The Olympian

Great Wolf aims to fill 500 jobs

By Jim Szymanski | The Olympian • Published January 10, 2008

Great Wolf Lodge, under construction in Grand Mound, will interview and screen candidates for 500 jobs Jan. 24-26 during a job fair at the downtown Olympia Armory.

Most of the jobs will be full time, and not all applicants will be required to have experience in Great Wolf's business, which is entertainment built around an indoor water park.

"Our philosophy is to hire based on attitude and character," said Derrek Kinzel, general manager of the Grand Mound resort. "We want people who want to enjoy themselves at work. There are not a lot of people with experience at indoor water parks."

The resort is set to open in March, but company officials have not announced a date. Kinzel said some of the jobs pay minimum wage, which is $8.07 per hour, but he declined to discuss pay ranges.

At 20500 Old Highway 99 near the Lewis County line, the resort sits between two areas with very different employment pictures.

The preliminary November Thurston County unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, but it was 7 percent for the same period in Lewis County, just south of the resort. The $100 million facility includes 442,000 square feet with six restaurants, a 30,000-square-foot conference center, a 60,000-square-foot water park and a 398-room hotel.

State government employment tends to steady Thurston County's unemployment situation. The jobless rate in Lewis County has been hurt in the past two years by the loss of 600 jobs when the TransAlta coal mine closed in Chehalis late in 2006, and widespread flooding late last year closed many businesses. The resort is a collaboration between the Wisconsin-based chain of lodges and the 650-member Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis.

No quota

Some tribal members will get jobs, but hotel and tribal officials have said there is no quota of jobs going to tribal members.

The resort's job opportunities include positions in housekeeping, the water park, food and beverage, spa services, retail, arcade, front desk and maintenance. Benefits include health and dental insurance, 401(k), vacation, resort discounts and water park passes.

According to 2007 records of the Economic Development Council of Thurston County, the lodge will be one of South Sound's largest employers. During a 2007 survey excluding state government jobs, the tribe's Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester employed 534, while Capital Medical Center on Olympia's west side employed 450, putting it in the region's top 10 employers. Providence St. Peter Hospital led that list with 2,300 employees.

"I just think it's fantastic that we have a new large employer," said EDC executive director Michael Cade, who played a role in recruiting Great Wolf Lodge to the county. "It's a great company that has created a beautiful facility. It's a pretty significant deal."