Community Renewal Good Stories - Gary/Hammond/East Chicago

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EZ Tapped to Recruit Staff for New Bennigan’s Restaurant in Gary

Gary/Hammond /East Chicago, Indiana, EZ

When Bennigan’s Restaurant opened its doors in Gary in May 2003, almost all of the waiters, cooks, managers, and other staff were residents of the Gary/East Chicago/ Hammond EZ—and had been recruited and placed in their Bennigan’s jobs by the EZ itself.

When planning the new restaurant, Bennigan’s owner Larry Briski was committed to hiring EZ and other local residents from Gary and East Chicago. Gary Mayor Scott L. King sought the assistance of the EZ to find these workers. EZ staff took on the assignment of filling more than 125 positions, including managers, servers, hosts, hostesses, bartenders, cooks, and bus persons.

The EZ conducted numerous job-readiness seminars and hosted a job fair at the Genesis Convention Center in April 2003, which 238 applicants attended.

Currently 96 percent of Bennigan’s staff are EZ residents. Briski has received EZ employment tax credit for each EZ resident hired— a total of approximately $200,000. The EZ wage tax credits are worth up to $3,000 to EZ business owners for each employee who lives in the EZ.

For more information on the programs of the Gary/Hammond/East Chicago, Indiana, EZ, please contact Scott Upshaw, EZ executive director, at (219) 886–9047.