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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2018)
S moke S ignals MAY 15, 2018 7 Membership briefed on Human Resources, TERO By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde currently employs more than 1,500 people at its three main sites – the Governance Cen- ter, Spirit Mountain Casino and Grand Ronde Station – and has a significant effect on the local econ- omy, Human Resources Director Patrick Dempsey said during the Sunday, May 6, General Council meeting. Dempsey and interim Tribal Em- ployment Rights Office Manager John Mercier briefed the member- ship on their respective depart- ments, which often collaborate in helping Tribal members find jobs. Dempsey said the Tribal govern- ment currently employs 468 people while the casino has 1,050 employ- ees and Grand Ronde Station has 24 staff members. “It’s a big population,” Dempsey said. “All of that payroll supports local economies. You have a gi- gantic impact, which you already know.” However, Dempsey said, the casi- no has approximately 50 to 70 open positions and its optimal staffing level is about 1,120 employees. Dempsey said the tight job mar- ket with the state unemployment rate hovering at or below 4 percent is affecting the number of appli- cants the casino receives for open positions. The casino once received thousands of applications, but that has now declined to hundreds. Regarding positions at the Trib- al government, Dempsey said the Tribe is starting to see multiple qualified Tribal members com- peting for jobs, which results in managers having to choose between Tribal members for hires. “I can tell you those have become extremely competitive,” Dempsey said about government jobs. A result, he added, is that Tribal members are now asserting that they should have been hired over the Tribal member who did get offered the job. Dempsey gave a survey of his sions for the government. Dempsey said there are about 50 new Tribal em- ployees monthly. Mercier reported that there are 372 people in the TERO job skills bank who represent 55 differ- ent Tribes. He said that TERO earned $185,845 in revenue in 2017. During the first quarter of 2018, TERO earned $104,213. Photo by Dean Rhodes TERO charges a fee Interim Tribal Employment Rights Office on construction projects Manager John Mercier, left, and Human on the Reservation, such Resources Department Manager Patrick as the Chachalu muse- Dempsey briefed the membership on their um remodel, or within respective departments during the Sunday, May a 60-mile radius of the Reservation on Oregon 6, General Council meeting. Department of Transpor- department, which became a “one- tation projects. Grand Ronde is one stop shop” in August 2015 when of three Tribes that have a TERO the Employment Services building memorandum of understanding opened and the Human Resources with the state. departments at the Tribal govern- Mercier said TERO is currently ment and casino merged. Since concentrating on training people to then, Human Resources has placed work in the construction industry, the job application process online which “is really needing trained and started a Spirit Mountain Ca- employees.” sino careers Facebook page. The TERO Commission, which “We help people from the time oversees the Tribe’s TERO pro- they apply until the time we say gram, consists of Russell Wilkinson, goodbye,” Dempsey said. “Every- Diana George, Camille Mercier, thing that an employee does or Matt Thomas and Stephanie Craig. needs while they are employed, most Mercier said that TERO works of that comes through Human Re- collaboratively with Social Ser- sources in some way, shape or form.” vices, Human Resources, con- Working in the Tribe’s favor tractors, schools and the Oregon when recruiting employees is the Department of Transportation to generous benefits package that “find the best employment oppor- goes along with working for the tunities for all our clients.” Tribe. “That is a big plus for us,” Dempsey said. Dempsey said there are 350 dis- tinct job descriptions within the Tribal government because jobs are so specialized, from being a nurse to being an aquatic biologist to being an attorney. “It’s very diverse,” he said. Because of the turnover at the casino and the government, Human Resources holds weekly new hire training sessions for the casino and monthly new hire training ses- Ad created by George Valdez Dempsey and Mercier fielded five questions from the membership after their presentations. In other action, it was announced that Tribal Council nominations will occur at 11 a.m. Sunday, June 24, in the Community Center. The next General Council meeting will be held in September. Veronica Gaston, Butch Paraz- oo and Virginia Wheeler won the $100 door prizes while Grace Lan- cour-Joles, Peter Grout, Genifer Grout, Linda Olson and Maxine Clements won the $50 door prizes. Simone Auger and Debi Anderson won two necklaces donated by Trib- al Council Secretary Jon A. George. Gaston said her winnings will go toward paying for the restoration work she performed on the Saige Selwyn memorial on the west side of Grand Ronde Road. After the General Council meet- ing, Tribal members participated in the third and final Community Input meeting that sought recom- mendations for advisory votes to be placed on the September Tribal Council ballot. Tribal Council Vice Chair Chris Mercier said Tribal Council will likely decide by the end of June which recommended topics make it to the ballot. Last year, Tribal members were asked for their in- put about enrollment issues, Elder housing and marijuana-based busi- ness opportunities. The entire meeting can be viewed on the Tribal website www.gran- dronde.org by clicking on the News tab and then Video.
