Arvada Chamber introduces career hub to support hiring demand

As local businesses continue to experience staffing challenges, the Arvada Chamber of Commerce has launched the Arvada Career Hub to connect local job opportunities with local people. This digital resource is available to all businesses and non-profits that serve the Arvada community, making it the largest, most inclusive job board in the city.

This simple, accessible job board was designed to support an increasingly urgent labor shortage in Arvada. According to the Arvada Chamber’s annual business challenges survey, the biggest local challenge across industries is workforce: finding and retaining quality talent that meets demand and skill requirements. Arvada businesses say the number one workforce-related challenge is a lack of interested people in open positions.

Across the country, the service industry in particular is witnessing a labor shortage for a variety of reasons. By the end of June, there were approximately 1.6 million openings nationally in the leisure and hospitality sector, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is an 80% increase from the available jobs in that sector compared to June 2020. Arvada businesses are facing the same pain.

Kokoro Arvada’s owner, Masaru Torito, says he is now spending much more on marketing employment opportunities than he is marketing the Japanese restaurant to customers.

“For us, staff is like family and that’s why some employees have been with us many years, including all 20 years that we have been open,” says Torito. “Our family needs to grow and that hasn’t been easy. Between vaccine hesitancy, children not being able to return to daycare and school, the Delta variant, other career options and extensive unemployment benefits, it’s been challenging finding people to join our team. It’s not about doing things harder, faster or spending more; it’s about fundamental changes that need to happen for us to be able to hire enough people to survive as a business.”

Workers can search the Arvada Career Hub by employer and position. Each week, one open job is featured on the page and promoted on social media to spotlight a new opportunity. With the support of area partnerships through the Arvada Works program, the Arvada Chamber is focused on finding local talent to fill the hundreds of open Arvada jobs.

“Helping Arvada businesses identify, recruit and develop more local talent can vastly reduce costs associated with turnover while fortifying the human resources needed to remain competitive and grow,” said Daniel Ryley, Executive Director at Arvada Economic Development Association. “To this end, local hiring can simultaneously improve economic resiliency for the workforce, including wage growth and meaningful, long term career opportunities.”

Looking for a job in Arvada? Need to hire for an open position? Make the Arvada Career Hub your first stop at arvadachamber.org/jobs.