Off-Season for Seasonal Employment

Augusta, GA—There’s icing, dicing, and baking to be done. And don’t forget the shipping! Very Vera’s eats go from this Augusta kitchen to tables across the United States. “Greenwich, Connecticut. Greer, South Carolina. Jefferson City, Missouri,“ to name a few, says owner Vera Stewart.

Stewart says, so far, her mail-order business is steady. That helps balance other areas of the company that—if predictions pan out—may not be as strong this year.

One thing that is up: the demand for seasonal work. “I was just flabbergasted when we ran our usual ad for seasonal help.“

More people looking for work, but because she streamlined her business model this summer, Vera says she knew she’d need fewer seasonal workers.
Changes to her twenty-five year successful business model like buying a new piece of equipment for shrink-wrapping mean more efficiency and cost-savings. In tight times, the changes have paid off. “We were working on that to hopefully be more profitable. Of course, we’re in business to make money. But what has ended up helping us is that we don’t feel as much tightness in our belt if sales are not high.“

Like a lot of business owners, Vera isn’t projecting growth this season. Their ‘08 order is in line with their order from ‘07, instead of the usual 15 percent increase. That doesn’t mean they’re not very busy at Very Vera. And they’re not turning down any business that comes their way. “We’ve got to be prepared to take the call at the last minute, because a lot of people will wait this year til December 1st, to see how the month of November turned out. ‘How did things go? I think maybe we can do something.‘ We’re going to get those calls, and we’re going to take those calls,“ she says.

Stewart says she cut her seasonal work force this year by about 20 percent. She hasn’t had to raise prices yet, despite food prices continuing to increase.