Charlotte Observer: Eastern European workers fill N.C. tourism jobs - by Tony Mecia

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Eastern European workers fill N.C. tourism jobs - by Tony Mecia

HIGHLANDS - Nobody seems to know who first thought of the idea of importing Eastern Europeans to work in this mountain resort town. It started about five years ago, everyone agrees, and since then, hiring foreign students has quickly caught on as this town's favorite antidote to a shortage of local labor. Today, Ukranians sweep the floors of the town's brick-oven pizza parlor. Bulgarians bus tables at its Italian restaurant, where the bacon-wrapped filet costs $33 and $200 bottles are common on its wine list. Romanians welcome the throngs of country-club members who descend on the town each summer from Atlanta, Charlotte and throughout the Southeast. "It's just kind of a melting pot up here during the summer," says Sheila Bryson, co-owner of Bryson's Food Store, which employs about 20 foreign students as cashiers, baggers and stock clerks. "The kids are really great, and we're glad to have them. Otherwise, you'd have nobody to give you dinner." As immigration has become a major political issue, the major employers in this town 170 miles west of Charlotte have discovered a novel way to find workers for entry-level jobs they say would otherwise go unfilled. They're looking not to Mexico, but to Eastern Europe.