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Show IBryan's people An interesting look at people in Davis County He feeds Lagoon customers iff M-fi;MsA WSii It started witff the Lagoon roller coaster and has led the the front office. 'OUR INDUSTRY is often the starting point for young men and women," says Stan Briggs, the director of merchandising and purchasing pur-chasing for Utah Food and Catering. Cater-ing. "It might start as a part-time job, but there is a great opportunity for growth." And Stan is one good example. His office is still at Lagoon, only a short walk from the roller coaster but many miles from his hometown farm in the Northwest. While attending college in Utah, he took a summer job as assistant manager of Lagoon's dance hall and roller coaster; for extra money he would work evenings on the clean-up crew or as a bouncer at the Terrace Ballroom. As a sociology major, he didn't view Lagoon as a career-...but career-...but in the mid-1960's he was offered a job as foods manager. "IT CAME with a 25-cent per-hour per-hour raise," he laughs. "That gave me an income of $375 per month, and I couldn't turn it down." The money was less than he had earned working on the family farm, but he could also see the opportunities opportuni-ties for growth. And as the company com-pany has grown, Stan has grown with it. When the Salt Palace was first completed, Utah Food and Catering was one of a handful of authorized catering firms. But since receiving the exclusive contract con-tract some 10 years ago, the convention con-vention business has become a major ma-jor part of the company's operations, opera-tions, and Utah Food and Catering now has 1 1 separate divisions. BUT NO matter how quickly the company has grown, Stan still recalls re-calls his Lagoon philosophy of training youthful workers. "We have a responsibility as employers," em-ployers," he says. "If we allow young people to develop bad habits or be unproductive, they may carry those traits throughout their life. We have a responsibility to show STAN BRIGGS them successful working behavior--and also show them the success that can be gained in the foodser-vice foodser-vice business. "IF YOU fire somebody, then two people have failed: The manager mana-ger and the employee. An employer em-ployer must communicate and be aware of the vulnerability of youth. Young people don't need failure, they need direction. The highlights of my career have been in working with young people, watching them mature and succeed. "And in this business, there's great room for success." ACCORDING to "Kitchen, Inc.," a Utah food publication, Stan increased the profits of his employer for each of 20 consecutive consecu-tive years. Unlike the roller coaster, some things don't go down. |
