Workers in short supply in Great Falls

With more than 230 rooms, the Heritage Inn works hard to find housekeepers to keep the city’s largest hotel clean.

In the hunt for help, the Heritage boosted starting wages for housekeepers 20 percent the past year. But general manager Greg Goeser isn’t sure the pay hikes are enough to stay competitive.

"We pay quite a bit more than minimum wage and feel blessed to retain quality personnel," Goeser said. "But any of the new larger retail stores or phone claims centers could create extra labor demand and try to pull away some of our better workers."

Competition for good workers is nothing new in Montana’s economic hot spots — Bozeman, Missoula and the Flathead.

By JAMES E. LARCOMBE JO DEE BLACK and PETER JOHNSON Tribune Staff Writers

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