By RALPH SAMUELS, PJ GIALOPSOS, JAY RAMRAS
A real opportunity for Alaskan workers, customers, and businesses is happening. Lawmakers in Juneau overwhelmingly voted to pass a bill that would allow adults to work and serve alcohol in restaurants and breweries, among other workplaces.
That bill, Senate Bill 15, now goes to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for his consideration. As Alaskans that own and/or operate businesses large and small across our state, with decades of experience and contributions to the State we love to live and work in, we respectfully ask the governor for this bill to become law.
Right now, Alaska is one of less than a handful of states where someone over 18 but not 21 can vote, sign up for the military, take out loans for homes and cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but cannot be trusted to pour a beer, serve a glass of wine, or hand a customer a cocktail.
Those adults are left stranded from the economic benefits that come from being a fully-fledged worker in hospitality. It is time Alaska changes its stance and get competitive for the young adults who will form the future of our industry.
Serving is one of the most rewarding positions young people can have. The financial reward for the hospitality industry is well-known, and the skills gained are reciprocal at virtually any dining and drinking establishment in the world (and that’s not an overstatement). We face a problem with the current age rules: a break in our workforce pipeline.
We have all seen the same story repeated in front of us for decades: a young high school graduate starts a summer job in Alaska, and loves working in hospitality, be it in a restaurant for a small business or working with tour operators up and down the state’s coast. That now adult goes out of state to college, or for a change of scenery, and discovers they inevitably can work in that other state as a server for a lot more money than back home. Most of us know how that story ends.
It is already hard enough convincing young people to come up and move back to Alaska. Depriving them as adults of opportunities in our local businesses, when virtually everywhere else in the country allows them three years of gaining skills and financial resources elsewhere, is a self-inflicting wound.
Some people are opposed to this bill because of the concern making access to alcohol greater means there is an increased risk of abuse. We understand and respect that, and can say our businesses, in an era when everyone has a cell phone camera that can snap a photo, have every reason to prevent those 18- to 20-year-olds from illegally drinking. To be clear, those same people, right now, can work in restaurants, handle alcohol in partially consumed drinks and clean them up, and be expected to not violate any laws in consuming them. Our businesses have strong reasons not to let people play around with those rules, as it could mean a business losing its license, or worse.
Alaskans’ history with alcohol deserves our attention to make sure we are not being reckless. But we must also be realistic: small businesses, especially restaurants in our towns and cities, have a lot of head winds. The costs to operate are continuing to rise, and finding good staff who want to make a career in hospitality is tough enough. Young adults need to develop the communicationskills and manage relationships, as well as handle stress, in a work environment that prepares them for success in whatever their chosen profession. Hospitality has for countless people been that springboard.
Now, there is a chance, a real window, where we can help young adult Alaskans be even more financially successful, trusted to handle responsibilities and be accountable for their actions, and foster a win-win-win for these young workers, the Alaskans and visitors who patronize our businesses, and our communities for having more gainfully employed adults. We share Gov. Dunleavy’s hope of Alaska being open for business, and ask his support of this important measure.
Patricia Jane “P.J.” Gialopsos is an Alaskan since 1979 who has owned and operated her family-run restaurant in Anchorage for over forty years. Ralph Samuels grew up in King Salmon, lives in Anchorage, and is vice president of Holland America Princess of Alaska. Jay Ramras is a lifelong Alaskan that has started several very successful hospitality businesses, and currently owns and operates Pikes Landing in Fairbanks, a large hotel and restaurant.
