OGUNQUIT – More than a third of the staff at the Meadowmere Resort this summer come from Jamaica.

The 150-room hotel is among the inns, restaurants, amusement parks and other seasonal businesses that are relying heavily on workers from abroad.

Who can blame them? With summer unemployment hovering near 1 percent on the bustling coast of southern Maine, employers have to be creative to fill their staffing needs.

And it’s not just here. From seaside resorts along the Eastern Seaboard to national parks in California, international workers are being counted on to fill more and more positions during peak seasons.

This summer in southern Maine, for instance, you’ll find people from Jamaica, Mexico, Slovakia, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Russia and elsewhere – even Kenya. They work as housekeepers, waiters, ride operators, lifeguards, front desk clerks and in other positions.

Kellie Lord-Zieba, general manager of Meadowmere, said it is difficult – make that near impossible – to find enough local help. This year Meadowmere will have 12 Jamaican women on staff, up from eight last year.

“Without them, I’d be making beds,” Lord-Zieba said.

The proof of the growing reliance on international workers is in the numbers.

In 1995, the Immigration and Naturalization Service issued more than 8,000 H-2B visas. Those visas are issued to temporary nonagriculture workers, the type often hired by seasonal businesses in the United States.

In 1999, more than 35,000 H-2Bs were issued. Numbers for 2000 have not been released, but it is suspected they are approaching the annual cap of 66,000.

The availability of foreign workers has become such a concern nationwide that an alliance of businesses and trade associations last year formed the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition. The group is lobbying for new programs and laws to allow more seasonal workers into the country, and to let them stay longer.

A growing number of foreign students also are working seasonally in the United States. Interexchange, a nonprofit organization in New York, filled 9,000 jobs this year – an 80 percent increase over two years ago – with students from 22 countries, said Casey Slamin, program manager.

The jobs are primarily along the Atlantic coast, in the Great Lakes region and at national parks in California.

“There just aren’t enough Americans to fill the demand,” he said.

Funtown Splashtown USA, an amusement park in Saco, has about three dozen foreign students on its payroll. That’s peanuts compared to larger amusement parks in the country, some of which have hired hundreds of foreign students, said Jon Kavanagh, Funtown’s assistant director of park operations.

Hiring foreign workers for seasonal positions comes with a cost, of course. The paperwork can be burdensome, and businesses often pay airfare to get the workers here. They usually have to find housing too.

And there’s always the fear of a backlash from residents who might think foreigners are stealing jobs away from the locals.

Norseman Resorts, which owns three hotels and two restaurants in Ogunquit, puts up its foreign employees in company-owned houses that otherwise would be rented out.

But the cost is well worth it, said Bill Barter, marketing director for the company.

The international employees are reliable and can work into October. American college and high school students, in contrast, have to go back to school in late August or early September – leaving businesses short-handed for the extended tourism season.

Barter said Norseman Resorts has 20 Jamaican employees this year, up from 12 last year and six in 1999. Without them, the company might have to cut back its restaurant hours or not open all its rooms.

International employees come to the United States for a variety of reasons. Students, for instance, get to explore the United States and make some money while they’re at it. Others, such as Donna Stewart, come for economic opportunities.

Stewart, who lives in rural Jamaica and is working her second season at Meadowmere, said coming to America provides opportunities she can’t find in her homeland, where unemployment is high and wages are low.

The pay she earns in five months in Ogunquit is enough to sustain her through the winter months in Jamaica. Beyond the money, she also has formed friendships and learned about the U.S. culture.

“Coming to the U.S. to work is better for me,” Stewart said. “I can get a better job here, and the people are very nice.”