By Jill nagy<\/p>\n
Close to 900 university students are expected to arrive from overseas in the next few weeks to work at Lake George area hotels, restaurants, and resorts. Business people stress they all need housing, something that is always an issue but appears to be worse this year.<\/p>\n
Several properties that were previously available for students have been sold or rented to other summer visitors, according to Gina Mintzer, executive director of the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Chamber is always on the lookout for available motel rooms, cabins, campsites and the like, especially properties with accessible public transportation, she said. They pass on the information to the students who, she pointed out, \u201care used to paying for housing.\u201d Usually, though, \u201cbefore we know it, it\u2019s already gone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe students are looking frantically,\u201d she said. Some \u201ccouch surf\u201d with fellow students until they can find places of their own. \u201cWe try to make sure they are safe.\u201d<\/p>\n One such employer, Lake George Steamship Co., tendered employment offers that were accepted by 22 students.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope they can get here,\u201d said Bill Wilson, who is in charge of food and beverages for the company. He uses two recruiting companies to assist him in finding student employees. He reviews resumes and listens to pre-recorded interviews online.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The steamship company itself does not provide housing. However, Wilson is aware of some viable apartments behind the Lobster Pot restaurant on Canada Street and some cabins on Route 9\u2014three miles away on busy Route 9 with no public transportation available.<\/p>\n The students, according to Mintzer, come from \u201call around the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In 2019, the last summer before COVID travel restrictions, employees came from 53 countries. In a typical year, there are close to 1,000 of them, she said.<\/p>\n Lake George employers also hire local young people, both high school and college students. Mintzer said there is a slight preference for the international students because their schedules are more flexible and they can stay on into the fall\u2014sometimes beyond that. In fact, she recalled some students who worked through the winter and are back for this summer.<\/p>\n The housing shortage is partly the result of boom times in the Lake George area. Mintzer noted that Lake George had a very good season last year and she expects the same this year. Rooms that used to be available for students have been rented to others, usually for more money.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She is aware of several properties near Bolton Landing that used to house students that have recently been sold. In short, she summed up, \u201cit\u2019s a tighter situation than in the past.\u201d \u201cWe need more inventory.\u201d<\/p>\n There has been some discussion of the town and village buying and rehabilitating old motels for student use or building dormitories. However, there are no current plans in place to do that.<\/p>\n Future plans may require grant money to pay for the purchase of vacant property along Route 9 between the village and the outlet stores.<\/p>\n However Jim Siplon, EDC Warren County CEO and president, thinks that the situation for this summer\u2019s student workers in Lake George is, pretty much, under control. \u201cThe right people are working on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n After a two-year hiatus, it was necessary to \u201creopen the pipeline\u201d and start bringing international student employees to Lake George again. The next problem was finding housing for them. In the short term, this summer\u2019s student workers have to be housed.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cThey have a handle on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the immediate housing emergency, he sees a larger issue for the region. Mid-term, he noted, there is a need for a more enduring home for hospitality workers in Lake George.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span>The next set of discussions, he said, has to bring in other entities. \u201cThis is not just a hospitality problem,\u201d he said. Housing is needed for other temporary workers coming into the area\u2014such as traveling nurses, other short-term medical personnel, farm workers, and others who are part of the economy but not part\u00a0 <\/span>of the permanent population.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe need is universal, not just Lake George and the Great Escape,\u201d he said, \u201cIt\u2019s one giant regional challenge.\u201d He sees it as a long-term problem as the size of the workforce shrinks.<\/p>\n Michael Bittel, president and CEO of the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce, agreed with Siplon\u2019s analysis of short-term housing, whether for summer student workers or for other short-term workers and families. It is \u201ca vital piece\u201d of the area\u2019s development needs, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to be able to house people and, more important, attract people to come here,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s an issue all the way around,\u201d not just in Lake George, he noted. \u201cWe are all working together to develop short-term and long-term plans.\u201d<\/p>\n Bittel said his organization, the EDC Warren County and the Warren-Washington County IDA are partners in the project.<\/p>\n Bittel noted that there are many issues, such as reviewing zoning regulations and encouraging private builders to get involved. \u201cWe have to see that things are done properly and in good order and quickly … We are talking about standard, not low-income, housing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Jill nagy Close to 900 university students are expected to arrive from overseas in the next few weeks to work at Lake George area hotels, restaurants, and resorts. Business people stress they all need housing, something that is always an issue but appears to be worse this year. Several properties that were previously available […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n