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Spring Training starts next week and Target Field is again looking for workers

The shortage of workers was so acute at the start of the 2016 baseball season that dozens had to be bused in from Wisconsin and Illinois.

February 7, 2017 at 9:30PM
The 2014 Major League Baseball All-Star Game took place before a capacity crowd at Target Field, in the shadow of the Minneapolis skyline Tuesday, July 15, 2014. ] JIM GEHRZ Ô jgehrz@startribune.com / Minneapolis, MN / July 15, 2014 / 9:00 PM ORG XMIT: MIN1508121149531198
Target Field's concession company, Delaware North Sportsservice, has started looking for hundreds of part-time workers to staff Minnesota Twins home games. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

With the Minnesota Twins and other pro baseball players reporting for spring training next week, the search for people to work at Twins home games at Target Field has kicked into high gear.

Delaware North Sportservice, the firm that manages many of the part-time stadium workers for the Twins, held its first job fair yesterday at the Sabathani Community Center and is holding another at the ballpark itself this afternoon.

The company is looking for cashiers and cashier leads for concession stands. It has supervisor, bartender, servers, bussers and food prep jobs available. Behind the scenes, it has warehouse porters and stockers jobs to fill. And in the stadium stores, it has openings for retail cashiers and sales clerks.

It needs about 300 people per game, though the precise number varies based on fan attendance. But because it is a flexible job, meaning employees sign up for dates they will work, the firm needs a substantially larger pool at the ready.

Last spring, the company was strained in hiring enough people locally and turned to busing in workers from Wisconsin and Illinois for some of the early games in the Twins season.

To avoid a repeat of that situation, Pete Spike, the district manager for Delaware North Sportservice, said the company doubled the number of job fairs and arranged more of them away from the ballpark to expand its reach. "We've always done some off-site, but we are trying to be more strategic," Spike said.

The company will evaluate at the end of next week whether it needs to add even more job fairs, he said. "We're optimistic that we're going to be in a better position this year," Spike said.

Here is the schedule of job fairs ahead of the Twins home opener on April 3:

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Tues., Feb. 7 Target Field 4 p.m. -- 8 p.m.
Thurs., Feb. 9 Target Field 4 p.m. -- 8 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 10 Target Field 4 p.m. -- 8 p.m.
Tues., Feb. 14 Target Field 4 p.m. -- 8 p.m.
Wed., Feb. 15 Sabathani Community Center 11 a.m. -- 1 p.m.
Thurs., Feb. 16 Target Field 4 p.m. -- 8 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 17 Target Field 4 p.m. -- 8 p.m.
Tues., Feb. 21 Summit Academy 2 p.m. -- 6 p.m.
Thurs., Feb. 23 Summit Academy 2 p.m. -- 6 p.m.
Wed., March 8 Sabathani Community Center 11 a.m. -- 1 p.m.
Wed., March 15 Sabathani Community Center 11 a.m. -- 1 p.m.
Wed., March 22 Sabathani Community Center 11 a.m. -- 1 p.m.

Here are the addresses of the job fair sites:
Target Field: 1 Twins Way, Minneapolis
Sabathani Community Center: 310 E 38th Street Room 120, Minneapolis
Summit Academy: 935 Olson Memorial Highway, Minneapolis

about the writer

about the writer

Evan Ramstad

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Evan Ramstad is a Star Tribune business columnist.

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