showed up looking for jobs.

The mass of people simply was too much for the three days of hiring, Hayes said, adding that the Anchorage Target hiring fair at the Egan Center paled in comparison to Wasilla’s, where only some 30 or 40 people reportedly turned out on the first day.

Where’s the work?

With the dramatic increase in gasoline costs and stress of driving the Glenn Highway, many of the nearly 15,000 residents who commute to Anchorage for work are looking for jobs in the Valley.

Terry Browning, 42, and Jerry Azevedo, 59, know all too well how difficult it can be to find work in the Valley. Both men arrived at the Target fair at 9 a.m. Friday, and at about 1 p.m. were still waiting for their interviews.

Azevedo said he’s been looking for a job somewhere in Wasilla or Palmer for “a little while.”

“Not hiring,” Azevedo said, expressing the phrase he normally hears when inquiring for work locally.

Azevedo used to commute to Anchorage for work and quickly became disenchanted with delays caused by car accidents and the treacherous winter drive.

“Sometimes I’d just get a motel room so I didn’t have drive in traffic or weather,” Azevedo said.

Couple that with paying $4.41 a gallon for gas, and any extra money made at a job in Anchorage is quickly lost on the commute.

“It’s like working two extra hours every day,” Azevedo said.

For Browning, who has three kids, a move with his previous employer didn’t pan out so well and now he’s looking.

And while Browning said he knows there are construction jobs that likely need filling around the Valley, those jobs are typically seasonal and many end when the weather gets too cold. Not only that, Browning said he needs to find a job in a field that pays more than fast food or retail, somewhere he can apply his skills as a manager.

Target’s job fair could be his only local option, assuming he’s hired.

“I’ve applied for quite a few jobs in the Valley,” Browning said. “Then I found out what the pay was like at some of them.”

Pay at Target varies depending on the type of job and the experience of the person hired to work it, Hayes said. Browning said he heard a cashier might make around $10 an hour.

Pleading for better jobs

The topic of development and jobs could be a major talking point as the Wasilla mayoral race unfolds. Most of the five candidates tout development and new jobs in Wasilla as a cornerstone of their campaigns.

At least two candidates, city council members Steve Menard and Marty Metiva, have already heard about what some residents call dismal prospects for work in the Valley.

At a recent council meeting, a woman who said she was working on her master’s degree asked the council why more wasn’t being done to attract high-tech industry to the Valley instead of more retailers like Target.

At one time, the retail and service jobs in the Valley may have satisfied many residents’ employment needs. But the perception of what a good job is may be changing as economic pressures begin to mount. That notion seems to be holding true at the Wasilla branch of Charter College (www.chartercollege.edu), a for-profit institution that caters to students who want a fast-track degree or certificate.

Charles Stallworth, dean of education at the college, said when the school opened last August, officials said if 40 to 50 students applied it would be a success.

“At this time, we’re approaching 200 students,” Stallworth said. “It’s well above expectations.”

Classes in the medical fields — such as the medical assistant program — are garnering particular interest because of the high pay and job availability in those fields, Stallworth said.

As the economy has steadily gone south, Stallworth said Charter College’s enrollment reflects that because students are motivated by a desire to “improve their lives.”

“They’re trying to get into the job market to receive better pay,” Stallworth said, adding many students just aren’t making enough in their current jobs and seek more training for higher pay.

Stallworth said some job relief could come from Anchorage being land-locked and essentially unable to expand any more. That could force some businesses north.

A new Providence Alaska medical services facility in Eagle River is just one job producer moving closer to the Valley, he said.

But the wait for businesses looking for room to expand doesn’t help those in the Valley hoping for decent paying jobs right now. Hearing about the low turn-out at Target’s Anchorage location job fair, Browning said maybe he’ll have to fall back into a job with a long commute.

“Maybe if I go to Target in Anchorage I’ll be better off,” Browning said.

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.