Hiring is underway as Chula Vista prepares to welcome the long-awaited Gaylord Pacific Resort, a massive hotel and convention center on the city’s bayfront.
Marriott, the parent company of the Gaylord hotel line, announced plans this week to hire 800 new employees to staff the brand new resort. The roles listed online ranged from chefs and bartenders to accountants and IT specialists.
On Friday morning, lines of people dressed in blazers and holding resumes stood at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, waiting to interview for some of those roles. They were there for the first in a series of five career fairs that the San Diego Workforce Partnership has planned over the next two weeks.
San Diego resident Rebecca McKinnor was one of hundreds of candidates in line Friday morning. She currently works on the culinary team at Petco Park and loves cooking food from Italy, Korea and her mom’s home state of Yucatán in Mexico.
McKinnor said she was excited to try something new and pursue a role at the Gaylord Resort. She hopes to apply for a lead or sous chef position.
“Maybe I’m just shooting my shot,” she said. “But if I don’t shoot it, then how will I know?”
The Gaylord Resort has been almost 25 years in the making. Chula Vista Mayor John McCann said he was still in high school when the conversations first began.
“It's been a great team effort,” McCann said. “We've had several mayors, several councilmembers, all working together.”
City officials have high hopes for the new convention center. They estimate that it will lead to more than 2,000 permanent jobs in total and generate more than $11 million in yearly tax revenue over the next two decades.
McCann also hopes the venue will give South Bay residents a place to hold celebrations like proms and weddings closer to home, instead of having to meet elsewhere in the county.
Southwestern College President Mark Sanchez said economic opportunities have historically been located outside of the South Bay, in the city of San Diego or North County. The convention center, he said, represents a new milestone for the South Bay.
“Hopefully … we can start alleviating some of that traffic flow north in the morning and south in the afternoon,” Sanchez said. “And allow people to work and have economic mobility in this community in which they live.”
Four more career fairs are planned at Southwestern College over the next two weeks. A Workforce Partnership spokesperson said interested candidates should make sure to apply for a position and register for the fair online before showing up at the fair.
