---

This summer, Asbury Park residents Trisha Smith, 16, and Troy Herbert, 23, [pictured above] gained work experience that will last them a lifetime.

The two were hired by the Asbury Park Waterfront [AP Waterfront] campaign, which created 48 new positions this summer through waterfront redeveloper iStar Residential’s “Summer Experience” initiative. Of the 48 new hires, half were Asbury Park residents.

In order to establish a presence on the waterfront, iStar – the majority shareholder of waterfront redevelopers Asbury Partners – hired crew members to man several beachfront stations along the boardwalk and Ocean Avenue. The crew members assisted residents and visitors with their beach items, responded to any questions, offered area information and recommendations and provided umbrella and beach services for season pass holders, said Tiffany Miller, a representative for iStar Residential, in an email to the Sun.

The crew members, who could be seen uniformed in bright orange shirts, khaki pants and hats, acted as beach ambassadors for the waterfront.

“We became known as the orange people,” said Dave Bradshaw, executive director for AP Waterfront, iStar’s beachfront marketing campaign.

The campaign promotes amenities offered through iStar’s Summer Experience packages, which include access to a beachfront station with a shaded hammock garden and a long-house equipped with lockers, air-conditioned bathrooms, private showers and changing stations at the southern waterfront area.

The idea was to provide a space to encourage visitors to stay in the city through the evening hours. At the beachfront station, members could shower, change their clothes and relax before heading out for an evening in Asbury Park.

Bradshaw, a 25-year veteran of the hospitality management industry, was brought in specifically through iStar to run the project. He received over 700 crew member applications when the positions opened up in July.

After screening the applications, Bradshaw conducted interviews of potential candidates. Smith and Herbert were among those that made the cut.

Smith found out about the job through her mother, who noticed the orange beachfront station on Cookman Avenue between St. James Place and Wesley Lake Drive, she said. Before it was converted into the orange Asbury Park Waterfront headquarters, the building served as the sales office for iStar’s Vive townhouse complex.

Smith’s mother stopped in the building to see what was happening and wound up bringing Smith home an application for employment. She was hired shortly thereafter as a crew member for AP Waterfront.

Over the course of her time working for AP Waterfront, she learned “better time management, organization, how to seek information and how to approach people,” she said.

Smith says she also gained a better understanding of who looked like they might need help.

“We are creating a culture of hospitality on the waterfront,” said Bradshaw.

All crew members had to complete a week-long, hands-on, interactive training as a condition of their employment. Members were trained how to operate city parking meters, went on a walking tour of the city and even learned techniques for a proper handshake.

“You get to know [other crew members] and you get comfortable around them,” Herbert said.

Herbert, who hadn’t been to the Asbury Park beachfront in 10 years, said when he first started on the job, he was “a little anti-social.”

Over the course of the summer, he developed a better understanding of hospitality and learned the importance of body language, he said.

“The job did a lot for Troy’s self-esteem,” Bradshaw said. The transformation of watching Smith and Herbert come “out of their shells” over the summer was “incredible.  They really blossomed under the program.”

Herbert originally thought the job was going to be a lot of standing around, he said. But over time, more people were asking him questions.

“The ability to troubleshoot and give information definitely increased my self-confidence,” he said.

Some of the new things Smith learned about her hometown included how to operate the city’s parking meters, where specific restaurants are located and that there is an ATM machine in Convention Hall.

Both Smith and Herbert were surprised to learn how many events take place in Asbury Park over the course of a day.

“There is more to the beach then meets the eye,” said Smith.

Besides providing information about the Asbury Park Waterfront to people on a daily basis, crew members also manned a water station during the Asbury Park 5k, had members present at the APVibe “Vibe in the Streets” street parties on Cookman Avenue and attended First Saturday events hosted by the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce.

The mission of the Asbury Park Waterfront crew was “to get active, get physical and get connected,” Bradshaw said.

Crew members worked one of two shifts on days they were scheduled. The first shift ran from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Second shift lasted from 3 to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 3 to 9 p.m. weekends. Most crew members worked 30 hours per week at a rate of $11 per hour throughout the summer.

“Everybody works at least one shift Saturday and Sunday,” Bradshaw said. That allowed the AP Waterfront team to increase their presence over the weekend, when the waterfront sees its highest amount of visitors.

In a few days, Smith will begin her junior year at Academy Charter High School in Belmar. She has plans to reapply for another position on the AP Waterfront team next summer.

Herbert will stay on as a crew member through the end of October, and will then be part of a modified crew that will only operate on weekends until January.

“I try to make the best out of everything,” he said. “I like to be around people that have good morals. This was a positive experience for me.”

Bradshaw expects to operate with a bigger crew at more than one facility next year.

————————————————————

Follow the Asbury Park Sun on Facebook and Twitter.

---