With Motivation, Job In Fast Foods
Poesn’t Have To Be A Dead End
£• By Audrey C. Lodato
•! Post SUff Writer
N
CFast f<>od Jobs are often
•disparaged as dead-ends or at least
Wow starts into the world of
* meaningful employment.’! But
that’s not necessarily so.
•I Like many high schoolers, Anton
^Huntley worked for a couple of fast
'food companies during his senior
•year. When he graduated, he stayed
;on at Bojangles’ as an outside
•Maintenance worker. Now he’s unit
^manager of the Wilkinson Blvd.
;Bojangles' restaurant.
•I “ll’» a good career," Huntley
advised. “As long as you put
something in, you’ll get something
out. There’s no limit; it’s up to me.”
When Bob Raspanti took a job at
•(he biscuit table at the Central
►Avenue Bojangles’ seven years ago,
►*e was just looking to make some
Jdxtra money while a math and
•computer major at UNCC.
£ Now he’s director of training for
jone of the fastest growing chains in
•America. And he’s all of 25.
J- Kim Archer also started at
►Bojangles’ while in college.
•Although she had never thought of
^making a career in fast foods, with a
•little help from the company she
Svorked up through the ranks to her
H>resent position as unit director of
•the South Blvd. store.
* While still in high school, Steven
•Robinson began working on the grill
!at the New Hope Rd. Bojangles’ in
•Gastonia. He stayed on after
•graduating, with plans to eventually
•go into the Army. But after a year,
jk '
Robinson said, “They asked me if I
wanted to go into management.'*
Now he's senior co-manager of the
Sugar Creek restaurant. And, he
added, “I’m real happy with it"
These are not isolated instances.
With over 300 company-owned and
franchised units in operation in 20
states and the District of Columbia,
district supervisor John McCain
cited 16 in the Charlotte area alone
who began as “crew" and are now in
management for the company.
The ability to move from crew into
management is dependent on two
major components: the company
and the employee.
Huntley pointed out, "The
moment you're interested in any
position, they’ll teach you. I took a
stab at all of them." He was helping
train others in biscuit-making when
he asked his unit manager about
moving into management. The
manager replied that he could if he
would develop a “businessman
attitude."
But the unit manager didn't leave
it at that. “He let me run shifts to
help me get ready," Huntley
recalled.
Training is an important com
ponent of Bojangles’ program.
According to Raspanti, it’s
“designed to make people at the
crew level work their way into
management. It’s easier to take a
crew member who knows all the
positions and make him or her
management than it is to train a
person from the outside."
Obviously, however, not every
person behind the counter at a
Bojangles' restaurant is going to
wind up managing the store. What
makes the difference??
While "It’s there for the taking,”
Raspanti remarked, "you have to be
willing to work a little harder. You
have to be willing to step beyond
what I call the ‘comfort zone’ and be
willing to reach out to learn and
grow. If you’re afraid to do that
because others might think you’re
dumb or stupid, you won’t make it.”
Robinson commented, "The more
you know, the more valuable you
are. I was pretty good at making
biscuits, and I was training every
body. I guess I impressed someone.”
But, he admitted, “If they hadn’t
helped me, 1 would’t have made it.”
Archer also credited the company
with being very helpful, noting that
she was encouraged in her desire to
move from the biscuit table to
master biscuit maker and on up.
Now, she’s helping one of her crew
people who wants to move up.
Huntley, too, has helped crew
members advance. He explained,
"The more we train, the easier it
makes our position."
Many other people in fast foods
management changed from one
company to another on their way up.
And people who became successful
in other fields got their first taste of
the business world behind the
counter or grill of a fast food
restaurant.
So don’t knock the fast food
industry. The end is as alive as you
make it.
As Robinson put it, withmotivation,
"You can make a career out of it.”
Martin Proclaims March “Older Worker Month”
Special To The Post
Z, Raleigh - Governor James G.
Jflartin has proclaimed March, 1986,
•as Employment of the Older Worker
CMonth in North Carolina.
£ In his proclamation, the Governor
stated that “Many North Carolina
^business leaders have pledged their
^commitment to hiring middle-aged
-and older workers because they
Ibnng both experience and maturity
jto the labor force. It has been found
Shat older workers have high per
formance rates and low
^absenteeism.”
>- Human Resources Secretary
^Phillip J. Kirk Jr. joined the
Governor in urging business, indus
try. and government to make a
special effort to hire the older adult.
• “Age should not be a criteria for
Jobs,” Kirk emphasized. “Research
Jias proven that older workers
generally perform as well as
^younger employees eand, in some
leases, noticeably better. The fact is
>that many older adults want to work,
Sand need jobs to make ends meet.”
J Elaine Stoops, Assistant Secretary
of the N.C. Department of Human
Resources' Division of Aging point
ed out that North Carolina provides
■free employment programs to help
The older citizen. They include the
•Title V Senior Community Service
^Employment Program, the three
^percent Job Training Partnership
•Act (JTPA), and the Employment
^Security Commission Service which
, ..'.V ; j , »,* ‘ , , , ■ ' .v
has a network of offices serving all
100 counties.
The N.C. Division of Aging ad
ministers Title V of the Older
American's Act, a federal employ
ment program for low-income older
adults. The purpose of this com
—mtmtty—service—program-is’ to
employ people 55 years of age and
older whose income is 25 percent
below the nation's poverty level.
Currently Title V provides over
1,600 older North Carolinians with
part time work each week, regard
less of their age.
Approximately 300,000 older North
Carolinians are eligible to partici
pate in the Job Training Partner
ship Act. The N.C. Division of
Aging awards grants to public and
private agencies who wish to take
■•part in JTPA. The grants are ear
marked to train people 55 and over
for jobs in private business and
industry. These are citizens who are
economically disadvantaged, under
employed, or unemployed
These jobs include homemakers,
home health aids, inspector
packers, fast food operators, medi
cal secretaries, and many more.
Some older citizens will be paid
while receiving on-the-job training,
and there is no age limit to partici
pate in the program.
David T. Flaherty, Chairman of
the Employment Security Commis
sion of North Carolina, explained
that the agency has a statewide
network of Job Service offices
which provide job counseling,
testing, and referral. In some cases,
new skills can be acquired through
training in community and techni
cal colleges. The Employment
Security Commission and the
.Community College System work
closely together for the benefit of
older job seekers and employers.
This training develops skills that
lead to employment. There is also an
older worker specialist in each Job
Service office. During the period of
October 1, 1984 through September
30,1985, more than 12,000 adults over
the age of 45 have been placed in
jobs. There are currently 835,000
North Carolinians (aged 45 and
over) in the work force and 390,000
(aged 55 and over) actually
employed.
“Employer participation is
essential to the success of older
worker programs and services,”
Flaherty emphasized. “I feel that it
is good business to employ the older
worker.”
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• Loy-Awoys Invited
Unit manager Anton Huntley pours tea for customers at Botanies’
Restaurant on Wilkinson Blvd. (Photo by Audrey Lodato)
De-ratic Women
The Democratic Women's Club of
Mecklenburg County is sponsoring a
forum with the U.S. Senate hopefuls
who are running in the May
primary. The forum will be held at
the County Office Building, 720 E.
Fourth St., fourth floor, on Tuesday,
March 18, at 7:30 p.m. Fountain
Odom, Bill Belk, Milton Croom,
Betty Wallace, and Katherine
Harper have promised to be there.
The other Democratic senatorial
candidates have also beer invited.
The forum is open to the public.
Pot Luck Supper
Women Helping Women: The
WomanReach Monthly Networking
Pot Luck Supper will be held
Tuesday, March 11, from 6-8:30 p.m.
at the WomanReach Center
Bring a dish and beverage to
share, and a friend!
Doris Cromartie will be sharing
"herstory" of struggle and triumph.
The WomanReach Center is a
United Way Agency. The facilities
are handicapped accessible and ser
vices are freely given and freely
received.
For more information, call a
WomanReach peer counselor during
Monday - Thursday 10-9 p.m., Fri
day, 10-4 p.m., Saturday, 10-3 p.m ,
at 334-3614
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Colinda Howard
Continued From Page 1A
and 1 think I act like her. So when
you see someone who you think is
like you in so many ways, you can’t
hfelp but like them," Colinda
reasons.
Colinda’s mother, Wialillian is at
the tip-top of her favorite people list.
"She can give me a hard time.
That's the truth. But it usually
comes off good in the end,”
Colinda points out.
This week’s beauty attends St.
Paul Baptist, where she's on the
Usher Board and in the Youth
Group.
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