In an Aug. 26 Bangor Daily News article regarding labor availability for the proposed casino in Maine, statements were made that continue a myth that Maine’s tourism and hospitality industry offers low-pay, no benefit jobs. These claims are unfair and fail to reflect the true picture of Maine’s largest employer.

Totally overlooked in the low-pay myth is the restaurant “sales force.” This is the tipped employee who works primarily on commission or for a gratuity based on a percentage of what they sell and on the quality and extent of their service. Such an employee with good service skills, experience in the full-service family dining or casual dining environment will likely earn $12 to $16 an hour. A typical waitperson would work 24 to 30 hours, probably evenings and weekends as an adjunct to their school or college schedule or their “regular” job. It is not uncommon for professional waitstaff, experienced in fine dining and wine service, to earn $200 a night on a six- or seven-hour shift at a Maine resort in the summer.

The characterization of hospitality as a low-pay industry has sometimes been difficult to dispel because of the way data is collected. Under the Occupational Employment Statistics Program, the federal Department of Labor creates and distributes survey forms to Maine businesses in a cooperative program with the Maine DOL. Every six months the sample pool of surveyed businesses is rotated. A small percentage of these businesses are restaurants, but they are surveyed for current month data, only during the two slowest months of the industry’s year, May and November, when hundreds of seasonal properties in Maine are not open for business. Tips are taxed as wages and should be included on these surveys, but, if the instructions are not read very carefully, tips are not likely to be appropriately included.

Restaurants are the cornerstones of Maine communities; and for more than 60,000 Maine employees, they represent the industry of choice. Hospitality industry employees thrive on the pace, the flexible hours, above-average earnings, and extensive opportunities for advancement.

Restaurants and hotels provide the first chance many young people have to learn how to maintain a schedule, get to work on time, and dress appropriately for the job. It teaches them to accept guidance and direction from supervisors, to work safely, get along with others, learn business ethics, protocols and other rules of the workplace.

Individuals entering the hospitality industry have certain skill levels, and it is totally irrelevant to compare them to veteran professionals in other sectors.

It’s about marketable skills. The hospitality industry frequently hires individuals with no work skills and no experience. But it offers an opportunity to grow in an industry with a phenomenal career ladder. An industry where one can work, learn and prosper from the basic entry-level positions of washing dishes or “prepping food” to become the executive chef at $42,000 a year or more. The significant findings of the Maine Hospitality Industry Workforce Needs & Higher Education Report, a joint initiative of the Maine Technical College System, the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, the Maine Innkeepers Association and the Maine Restaurant Association, states: “Maine’s hospitality industry offers significant opportunities for high-wage careers in the lodging and restaurant service sectors.”

Restaurant managers earn $50,000 and up, depending on their skills, experience, size of establishment and level of responsibility. After earning their hospitality business skills, it is not uncommon for people who started “at the bottom” to own their own restaurant or hotel. Maine is replete with these success stories. The chairman of the board of the National Restaurant Association, Regynald Washington, vice president and general manager of Disney Entertainment and ESPN Zone, started his industry career busing tables. A recent, former Maine governor frequently cited his learning experiences from his early years in the food service business. There are few industries that still offer such an opportunity based on old-fashioned work ethic.

Again, it’s about marketable skills. If the hospitality industry did not offer these first-time job opportunities to unskilled inexperienced young people, where else would they work? Some 75 percent of Maine workers have no college background.

Following is a typical example of the economic impact of a single restaurant in Maine: A 200-seat restaurant opened less than a year ago in central Maine. The price tag ran more than $2 million to build and equip. It employs 125 people with average establishment wages exceeding $11 an hour. Some of those employees are part-timers, students living at home, or second-income wage earners desiring to work only a few hours each week. Full-time workers (above 30 hours) are eligible for paid vacations, co-pay health, dental and life insurance, Section 125 cafeteria health plan and a 401(k) retirement plan.

The Maine hospitality industry is justly proud that it offers a substantial career development path and competitive wages to hard-working, highly motivated individuals who began their working career with limited skills and experience.

Nationally, our industry will need 56,000 restaurant managers over the next five years. We are delighted that many of them will begin their way up the career ladder at a neighborhood restaurant here in Maine.

One individual quoted in the BDN article seemed to evaluate the development of a casino in Maine solely on what a similar job might pay in different establishments, even if it were an apples vs. oranges comparison. The critical topic not discussed was the service provided by the worker. Restaurant workers in Maine presently provide something tangible to their customers – good, healthy food. The odds are overwhelming that a casino blackjack dealer will take hard-earned dollars and give nothing in return. The skills and work ethic gained in the hospitality industry can be applied to almost any job almost anywhere in the world.

When’s the last time you saw a want ad for a card dealer?

Dick Grotton is a food service management professional, a former restaurant owner and president of the Maine Restaurant Association.