Jackson County, Missouri (KCTV)-The Westport Port Fonda door was locked for months due to a pandemic, but now new executives are coming in and opening the door looking for new employees. ..
“The praise we got at this place was well received and I think the name deserves a chance to be proved again,” said Erin McZee, Operations Director of the Culinary Virtue Restaurant Collective.
Most of the food remains the same as in the restaurant, but it’s very different as the staff are looking for new employees through weekly job fairs from 10am to 4pm on Fridays.
Pandemic-related unemployment benefits this weekend will end earlier than in other states.
It was a decision made by Missouri Governor Mike Parson in the hope that people would return to work.
“I don’t think that’s the biggest factor. It’s definitely a factor, and I think it helped me get a few more applications,” says McZee.
McZee is no stranger to the food industry. Their company runs three other popular restaurants in Westport, including Beer Kitchen, Mickey’s Hideaway and Charber.
After closing each facility for COVID, they fired all employees. This is about 80% back, McZee says.
As the number of people going out continues to grow, they realize that they aren’t just looking for employees for new places.
“We’re so busy right now and in very high demand that that number of people we had before isn’t enough,” says McZee.
The company aims to fill all types of positions in all restaurants, hoping to open Port Fonda in July.