Job seekers are invited to a hospitality industry job fair on Oct. 3 as the city brings together employers in the tourism and convention sectors for a hiring event. The job fair will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Davidson Ballroom of the Music City Center. This is the third time the hospitality industry has come together to host a job fair as Nashville’s tourism and convention sectors continue to grow. It is free and open to the public.
Nearly 50 employers have registered to attend, including several of the city’s major hotels, attractions, transportation companies and restaurants. (See list below.) Employers will be looking for workers from entry level to management to executive level.
A new feature this year will be attendance of several community organizations that focus on workforce development issues, such as job skills training and job mentorship. They will be available to speak with job seekers in need of resources. They will also network with employers.
“Nashville is fortunate to have a low unemployment rate, but that makes it even more difficult for our hospitality partners to fill all their open positions,” said Greg Adkins, president and CEO of the Greater Nashville Hospitality Association and co-chair of the Hospitality Workforce Advisory Council. “We have to think outside the box to attract workers, and that’s why we’re proud to offer job seekers a career fair and opportunities to meet with community organizations who specialize in workforce issues.”
“Employers recognize that hiring someone is just a first step and that the real challenge comes in retaining workers,” said Dan Piotrowski, general manager of the Omni Nashville Hotel, who also co-chairs the Hospitality Workforce Advisory Council. “We want our workers to view hospitality as a long-term career choice, and that’s why you’ll see employers offering benefits ranging from ESL classes to transit assistance to tuition reimbursement.”
The hospitality industry employs 65,000 people in Davidson County and can be a successful career path leading to high-paying, quality positions. Hospitality is Nashville’s second-largest industry with annual visitor spending generating $6 billion, one-third of all visitor spending in the state. Last year, 14.1 million visitors came to the greater Nashville area.
Nashville has experienced year-over-year growth in hotel rooms sold for 78 of the last 81 months.
The hospitality industry is expected to continue to grow and place even more pressure on the need for workers. More than 4,800 hotel rooms are expected to open in the next two years. Additionally, 90 restaurants/bars opened in 2016 and 60 have opened in 2017 with another 113 that have announced openings later this year or in 2018.
Several parking and transportation options are available to job fair attendees. Parking will be available in the Music City Center parking garages, P1 and P2, which are accessible via Sixth Avenue from Demonbreun Street or Korean Veterans Boulevard. Parking is $7. A free parking option is also available at Nissan Stadium’s Lot D with a complimentary shuttle on the Nashville Downtown Partnership’s yellow Express vans from the parking lot to Music City Center throughout the duration of the job fair. Also, MTA buses and the free Music City Circuit Green line go to Music City Center, and several nearby parking lots can be found at www.parkitdowntown.com.
The job fair is hosted by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp and the Greater Nashville Hospitality Association as part of a workforce initiative called Hospitality Works. The initiative includes a jobs board where employers can post jobs and job candidates can submit profiles. Hundreds of open positions are listed on the Hospitality Works site.
Community partners for the job fair include Music City Center, Freeman and NewsChannel 5.
Employers who have registered to attend the hospitality industry job fair include the following:
- A. Marshall Family Foods
- Cambria Nashville Downtown
- Chartwell Hospitality
- Cheekwood Estate and Gardens
- Courtyard Nashville Airport
- Courtyard Nashville Downtown
- Courtyard Brentwood Nashville
- Cruzzin Nashville
- Demo’s Family of Restaurants
- Fairfield Inn and Suites Nashville Downtown/Gulch
- Fairlane Nashville
- Fontanel Attractions
- Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center
- Gray Line of TN
- Hilton Garden Inn Vanderbilt
- Hilton Nashville Airport Hotel
- Hilton Nashville Downtown
- Holiday Inn Express Nashville Downtown
- Holston House Nashville
- Home2 Suites by Hilton Nashville Vanderbilt
- Homewood Suites Nashville Vanderbilt West End
- Hutton Hotel
- Kimpton Aertson Hotel
- Morph Hospitality
- Music City Center
- Nashville Airport Marriott
- Nashville Courtyard Goodlettsville
- Nashville TownPlace Suites Goodlettsville
- Nashville Underground
- NCVC Visitor Information Center
- Noelle
- Old Town Trolley Tours of Nashville
- Omni Nashville Hotel
- Premier Parking
- Radisson Hotel Nashville Airport
- Renaissance Nashville
- Residence Inn Nashville Airport
- Residence Inn Brentwood Nashville
- Ryman Hospitality
- Sheraton Grand Nashville
- Southwest Airlines
- SpringHill Suites Nashville Airport
- SpringHill Suites and Residence Inn West End Vanderbilt
- The Hermitage Hotel
- Union Station Hotel
- Westin Nashville
Additional details about the job fair, parking and transportation options and an up-to-date list of employers are at www.visitmusiccity.com/jobfair.
