Theme park reports a surge in applications

With company after company announcing layoffs, Kings Dominion is hiring.

And applicants are flocking -- often from long distances -- to put their names in for a job at the 400-acre theme park in Hanover County.

Corky Donnelly and Jennifer Bondurant drove two hours last week from Berryville near Northern Virginia to apply for work at the park.

Donnelly, 20, just lost his job as a sales associate at retailer Circuit City, which is going out of business. Bondurant still has a job in a bookstore café, the 29-year-old woman said, "but our hours are getting cut."

Against a background of record numbers of Americans collecting unemployment benefits, Kings Dominion is hiring more than 3,000 employees for its summer season. That's about the same as in previous years.

Reflecting the declining economy, "we've noticed a lot more applications coming in than previous years," said Jenn Andree, the amusement and water park's director of human resources.

In fact, "they've almost doubled," she said. Where last year Kings Dominion would receive 10-15 online applications a day, she said, now they're coming in at the rate of 20-30 a day.

The Doswell park has received 2,300 applications already this season, Andree said, and offered jobs to 870 people.

While Kings Dominion's average worker is 18 or 19 years old -- the minimum age is 15 -- many applicants this year are older and have experience, park officials said.

"I have seen a lot with master's-level degrees," Andree said.

In December, the Richmond region's unemployment rate was 5.5 percent, up from 3.4 percent a year earlier. The state's rate was 5.2 percent while the national rate was 7.1 percent.

"I'm sure they are getting a lot of older workers and others they don't normally see because of the rise in unemployment," said William F. Mezger, chief economist with the Virginia Employment Commission.

Grace and Warren Cromartie of Spotsylvania are retired and have health issues, they said, but the couple visited at the park's human resources office Thursday eager for work.

"We're people persons," said Warren Cromartie, who is 45 and medically retired. Despite that, he was interested in a position running a game or doing security. "I love to be around people."

A former banker, Grace Cromartie, 67, said that if she and Warren -- and their daughter -- were hired, "we could all work here and take one vehicle."

Kings Dominion needs associates to work in food and beverage, rides, games, merchandise, admissions, marketing, security and other departments. The majority of the jobs pay $7.25 an hour, and employees on average work a 48-hour week.

Busch Gardens in Williamsburg has also seen more applicants for its seasonal jobs, spokesman Kevin Crossett said, but the park did not have demographic information about its applicant pool yesterday. Busch Gardens employs about 6,400 people during its summer peak, Crossett said.

Kings Dominion entertains about 2 million guests during its season, which runs from April 4 to Nov. 1, and the company expects its business to remain robust despite the slumping economy.

"The amusement industry is recession proof," said John Pagel, the park's marketing manager. "We're always cautiously optimistic."

Contact Peter Bacqué at (804) 649-6813 or .

Staff writer Emily C. Dooley contributed to this report.