‘Summer Experience’ crew back to guide waterfront visitors
About half of the 25 employees hired are Asbury Park residents
For the second year in a row, crew members of the Asbury Park Waterfront marketing campaign dressed in brightly colored orange polo shirts will lend their knowledge of Asbury Park to summer tourists.
They come as part of iStar Residential’s ‘Summer Experience’ initiative, which offers seasonal and daily beach packages. Amenities 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 25 crew members hired for this summer, down from 48 the previous year, act as city ambassadors. They are trained to help tourists find their way around, make recommendations on places to eat and shop, answer questions and do their best to ensure summer visitors have a positive experience in the city.
About half of the 25 employees hired are Asbury Park residents, including Troy Herbert, 23, who worked for the program last year [shown at right].
“Everyone here has a great head on their shoulders,” he said. “They are outgoing — I feel like we have a great group here.”
During their training, crew members expanded their knowledge of the city and met individuals who are vested in its past as well as its revitalization, including Asbury Park Historical Society President Don Stine; Heather Schulze, who works with nonprofit group Interfaith Neighbors; and Roger Boyce, who heads up Interfaith’s Business Development Center, said Tom Johnston. Johnston works in the hospitality industry and developed the training program for iStar.
“IStar is extremely pleased to bring back the Summer Experience program for 2014,” said Brian Cheripka, vice president of land for iStar. “This program provides much needed employment opportunities and job training to members of the local community.”
“We’re here to make sure [summer visitors] have a great experience,” said Shay Gomez, 25, also an Asbury Park resident.
“As partners with the City, iStar, along with their limited partner Madison Marquette, residents and visitors alike can take pleasure in a rebuilt boardwalk, exceptional restaurants, a muse of shops and an unparalleled live entertainment scene,” said City Manager John “Jack” Kelly in a release issued by the city.
For more information on iStar’s Summer Experience Program, visit www.asburyparkwaterfront.com.
[Photo at top: Summer Experience employees at a recent training session held in council chambers.]
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