Cedar Point to pay $20/hour

SANDUSKY — Cedar Point is bumping its wage package to $20 an hour and needs to hire 3,000 employees immediately. The company also will provide jobs with flexible schedules through the end of October. "It's now our line-level wage for a new associate — $20 per hour — and it goes up from there for supervisors," said Jason McClure, senior vice president of park operations at Cedar Fair, Cedar Point's parent company. The park needs employees in every job category, including food and beverage, housekeeping, ride operators and lifeguards. The announcement means the park will be paying two times the hourly wage it was paying last year, which was increased to $12 and later $15. "We're 100% committed to hiring the staff we need," McClure said. The park also announced on Friday that it would not open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in June due to being short-staffed right now. "We've had to make the difficult choice to adjust our operating calendar," said Carrie Boldman, the park's vice president and general manager. "This is an unprecedented step for us and one we don't take lightly. Simply put, maintaining a seven-day operating calendar when we are unable to provide that quintessential Cedar Point experience isn't an option. It's a step we have to take." Economic drivers Erie County commissioner Pat Shenigo said there's a huge need right now to hire workers locally, and the wage bump should help a lot. "What this means is our economic lifeblood," Shenigo said. He hopes local people and residents from neighboring counties are able to fill the gap and take the jobs. In the past, Cedar Point has relied on workers recruited from all over the world. International hiring proved more difficult this year, however, due to the pandemic. The park will have to rely more on workers from the area this year. That means from across the region, according to Shenigo. "We're going to have to draw from outside the county to fill this many jobs, but all these local communities benefit from the direct and indirect businesses that Cedar Point brings here every year," he said. "I hope local residents step up for this unique opportunity. ... $20 an hour is a pretty good deal." It's key the park and other employees be able to fill open positions in order to have a comeback season across the area, said Larry Fletcher, president of the Lake Erie Shores & Islands, the visitor's bureau that serves the region. "Cedar Point is what put this part of Ohio on the map regionally, nationally and even internationally and is one of the primary reasons millions visit our area each year and why hundreds of other businesses over the years have chosen to locate here," Fletcher said. "The company's continuous reinvestment both inside and outside the park gates, quality employment opportunities, use of local labor for new projects and other forms of partnership will provide an ongoing economic impact that we all benefit from." Shenigo also praised the park for its ever presence in the community and its willingness to invest "inside and outside" the park gates, referring to the Cedar Point athletic centers on on Cleveland Road (U.S. 6), Sawmill Creek and other park projects. "Cedar Point is our largest economic driver and its success is critical to Sandusky's ability to emerge from the pandemic," said Sandusky city manager Eric Wobser. "We hope that everyone involved does all they can to encourage employees to work their summer at the world's greatest amusement park and be part of America's best coastal town's comeback." The park is not the only employer in the area in search of new hires. There are tens of thousands of jobs available within a 30-mile radius of Sandusky, according to state data, which is helping to push wages up. A $300 federal unemployment supplemental payment weekly that's part of pandemic relief also could be having an impact on the employment picture, according to critics who say it's been keeping people from going back to work because they can earn as much or more collecting the normal unemployment benefit plus the supplemental federal payment. The federal subsidy was supposed to run until September but Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced earlier this month that Ohio would end the extra payment at the end of June.