Jerry Brick General Manager, Lake Compounce
Updated: May 27, 2019
FOCUS: Tourism
Lake Compounce GM talks innovation, competition, minimum wage ahead of 2019 tourism season
Q&A talks with Jerry Brick, general manager of Lake Compounce, ahead of the amusement park’s summer tourism season.
Q. As Bristol-based Lake Compounce heads into its busy spring and summer season, what’s new at the park in 2019? How important is it for the park to introduce something new each year as it tries to remain relevant?
A. While parks do not need to introduce new attractions every year it remains important that we continue to change and grow. Whether it is improvements in retail, food service or our entertainment programs, it is quite important for us to improve upon and introduce new and exciting things to our guests.
This year Lake Compounce has redesigned a few of our gift shops, food stands, introduced new events, and added metal detectors to our main gate area.
Q. Out of all the changes the park has made in the last five to 10 years, what has been the most successful in terms of drawing in customers?
A. Moving Mount Vernon Road was a vital and significant investment that will allow us the space to introduce future water-park expansions and will prove to be incredibly important for the park as we move forward, leaving the park years of water expansion.
Bear Creek Campground is another important addition for the park. This allows us to offer our guests a unique and fun experience and encourages visitors to enjoy the park multiple days at a time.
PHOTO | Lake Compounce
Q. What’s the competition like in New England these days in the amusement-park industry? Who is your main competition — other amusement parks, or any other destination that competes for tourism dollars?
A. Competition is good. For competition, we have parks like Six Flags New England and Quassy Amusement Park, which are both very nice, well-operated parks. With both parks in our market, it has forced us to constantly improve and better our park in innovative and thoughtful ways.
Other than amusement parks, we consider any other family destination where our guests may decide to spend their dollars on an activity or experience as competition for Lake Compounce.
Q. Lake Compounce is hiring 1,200 people to fill part- and full-time positions. What are the challenges associated with hiring that many people in such a short amount of time? What strategies does Lake Compounce deploy to fill those positions?
A. Besides recruiting in schools and posting openings on our website, we have used social media to our advantage these past few years to aide in recruiting. Using tools like short videos, live Q&A videos, and of course static posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, has allowed us to increase our reach.
We have also had good luck hiring team members who are retired from their careers but are still looking to work part time. However, working with local schools and colleges to let people know we are looking for seasonal workers, has been the most successful for us.
Q. The state House and Senate both recently passed a bill that would gradually raise the state’s hourly minimum wage from $10.10 to $15. How would that impact a seasonal employer like Lake Compounce ?
A. Raising the hourly minimum wage doesn’t only impact seasonal employers, it impacts all employers. It would have a great impact on the park and what we’ll be able to invest in regarding future expansions and operations.
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