4A • October 13, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
SignalViewpoints
Employers defi ne what
they want in an intern
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
SUBMITTED PHOTO
At the Seaside Cove.
O
ne of the best writers I ever
worked with was a 17-year-
old intern. She was a Lake
Oswego high school senior
staying with her aunt over a summer in
suburban New York City, where I edited
a newspaper. Olivia wrote more stories
a week than full-time staff — and the
material sparkled. No wonder she won
a Northwest Excellence Award for high
school journalism that year.
Employers from throughout the
North Coast are hoping to fi nd that
sparkle in their interns, and companies
including Martin Hospitality, Lum’s
Auto Center, Providence Seaside Hospi-
tal and Fort George Brewing came
together in September at the South
Campus of Clatsop Community College
in Seaside to learn more.
“School district leaders were saying
we want to engage with their industry
partners, and our industry partners were
saying they want to engage more with
the school district,” Kevin Leahy of
Clatsop Economic Development Re-
sources, host of the event said. “It was a
gap everybody voiced.”
Project goals
Myronda Schiding, a curriculum co-
ordinator with the Northwest Regional
Education Service District, said the dis-
trict visited Yamhill County, where she
began conversations about internship
programs and grant opportunities.
The goal is to develop an internship
program for the county, Schiding said.
“As we kept talking about it, we
realized an internship project that is
comprehensive and community-based
like the McMinnville model would
thrive here,” Schiding said.
She was referring to the McMinn-
ville Works Internship Program, devel-
oped by Jody Christensen, executive
director of McMinnville Economic
Development Partnership.
Christensen was invited to Clat-
sop County by a coalition of CEDR,
industry partners, local school districts
and the Northwest Regional Education
Service District to share her experience.
McMinnville Works
In McMinnville, businesses were
shutting down production facilities,
Christensen said.
“Businesses were fl ying out of our
community,” Christensen said. “They
were not fi lling positions for eight
months. It was a problem, so we knew
we had to have a grow-our-own work
approach.”
One of the items industry partners
wanted to explore was internships,
she said. “They wanted us to take the
mystery out of it, the complexity and
simplify it. So they came on board and
we developed the McMinnville Works
Program.”
The program is in its sixth year, she
said.
“Every community is looking at
ways of attracting and retaining home-
grown talent, and to take a grow-your-
own workforce approach is the right
thing to do,” Christensen said. “While
Encounter at
the Cove
I
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Jody Christensen, Myronda Schiding and Kevin Leahy at the internship work-
shop in Seaside.
industry wants longer connections with
the school districts in the academic
world, the academic world wants stron-
ger connections with industry, so they
are putting resources to making those
things happen.”
Internships could span businesses
large and small.
“Every industry in your community,
every sector should be able to play in
this space. They should be able to have
an internship.”
What a company’s internship pro-
gram looks like in a year or fi ve years
could be very different, Christensen
said.
Students graduating internship pro-
grams can share their experiences with
future participants.
“We want multiple touch points with
industry, with families, with community
members with young children, so they
know that this internship model is some-
thing that they can grow into,” Schiding
said. “Part of this is marketing to local
industry, to families, to the communities
and growing that local workforce.”
Programs defi ned
Employers from Cannon Beach,
Warrenton, Seaside and Astoria partic-
ipated in hands-on exercises to defi ne
the intern’s role.
Should internship opportunities be
paid or unpaid? Part-time or full-time?
What are the expectations of employ-
ers?
Well-delineated career path oppor-
tunities help interns learn “people and
parts,” Christensen said.
Clatsop County has an extraordinary
opportunity, Christensen added.
“You already have people who are
engaged in the conversation, you have
a comprehensive support system, you
have an industry and employers who
want this program to be successful, so
that’s all you need,” she said. “Today
what we are doing is uncovering some
of the elements to help make that
happen.”
Retaining talent
A pilot launch
Project descriptions, age ranges, paid
or unpaid programs are yet to be deter-
mined in the crafting of the program.
“This is going to be Clatsop Coun-
ty’s internship program,” Christensen
said. “They can develop it to be all
different shapes and sizes. Let’s create
the basic foundations and then build
from there.”
Internships were originally designed
for students age 18 and older, Leahy
said, but the program was expanded to
include younger students.
How will the program’s success be
judged?
“This is considered a pilot launch,”
Christensen said. “I wouldn’t judge it
on numbers, I would judge it on year
two, who returns … and then you can
start having your benchmarks.”
The goal is to develop a framework
for an ongoing internship program in the
county, she said. The program could be
tailored to individual communities.
Both students and employers need to
be part of the conversation, Christensen
said.
“They’ll help develop the program
where they can,” she said.
The September workshop was the
fi rst step in reaching out to employers,
Leahy said.
An employer-led steering commit-
tee meets with CEDR’s core planning
group monthly, he said. The steering
committee plans to attend an upcom-
ing meeting of Clatsop County school
superintendents to review funding needs
for a countywide internship coordinator
to move the program forward.
“We want to have more exposure,”
Leahy said. “We want to the kids to
know about us.”
The program may offer opportunities
who may not do the traditional four-year
college route, he said, and it may draw
graduates to jobs in Clatsop County.
“As a small rural county, we want to
keep all of our talent,” Leahy said.
Port of Astoria Executive Director
Jim Knight said he planned involvement
in the program. He proposed tasks in the
Port’s environmental programs such as
collecting samples or stormwater test-
ing. Interns could perform administra-
tive tasks, security or marketing roles.
“It really runs the gamut,” Knight said.
As for my journalism intern from
Lake Oswego, 10 years later, what is
she doing now? Not in journalism,
alas, but her career path hasn’t been too
shabby. She graduated from Stanford
University and is now an analyst at a
prestigious investment bank in New
York City.
I like to think I’ve always been good
at spotting new talent!
was walking my little dog, Lucy, down in the Cove
when the dog struck up an acquaintance with another
little dog.
The man holding the other dog’s leash engaged me
in conversation. At fi rst it was about our dogs and their
pedigrees. Mine’s a purebred min pin; his pup, who was
adorable, was part
Chihuahua and part
something else,
VIEW FROM
maybe Pomera-
THE PORCH
nian. He said his
EVE MARX
dog was about a
year-and-a-half
old; he got him as
an itty-bitty thing. He said when he got the dog, it fi t in the
palm of his hand. “He was the biggest one in his litter and
they gave me the pick of the litter,” he said. “He also was
the only one that was independent and willing to separate
himself from the pack.”
As the dogs continued sniffi ng each other and tangling
their leashes, the man and I continued talking. He seemed
to be in his 30s. He was neat and clean. Before very long
he brought up work saying he’d been a job trainer at a
national fast food chain. He told me he’d come to the
Coast to work as a cook at Camp Rilea, but they’d recently
cut him loose, saying there was less work this time of year.
He said he had been out of work for two weeks and he was
starting to worry.
I asked him if he liked this area and if he intended to
stay. I guessed he was probably living in a pet-friendly
month-to-month rental, but if he ran out of money, he
would have to leave. Having come here myself a few
years ago as a renter with pets, I know the diffi culty of
fi nding affordable housing period, let alone housing that
accepts pets.
He told me he’d come to Oregon via Oklahoma. He
was originally from the South. I could detect a slight
Southern accent. I asked if he liked to surf and he said he
had a wetsuit but the water here was too cold for him. He
was also, I thought wisely, wary of the current. I asked
him if he’s spent a winter yet in Seaside and he said, “No,
ma’am, but I hear it’s rainy and cold and I’m a person
more used to warm weather.”
I mentioned I’d seen help wanted signs at McDonald’s.
I mentioned other local restaurants that might be looking
for a cook. He said a lot of places were hiring but only
part time and that he would have to work two or more
jobs to get the hours he needed to sustain himself and his
dog. As he spoke, I thought about all the people I’d met
since moving here who are working two or more jobs that
don’t offer health insurance and how the line between
who has enough and who doesn’t grows thinner by the
moment. This man wanted to work. He was sober and his
clothes were clean. He had wheels. He wasn’t looking for
a handout.
I repeated the places where I’d seen help wanted signs.
I suggested he read the classifi ed ads in the Signal and The
Daily Astorian, both of which he could fi nd at the public
library in Seaside. I suggested maybe he could get work in
a hotel.
It was time to move on. I said goodbye and good luck.
Directing his gaze to the cross that hangs around my neck,
my new acquaintance said, very sincerely, “Thank you,
ma’am. Please pray for me.”
That was more than a week ago. I keep on walking in
the Cove, but I haven’t seen him or the dog since. This
morning as I was hanging laundry on the line — and really
what has been more glorious than this Indian summer
weather? — I thought of the man and his dog. And yes, I
did pray for him.
LETTERS
A yes vote protects
property rights
I read Mayor Matt Brown’s letter
with sadness (“What Gearhart repeal
means,” The Daily Astorian, Sept.
22). Yes, I own a “political fi rm out
of California.” But my wife, Sharon,
grew up in Portland, spent her
summers in this area, and has been
coming to Gearhart for 60 years.
We have owned a house in Gearhart
for 17 years now, been part of the
Homeowner’s Association, and sup-
port the volunteer fi re department.
We have paid more than $200,000 in
property taxes. We have known Matt
for many years and consider him a
friend, so this is not personal.
And yes, we use our home as a
short-term rental — about 90 days
a year. Why does the mayor make
us out to be “outsiders”? What else
isn’t being said?
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
David F. Pero
R.J. Marx
The mayor is not telling you that
our measure ensures that all septic
and safety measures that already ap-
ply to every home in Gearhart will
apply to vacation rentals, as well.
He didn’t tell you that only 84 fam-
ilies will be able to rent their homes
as a short-term rental — ever.
He didn’t tell you that your
property values are being affected.
One day you may want to sell your
home and the buyer could say, “I
can afford to buy this property only
if I can rent it out occasionally.”
But current law prevents a buyer
from doing that. So in order to sell
your house you lower the price …
a lot. Is this the mayor’s plan to
provide more affordable housing in
Gearhart, by lowering your property
values?
Vacation rentals have always
been a part of Gearhart. They are
not a threat to our “quiet residential
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
Jeremy Feldman
John D. Bruijn
ADVERTISING
SALES
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Brandy Stewart
Carl Earl
community,” nor are they “high
commercial use,” as the mayor
claims — they are unoccupied much
of the year.
These are distortions, like claim-
ing that my wife and I are “outsid-
ers.” The mayor has unfortunately
proven that “the fi rst casualty in war
and politics is the truth.”
David Townsend
Gearhart
Save Gearhart,
vote no
Faced with a crisis in housing
availability that affects the econ-
omy of the entire county, and
advised by the county manager that
“the ‘vacation rental industry’ will
continue to grow for the foreseeable
future” (“Clatsop County ready to
tackle vacation rentals,” The Daily
Astorian, Sept. 26), the Clatsop
STAFF WRITER
Brenna Visser
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
Skyler Archibald
Rebecca Herren
Katherine Lacaze
Eve Marx
Esther Moberg
Jon Rahl
County Commission is choosing,
paradoxically, not to limit, but
merely to regulate, short-term rent-
als — with full knowledge that the
conversion of a growing number
of dwellings into vacation rentals
is a major source of frustration,
not just for prospective employees
desperate for a place to buy or rent,
but for their potential employers,
as well.
The city of Gearhart would seem
to have a better grasp of the con-
nection between vacation rentals
and the housing crisis. By enact-
ing legislation aimed at keeping
short-term rentals to a minimum,
it has taken a major step toward
alleviating the shortage of homes to
buy or rent long-term. In Gearhart,
existing vacation rentals, recog-
nized as illegal commercial activi-
ties in residential zones, have been
grandfathered (at least until they
are sold), while no new short-term
rental conversions are permitted.
Over time, the recent explo-
sion of short-term rentals will be
reduced by attrition; prospective
residents are already fi nding more
Gearhart dwellings available to
buy or rent on a long-term (over 30
days) basis. The permanent and sea-
sonal community of Gearhart has
been rescued from the onslaught
of vacation rental agencies that use
the Internet and direct mailings
to attract customers; thanks to the
2016 city ordinance, the community
will be able to preserve, after all,
its traditional integrity and stabil-
ity. Failing their attempt with the
Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals
to fi nd fl aws in Gearhart’s law
upholding the zoning ordinance and
limiting short-term rentals, absentee
See Letters, Page 5A
Seaside Signal
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