For the past three summers, Gina Denoni would drive her RV from Maple Ridge to Squamish.
She’d find a spot at the Eagle Vista RV Resort and Campground and soak in the view of the Stawamus Chief. Ten days ago, she decided it was time to make Squamish home.
“I love hiking and the mountain bike trails here,” the retired facilitator at Alouette Correctional Centre for Women said.
With free time on her hand, Denoni decided she wanted to volunteer as an outside host at the new Sea to Sky Gondola. She was one of approximately 150 people who turned out before 1 p.m. for the opening day of the facility’s job fair. The two-day event carries into Saturday (April 5) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“I thought I would like to get to know people and meet new people,” Denoni said after finishing an interview at the fair at the Executive Suites Hotel and Resort.
With the gondola’s opening set for May 16, the company is set to employ approximately 70 people, said Trevor Dunn, one of the principals of the Sea to Sky Gondola.
“The lineup this morning was all the way past the Executive Suites door,” he said, standing by the clubhouse approximately 20 metres away from the hotel’s entrance.
Most of the candidates seemed to come from Squamish, Dunn said. The gondola is looking to fill frontline positions, such as baristas for The Summit Lodge, parking attendants and retail sales agents.
Jobs are opening up in Squamish as the summer gets closer, said Monica Kristiansen, a job placement specialist with Training Innovations. Most of the new positions are in the tourism field. But the additional employment doesn’t mean securing a job in town is easy, she said.
“The competition for these jobs is fierce,” Kristiansen said.
The Sea to Sky Gondola has given residents seeking work hope, she added.
“The people coming into Training Innovations are excited and encouraged,” Kristiansen said of the new employment opportunities.
