place that can rejuvenate them, but also excite them with nature adventures, like hiking and whale watching.
director, Amy Tudor.
The Lodge has been in operation for nearly 30 years and in that time it has been a first job for many Islanders. Being a family business, many family members have worked here as well. Finding willing and qualified workers on the Island has always been a challenge for us and we have in the past hired employees from off the Island and offered on-site staff accommodation. I imagine that businesses on Brier Island work quite closely with one another to survive and thrive. VT: Yes, the fishing village of Westport keeps the commu- nity going in the off-season. That’s also where the ferry service takes people from Freeport on Long Island. There are two short ferry trips to get to Brier Island, actually. Both ferries run once every hour, 24 hours a day and are on-call after midnight. The cost is only seven dollars per car, cash only. You pay to get here, but it’s free when you’re leaving. Whale watching is the major draw here. It was the advent about 30 years ago and the subsequent rise in popularity of whale watching that really proved to me that larger scale accommodations were necessary on the Island. We have always promoted the Island as a whole, but a special mention should go out to our whale watching partners, Brier Island Whale and Seabird Tours, and Mariner
The Island and the Lodge has long suffered a disadvan- tage in the world of internet access. Connections over the years were slow, unreliable, and costly, but now we have high speed wireless service which has really opened up the corporate retreat market for us. We have total of 38 rooms of various set-ups, as well as a lounge and two dining rooms that can be adjusted to fit the needs of our retreat guest. Our kitchen facilities can be used by the group directly if they wish to prepare their own meals, which is an accommodation available in the off-sea- son only. Otherwise, our chefs can create custom menus for any group. You must be very conscious of shaping the employee culture of the Lodge because of this. VT: I come at it from two angles: I’m a resident and a business owner. We hire seasonally and the amount of employees depends on what time of year it is. During the off-season, we can maintain operations with one-to-three staff members and at the peak of tourist season up to 30 people. As the owner and operator, I never stop working – and neither does my daughter-in-law and marketing
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SEPTEMBER 2018 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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