Convention Center Prepares to Hire 700 : Red Carpet for Would-Be Employees

The way Pat Grady sees it, good housekeeping means good business. Grady, 40, is executive housekeeper at the San Diego Convention Center, which is scheduled for completion Nov. 1. Her job is to make sure the building is spotless.

She’ll need a lot of help. In addition to housekeepers, the convention center will need ushers, tour guides, groundskeepers, telephone operators and kitchen employees.

To fill those full- and part-time positions, the San Diego Convention Center Corp. announced plans Wednesday for a campaign to hire and train an estimated 700 employees. Dubbed “Operation Recruit!” the hiring drive will be the second-largest the city has ever seen, according to convention center officials.

The campaign to find workers in 1985 for Horton Plaza was the largest drive, with the hiring of about 1,000 people. The total work force at the convention center, including full-time personnel already employed, will approach about 850 when the center is opened.

The cleaning of the windows will be a task in itself, said center spokeswoman Donna Alm. “There are enough panes to fill 3 1/2 football fields with glass,” Alm said. The $160-million meeting facility will encompass 760,000 square feet.

The convention center staff will total 160 full-time and about 300 part-time employees once the hiring drive is completed. The center’s food and beverage provider, Premiere Food Services, is also expected to hire 40 full-time and an estimated 350 part-time employees through the hiring campaign.

“We are looking for people who are really going to represent San Diego,” said Marianne Hoke, the convention center’s personnel manager.

A task force made up of several community and governmental agencies will deluge the county with information on the hiring drive, Alm said. The group is aiming for a work force that will reflect the county’s ethnic population, Alm said.

“There has never been a task force that has included all of the segments of the community that are included in this task force,” Alm said.

Grady heard about the executive housekeeper position through San Diego City College, where she earned an associate in arts degree in professional housekeeping management in 1981. She still serves on an advisory board on housekeeping courses.

“I was very excited when I heard it was finally going up,” Grady said. “I knew before it was built that I wanted it; I wanted that building.”

The first event at the center will be a reception by the San Diego County Restaurant Assn. on Nov. 8. A “Community Celebration” is scheduled for Nov. 24, 25 and 26, which will feature dance troupes, flag parades and fireworks.

Applications for work will be distributed solely on Aug. 15. The state Employment Development Department will have the forms available at seven locations on that day. Their offices are at:

* 1354 Front St., San Diego.

* 2027 Mission Ave., Oceanside.

* 4579 Mission Gorge Place, San Diego.

* 6145 Imperial Ave., San Diego.

* 1301 Simpson Way, Escondido.

* 1664 Industrial Blvd., Chula Vista.

* 1360 N. Magnolia Ave., El Cajon.

The deadline for returning the completed application forms is 5 p.m. Aug. 19. Mailed applications will not be accepted.