Reddy Ice
Reference Letter

10/8/2010

This is a letter of reference for JMI Staffing Co.

We have been using JMI since 2005 and have had excellent results. All of the employees we have used through this service and very hard workers. There custome service is ecellent and I would highly recommended JMI for any company's staffing needs.

Thanks,
Ronnie Stokes
Reddy Ice Co.
Jacksonville, FL

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SP Recycling Corporation
Reference Letter

8/19/2010

Dear Marty,

SP Recycling and JMI met in April of 2007 based on a reference from Waste Management in Orlando which is a customer of ours who runs similar operations.

Based on that reference we interviewed you for our Gainesville Operation and started a relationship that has lasted to this and we hope to continue for some time to come. Our current Managers Charlie Hobson and Gary Gill are always complimentary of the staff you have provided.

In early 2008 we introduced your company to our Polk County facility and have continued to use your company since, in addition Barry Campbell and John Lopez share they are very satisfied with JMI, this was not always the case with your competitors, both of our Divisions run multiple shifts and as I remember we started off with one shift at both locations to see if JMI did what it said it would.

Today we are happy to say all shifts at both locations are staffed by JMI and we no longer utilize any other staffing company. With the same returning staff daily this has eliminated hours of retraining.

Sincerely,
Tom Kimsey
Regional Operations Manager
SP Recycling Centers

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Wyndham Hotel - Tampa Westshore
Reference Letter

August 30, 2010

To whom it may concern,

JMI has been a partner with the Wyndham Tampa Westshore since 2005. Our relationship with JMI has always been positive and beneficial to our hotel, guests, and staff. As the Assistant General Manager of the Wyndham, I have had the privilege of working with Marty and his staff for the past five years. The services and individuals that JMI has provided to our hotel have always proven to be friendly, professional, and of the highest quality.

I have always found Marty a pleasure to work with. He has always displayed superior service in his communication, flexibility, and willingness to assist our hotel whenever needed. We have always appreciated JMI, and working with such a helpful group of individuals.

JMI has been an asset to the Wyndham Tampa Westshore. I would gladly give my recommendation to any that may ask.

Ian Larson
Assistant General Manager
Wyndham Tampa Westshore
Tampa, FL

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Waste Management
Reference Letter

August 8, 2010

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is a simple attempt to express our gratitude for the outstanding services that has been rendered to us by JMI Staffing for the past 5 years.

All of our experience during this 5 year business partnership has been very positive. Our department was at a point where we were very frustrated with the performance and service of the many temporary staffing agencies that we had to use to complete our tasks. JMI Staffing came in and did exactly what they said they could do. They did not promise what they could not provide. As a result our production level has increased substantially with the quality of the workforce and the reduction n turnover of personnel.

JMI Staffing has provided excellent customer service through their dedicated Service Coordinator and they have also been able to meet our very diverse needs and hours with a flexible and dependable workforce.

I know of no reason why you should hesitate to join in a working partnership with JMI Staffing and I highly recommend them to any company in need of temporary and permanent employees.

Sincerely,
Jimmy J. Rodriguez
MRF Manager
Waste Management
Orlando, FL

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Hotels Plagued By Staff Vacancies
Foreign Workers Won't Fix Labor Shortage, Experts Say

By Dave Simanoff
The Tampa Tribune
Printed January 30th, 2006

TAMPA - Gregg Nicklaus isn't looking for a few good employees.

He's looking for a lot of them.

Nicklaus, whose family owns the Sirata Beach Resort Hotel & Conference Center in St. Pete Beach, has seen his staff grow quickly – from 150 workers in 2003 to 265 people this year – but it's not quick enough. He still has 40 open positions.

"We're woefully understaffed," he said. "It's horrible."

Nicklaus' peers share his frustration – and their troubles spell problems for one of the biggest engines in the Tampa Bay area economy. Hotel owners and managers on both sides of the bay say they are experiencing labor shortages, finding it increasingly more difficult to compete against other companies for workers in a painfully tight labor market.

"Just placing an ad, you used to get 100 applicants for a job,” said Katie Doherty, manager of the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center in St. Petersburg. “Now you're lucky if you get 10. It's very challenging."

To meet the demand, many hotels are reaching abroad for labor, but industry experts say foreign staffers are a short-term solution to a long-term problem. They say the industry must do a better job promoting itself and its careers to job seekers.

Although many businesses in the Tampa Bay area are experiencing worker shortages, the problem is particularly bitter for the hospitality industry.

First, hotel operators have few options for filling positions when job applicants are in short supply. After all, a housekeeping job, unlike a call center job, can't be outsourced to India or Indiana.

Second, the hospitality industry is a cornerstone of the local and state economy. Employers in the leisure and hospitality fields accounted for 112,300 – 8.6 percent – of the 1.3 million jobs in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Tourists spent $50 billion in Florida in 2003, according to Enterprise Florida.

Hotel officials are quick to point out that the labor shortage hasn't hindered their ability to serve guests – yet – but they also are worried about what might happen if the problem gets worse.

If a hotel can't provide clean and timely service to its guests, “that is a fundamental failure in our business,” Nicklaus said.

Foreign Workers

Many hotels are forced to look overseas to fill staff openings, turning to-contract staffing services that bring in workers from around the world. For example, Doherty's Radisson hotel gets 15 percent to 20 percent of its staff from Eastern European countries. The Don Cesar Beach Resort, in St. Pete Beach, brings in 50 to 60 workers from Jamaica each year – about 10 percent of its 575 staffers.

"It's been a very successful program for us," said John Marks, the Don Cesar's general manager. However, "We would prefer to have the opportunity to identify and hire more individuals on a local basis than we would to rely on a third-party source to get through the course of a busy time period."

JMI Staffing, based in Lutz, provides workers for five Tampa hotels, including the Mainsail Suites Tampa Hotel and Conference Center near Tampa International Airport.

Estrella Coto, a JMI employee for two years, said that she enjoys working in the United States and that the staff at Mainsail is "como una familia" – like a family. Co-worker Juana Ines has worked for JMI at Mainsail for four months. She said jobs in the United States pay better than those in her native Dominican Republic.

"Esbueno," she said. "It's really nice to work here."

What's the best thing about working in the United States?

"Dinero," Ines said. Wages here are much higher than in the Dominican Republic, she said.

JMI Staffing President Marty Davenport said his company originally specialized in finding industrial workers but realized several years ago that there was a growing need for foreign workers in the hospitality industry. He relies on churches, non-profit organizations and word-of-mouth to find workers.

Some JMI employees are U.S. Citizens, and others are foreigners with visas. Nearly all of them are from Latin America. "We don't close our doors to anybody," Davenport said.

Visa Issues

Foreign workers can fill open positions in a pinch, but they're not a long-term solution to the hospitality industry's labor shortage. Immigration lawyer Rebekah Poston, a partner at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in Miami, said demand outweighs supply for nonimmigrant work visas. She said obtaining visas for foreign workers is expensive and can take up to six months. Companies seeking visas have to prove to the government that local workers are unavailable for the job and that wages will be on par with those for similar jobs in the same area.

The government issues only 66,000 nonimmigrant visas each year for skilled, nonprofessional workers, and hotels aren't the only companies clamoring for those employees, Poston said. Agriculture firms, horse farms, fisheries, foresters – even sports teams – also reply on nonimmigrant workers. "This is vital to industries, big and small," she said. "What is an employer to do?"

Career Choice

Hospitality industry leaders say part of the solution to the labor shortage lies with Congress. They say lawmakers need to allow more foreign workers into the country, and allow those workers to stay longer.

A nonimmigrant worker visa allows a person to stay in the United States for one year, but it can be renewed for up to three years. After the visa expires, the worker has to return home for at least six months before returning to the United States.

More foreign labor is just one piece of the puzzle. Industry leaders also need to address other conditions, such as housing costs and transportation, that hurt their ability to attract qualified workers.

What about just raising wages to attract more applicants? Entry-level jobs in the hotel industry pay about $7 an hour – what about boosting that figure to $8, $10 or ever $15?

"That's the short-term solution to a long-term problem," said Keith Overton, vice president and general manager at the Tradewinds Island Resorts in St. Pete Beach. If one hotel raises wages, other hotels will follow suit, resulting in higher operating costs for the hotels but the same degree of competition for workers, he said.

Joe Collier, general manager of Mainsail Suites in Tampa and the new president of the Hillsborough County Hotel and Motel Association, said the long-term solution to the hospitality industry's labor problems is to let people know that hotels are a good career choice.

Collier doesn't need to look far to find proof that hotel jobs can lead to meaningful careers. Goldie Fink said she wasn't looking for a career – she just needed a job – when she applied for a front desk position at a Marriott hotel 18 years ago.

Now, after numerous promotions, she's the guest service manager at Mainsail Suites. She said she would recommend a career in the hospitality industry to anyone. Hotel jobs pay well and provide opportunities for advancement, and "your co-workers become family members," she said.

Collier said it is important for young people to know about the breadth of careers available in the hospitality industry. Each hotel needs people to handle marketing, sales, food and beverage service, housekeeping, maintenance and the front desk. Finding them means looking far and wide.

"No matter what you do, there are certain jobs that have to be done," he said. -"You've got to get creative."

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