Summer Work Travel Employer Q&A: Six Flags
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Learn more about U.S. employers who partner with CIEE BridgeUSA and our Summer Work Travel program. These businesses hire international seasonal staff to meet operational needs and participate in cultural exchange.
Q: Please introduce yourself.
A: I’m Kel Harper. I’m the senior staffing advisor of people operations at Six Flags Entertainment Corporation.
Q: Do you find the CIEE BridgeUSA program useful for your business?
A: The BridgeUSA program is very useful for our company because it allows us to provide the services that we typically couldn't provide if we didn't have the staffing. So, by hiring additional participants from around the world, it allows us the opportunity to offer more attractions for our guests, which in turn gives us the ability to provide better customer service.
Q: Does having international students at your work site have a positive influence at the site and/or in the community?
A: Having international participants at our parks provides not only staffing, but it also provides a cultural exchange – not just for the participants, but for our domestic staff being able to experience the culture of so many different countries. It is a mutually beneficial experience.
Q: In what ways have you brought the American culture to your BridgeUSA participants while they’re here?
Our participants get to experience all the holidays – like Fourth of July and Memorial Day – and they get to see the celebration of our country. And they really enjoy that. They also get to see the local culture around the parks that they visit. It brings the American culture to them, and they are able to experience what it's like to live and work in the United States.
Q: If you no longer had access to the BridgeUSA program, how would your business be affected?
A: Our parks rely on the BridgeUSA program to provide the attractions that our guests come to us for. If we didn't have this supplemental staffing, we would have to close attractions. We want to be able to provide a positive experience for all our guests – and this program allows us to do that.
Q: What kind of economic impact does the BridgeUSA program have on the communities where the businesses are?
The economic impact BridgeUSA has on our parks is very significant. The participants earn income and spend their money in the community and support local businesses. We're able to open for longer hours and able to provide more operating attractions to people in our parks.
Ready to solve your seasonal staffing challenges? Discover the talent that the CIEE BridgeUSA Summer Work Travel program can bring to your organization.