Welcome back: Maine’s hospitality industry is looking forward to a strong turnaround

There were certain industries that the COVID 19 pandemic hit harder than others. Maine’s hospitality industry was one of them. But industry leaders see a bright future for Maine’s tourism and hospitality workers.

“Consumer sentiment studies indicate people are ready to consider traveling again,” says Steve Lyons, director of the Maine Office of Tourism. “They are looking for safe and healthy environments with wide-open spaces and plenty to do in the outdoors. Maine can deliver on all of these and we are looking forward to a tourism season that benefits Maine’s economy and keeps our residents and visitors safe.”

As established hospitality business learned to pivot and think on their feet, new hotels and restaurants continued to open even in the midst of the pandemic. All are eager to engage a new workforce, whether re-hiring for positions that are coming back or new opportunities.

Consumer sentiment studies indicate people are ready to consider traveling again.
_{^{— Steve Lyons, Maine Office of Tourism}}

Partnerships

Matthew Lewis, president and CEO of HospitalityMaine, says that a full recovery from the pandemic could take years in an industry already faced with labor shortages but the association, which advocates for Maine’s hospitality industry, is working on expanding programs with Maine’s many community colleges to find and encourage students to consider careers in hospitality and tourism and hopefully stay in the state.

One of those partnerships is happening with Kennebec Valley Community College’s culinary program and Waterville’s newest restaurant Front & Main, which opened last month and is part of the Lockwood Hotel, slated to open later this year.

“One of the most important things for our students and graduates is to continue learning under a chef who provides mentorship and who challenges them,” says chef Stephanie Enjaian, chair of the culinary arts department at KVCC. “I believe [Front and Main Executive] Chef Jesse [Souza] is providing that opportunity.”

Enjaian says some ways the program gives students a farm-to-table focus, besides working with local restaurants, are sourcing locally, discussing the value of sustainable and ethical ingredients and offering full animal butchery classes.

“We’re eager to continue that partnership,” says Jordan Rowan, general manager of the Lockwood Hotel and Front & Main. He adds that the challenges of finding hospitality staff were great even before COVID 19, but that the pandemic caused a lot of the laid-off workforce to move to other industries when restaurants had to shut down. “And they’re not all coming back, making a serious labor shortage only worse.”

While getting ready to open a hotel and restaurant during the pandemic has certainly had its challenges Rowen says in many ways their timing was fortunate because they were able to learn from colleagues who were facing the challenges head-on from needing to adapt quickly to guidelines changing almost daily to troubleshooting new safety and cleaning procedures.

Photo / Courtesy of FATHOM COS.

Ginny Petrovek, general manager at the Canopy By Hilton, a new hotel in Portland.

Ginny Petrovek, the former director of rooms at the Press Hotel and now general manager of the newly opened Canopy by Hilton, both in Portland, was in the thick of these rapid changes last year. She says the hotel’s day-to-day operations shifted significantly as staff were required to scale back and restrict many services that limited interactions with guests.

“It was challenging to provide those moments to guests and show value in a stay with those restrictions in place,” says Petrovek, who studied hospitality management in college and learned the ropes of the industry on summer breaks back in her home state of Maine working at a hotel in Portland’s Old Port. “The lack of interaction is hard on staff also, who are so eager to help create memorable moments and look forward to that part of their job.”

Dining, brewing

Restaurants and breweries also felt big changes. Maine breweries and tap rooms, which make up a growing portion of the state’s tourism industry, found themselves getting creative and relying heavily on curbside and delivery options, which don’t seem to be going away any time soon, creating new sales and staffing opportunities for the growing industry, says Sean Sullivan, executive director of Maine Brewers’ Guild.

Photo / Tim Greenway

Kelsey O’Brien, a waitress at Sebago Brewpub, at the Scarborough restaurant

For Kelsey O’Brien, who started in the industry when she was 18 and is a server at Sebago Brewing Co. in Gorham, she was both excited and nervous to return to work when restaurants were allowed to reopen.

“I wasn’t sure if people would still go out to eat or be willing to comply with the new set of rules and guidelines we were responsible for following/enforcing,” says the Scarborough native who has a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Southern Maine. “Not only are people still going out to eat but they are just as happy to see us as we are to see them.”

Not only are people still going out to eat but they are just as happy to see us as we are to see them.
^{_{— Kelsey O’Brien, Sebago Brewing Co.}}

O’Brien, who has worked at Sebago for 11 years, says she never expected to stay in the industry this long but has had “some of the most rewarding, humbling, and frustrating experiences of my life.” Her training in communications helped her not only as a server but to take on expanded roles at the brewery, like its weekly employee newsletter, helping with events and marketing and social media.

“I certainly encourage anyone and everyone to work in this industry,” she says. “I certainly cannot imagine what my life would be like without it … the people I have met and the things that I have learned because of this line of work could not have come from anywhere else.”