Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 06/02) - There's money to be made in Yellowknife, maybe too much money as some employers are finding it impossible to pay more and more exorbitant wages.

Lindsay Piro has worked waiting tables at Jose Loco's restaurant since August. - Thorunn Howatt/NNSL photo

The city may dazzle with a diamond glow, but when the exploding economy blew up in Barbara Bird's face, she knew she couldn't keep up.

"I've been in this business for a long time and I've never seen it as bad as it is here," said Bird, a 20-year veteran of the restaurant business. She was an owner of the recently closed Broadway Restaurant.

Like others in Yellowknife's hospitality industry she found it impossible to navigate through the fast-paced current of good times.

Right now there is a huge competition for workers. Attracting people to the restaurant and hotel business means paying the same rate as other sectors. And if a waitress can expect to get about $10 an hour in a restaurant, she can double that doing housekeeping at a mining camp.

For kitchen staff it's even better, or worse depending on which side of the paycheque you are standing on. Bird said she lost at least one cook because she couldn't compete with the big money.

"Basically he wanted $50,000 a year. I couldn't pay it," she said.

Bird and partners took over Broadway, a 115-seat restaurant and lounge located in Centre Square Mall, last April. Now, less than a year later, she has locked the doors and hopes someone else will give it a go.

Latitudes Restaurant, like Broadway, is located in the Centre Square Mall. Unlike Broadway though, it targets customers staying in the Yellowknife Inn.

Yellowknife Inn manager Shawnette McNeil admitted hotel sales were down with fewer Japanese tourists visiting since Sept. 11. She sees things picking up though. Latitudes has been lucky enough to keep clear of wait staffing problems but McNeil said she is not so lucky with housekeeping staff.

"Hiring in Yellowknife is a very big challenge," said the Fraser Tower Suite Hotel's Kristen Cook, who explained the hotel is competing with the government as well as diamond mines for employees.

"In the service industry in Yellowknife there are just so many other jobs they could get."

Housekeeping is a tough spot to fill even though Fraser Tower starting wages are more than $10.50. Nearly a year ago the apartment complex renovated some rooms to hotel-style suites. Management decided then to stay clear of an in-house restaurant.

"Definitely because of staffing issues," said Cook.

Longhini's Ristorante Italiano was another victim of the hospitality industry labour shortage. Last week's closure of the Yellowknife hotspot wasn't because of staffing issues, but co-owner Roxanne Longhini said finding and keeping workers was a problem. In the business' two years staffing was getting progressively worse.

"We've only had one guy who was actually here for a record of six months," said Longhini. "You just can't find anybody who stays for more than a week."

Three workers recently left to go to the mines. Longhini's had to attract a chef all the way from Toronto.

The restaurant's building was recently sold but Longhini's did manage to make a deal to sell their restaurant equipment. An entrepreneur is going to try his hand at the restaurant business in the Kam Lake area.

Having to pay high wages isn't the only problem. Since the Sept. 11 tragedy, fewer Japanese aurora tourists are visiting the city and fewer are eating out.

But not all Yellowknife restaurants are suffering with labour problems. Jose Loco's manager and co-owner Jeff Beier pays staff less than $10 an hour but focuses on teamwork. The restaurant employs about 14 people and has been open for nearly two years now.

"It really comes down to providing an enjoyable work atmosphere and one of trust and respect," said Beier, who added it's a priority to keep his colourful kitchen staff -- complete with green hair and multiple piercings -- happy with their work environment.