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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 2017)
8 A SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2017 people during the summer, ees. Although, because of limited Workforce from 6A finding due largely in part to the fact he hours, I can’t give them everything He bought the restaurant in June 2015. Not wanting to miss the sum- mer season, he planned on opening July 4. “For the fourth, we just had hot dogs and grilled cheese, and we were pumping them out,” he said. “It was very encouraging to sell $1,500 in grilled cheese and hot dogs a day.” His expectations were high, but hot dogs and grilled cheese weren’t really his thing. He had a grander vision for his restaurant, which the community wasn’t really excited about. “I was raised health conscious,” he said. “Comfort food was like tofu tacos. I always thought the general population wanted a healthier option, things you can’t find here. And the people pretty much spoke what they wanted.” They wanted burgers and fries, so he put in a fryer and business was booming again. “We were pumping,” he said. “Oh lord, we had fresh cut fries, we had burger patties. We had people saying, ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever had.’” But one of the thing’s the cus- tomers didn’t ask for was the smoke from the fryers. He didn’t realize how bad it was until he received a nega- tive Yelp review. “It said, ‘Look, you’re filling the place with oil vapor,’” Khufu recalled. “‘It stinks. We’re choking.’” Being new to the business and without training, he thought that an electric fryer wouldn’t create much smoke. That might have been true if he had a ventilation hood, which he didn’t. He was forced to ditch the fryer, which meant he got rid of the fries. “The profit on French fries is phe- nomenal,” he said. “You can buy a 40-pound bag of potatoes for $10. So, you sell 8 or 9 ounces for 8 bucks, you can’t beat that.” But after the loss of the fries, sales dropped 40 percent. At the same time, Khufu was hav- ing difficulty with his staff. Unlike Fred Meyer, Khufu had no troubles couldn’t afford background checks and drug tests. “You don’t have a hard time find- ing people,” he said. “You have a hard time finding people that have a work ethic that aren’t alcoholics or drug addicts. It is unbelievable. We’re talking hard drugs.” A few had illegal drug problems like meth and heroin. Others had alcoholism issues. “Everything seems to be fine, then two to three weeks later, bam!” he said. “All the nasty stuff starts com- ing out. You confront them and they go, ‘Oh, no, I’m getting better.’ No, this is a pattern. This can’t happen again. But it does. So, you fire them.” Other employees who didn’t have drug issues seemed to get discour- aged as summer began to wane. They lost interest in the job. As to why, Khufu said he really didn’t know. “It’s a very poignant question,” he said. “Why is it so difficult to have people that are stable? I think it’s a behavior thing. Maybe they never found the joy or the fulfillment of working steady and making ends meet.” As Florence Chamber of Commerce Board President, Bobby Jensen has seen issues with demoral- ization and addiction problems in Florence as well, some of it caused by the very boom and bust nature of the tourist economy. “If I got left out and I have no work to do, what am I going to turn to?” he said. “You’re going to turn to different things.” Employees find steady jobs during the summer, but get laid off during the winter. Repeat ad nauseum. The stress can be unbearable. “We have the most challenged people in the country, and we have some of the most giving, prosperous people in Florence,” Jensen said. “We’re really both sides. It could be worse, but it could be better. What we need to do is balance it out.” And like those extremes, Khufu has plenty of positive experiences with employees. “Oh yes, you find great employ- BUD’S UPHOLSTERY that they deserve. I tell them, ‘I love you. You’re awesome. But there’s going to come a time when you want more hours. You can ask, but I can’t guarantee. If you find something bet- ter, just tell me. It’s going to be okay. Just be honest and up front about it. Just don’t quit that day. Give me a heads up.’ I let them go. Once you leave the cage open, some birds will return.” He says he tries to give his employees whatever benefits he can, paying them a full wage and giving them all the tips, including the ones he receives. But as the fall comes, the hours get cut back. By winter, he can only do one thing. “Cry,” he said. “You cut down on as much cost as you can. I have one person work.” The one person is his cook. The rest of the staff? Just Khufu. “We’re open seven days a week. I can’t work if I’m sick. So, I have to close. But I’m sitting at home going, ‘God, I could just be making a little bit of money today.’ But in the back of my mind, I know I have to stay healthy,” he said. And then there’s the fact that there’s no capital coming in. “How do you survive? There’s business owners I’ve been friends with who say, ‘You are going to end up taking out a loan. Believe you me, you’re gonna have to borrow money in this town come winter.’ That was very helpful, because otherwise I wouldn’t have stayed open.” It took a lot of advice from small business owners. Khufu, who is in his early 40s, found the help of other young entrepreneurs vital. “When I started up my business, Old Town Barber Shop had just opened up. La Bu La just started up. Spice was just bought and started up again. It was this core group of young entrepreneurs, and we were all root- ing for each other and coming to see each other,” he said. They would teach each other tricks of the town and give pointers on how to actually do tasks like payroll. Using this network of advice, Khufu has remodeled the restaurant twice. It took him a while to figure out how to get the proper flow of his establishment — putting tables in the right place, removing the pool table that was taking up space. While he had to take out another loan to do that, he’s confident he’ll pay it back within two years. Siuslaw Riverside has hired two new cooks since then, whom he cred- its for saving the restaurant after the French fry debacle. Riverside went back to its roots, serving healthy food but doing so in a way that would attract a more tradi- tional clientele. They have staples that will always remain, like the gyro and his Blast sandwich, but they’re always mixing up their specials, try- ing new things. According to the Bureaus of Labor Statistics, almost 20 percent of new businesses fail after their first year. Khufu has beaten the odds so far. And he plans on continuing to do that. “The future is always uncertain. However, I remain hopeful,” he said. As a restauranteur, Khufu is some- what regulated to the boom and bust of the tourism industry, but other industry is solid, and it’s great that businesses are trying to break out of we have that.” the mold. They’re doing so by target- But the tourism industry can be ing key markets. difficult for employers. “Boat owners forget they even “Boats and fancy cars” own a boat in the off season,” he “In order to have a stable founda- said. tion, you really need to have three Because of that, he has had to lay legs to a stool, as opposed to two,” off employees when winter comes. “I hate the idea of laying people Florence City Manager Erin Reynolds said about the Florence off and trying to rehire,” he said. “That’s just not acceptable.” economy. To offset his winter losses, Jensen Reynolds, along with Mayor Joe Henry, the Florence City Council, is looking toward manufacturing a and the city’s small but dedicated device he’s developed while fixing staff, have been working on building boats. “It’s called a transducer shield,” an economic development plan for he said. “It mounts to the back of a the past few years. “It’s very hard to sit on a stool boat, kind of a technical thing, but with two legs,” she said. “While it’s highly needed on 40 percent of the been an incredibly positive experi- boats on the market in the world.” The product combines transducer ence in Florence to have tourism and the retirement community as our blocks and spray shields together to base, we realized very early on in protect sensitive electrical equipment these efforts that we needed a third from the spray of the water. He has a provisional patent on the leg to that stool. Not taking away the important tourism and retirees, but device, and Jensen hopes he can pro- recognizing that we need more diver- duce it year-round — boat repair dur- ing the busy summer months, and sity in our portfolio.” The Siuslaw region’s “third leg” global manufacturer the rest of the may come from businesses like time. One of Jensen’s inspirations for Breen Marine, owned by Jensen. The boat repair company touches both of his fabrication business model is Florence business Top Hydraulics, a Florence’s main industries. “Everybody who retires here small manufacturer that ships its eventually buys a boat at some goods throughout the world, with point,” Jensen said. “Most of our customers are retired. The retirement See WORKFORCE 9A Eugene Foot and Ankle Health Center Podiatric Physicians & Surgeons From routine checkups to treatments for surgery, Eugene Foot and Ankle Health Center is equipped to handle all your podiatric needs. 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