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8 November 12 - 18, 2008 l Planet Jackson Hole l www.PlanetJH.com updated daily The Buzz Area worker enters Jackson’s Workforce Services office. The off-season dole FOR SOME VALLEY WORKERS, NOVEMBER IS A TIME TO COLLECT UNEMPLOYMENT. by Ben Cannon Matthew Getz is a server at the Osteria restaurant in Teton illage, and he’s collecting unemployment. Like many of the businesses surrounding Jackson Hole ountain Resort, the high-end Italian eatery has temporarily huttered during this transitional time before the ski season egins. Many of the smaller hotels and B&Bs, as well as some estaurants throughout the valley, will close their doors at some oint between late October and early December, leavng some unsalaried employees without a source of ncome. Even some of the larger hotels that are part of luxuy lodging chains like the Four Seasons and mangani, for example, have gone dark for periodic pkeep and maintenance. While some valley workers use the off-season to ravel or visit home, others, like Getz, have come to ely on state unemployment benefits to carry them hrough the ephemeral moment of life without labor. This is not the first time Getz, who guides fly fishng in the summer, has received benefits from the tate unemployment system. He first filed for unemloyment benefits after his position with Cloudveil was relocated ut of Jackson Hole, when the locally founded company was estructured earlier this year. “At first, I was very apprehensive about doing it,” he said. “I hought it was like welfare. But then when I learned more about ollecting unemployment, that if you’re planning on sticking round here and intend to work again, it makes sense.” Workers who are laid off – which employees of a business that emporarily shuts down technically are – can file a claim with the yoming Department of Workforce Services, which has an ffice in Jackson. There, people filing for state unemployment enefits are connected through a direct phone line to a claims fficer at the state’s Casper office. Wyoming will dole out unemployment checks to qualified persons based on a complex formula that averages four of the last five fiscal quarters, according to various interviewees from within the state’s Workforce Services Department. The state caps unemployment benefits, however, at $415 per week, meaning a worker “who made a million dollars a year the past 10 years would still only get $415 a week” collecting unemployment benefits, one claims officer said. The state notifies a worker’s current or most recent employer to attain that employee’s working status. A worker who is fired for misconduct or tardiness might not qualify for unemployment benefits, or could qualify for benefits with other conditions. Wyoming requires individuals seeking unemployment to refile every two weeks, and will not mail checks out of the country, though some workers need only be available to return to work on short notice. Businesses help shoulder the costs of unemployment benefits through unemployment insurance with the state and pay more when employees receive those benefits. Gavin Fine, who co-owns Osteria as well as Q Roadhouse and Rendezvous Bistro, which will both remain open through the off-season, said the cost to his business in unemployment claims is noticeable, yet unavoidable in the valley’s seasonal visitor economy. “It’s a lot of money, but it’s part of doing business in Jackson Hole,” Fine said. “It’s part of what it is to live in a roller coaster resort town.” Fine said he plans to keep Osteria’s lights on during future shoulder seasons, beginning after the upcoming winter season. Despite a cyclical local economy, Teton County reports among the lowest unemployment rates in Wyoming, where unemployment remains well below the country’s unemployment average. In September, the most recent month from which verifiable workforce data is available, Teton County reported 2-percent unemployment. Wyoming reported an unemployment rate of 2.6 percent across the state while the country saw unemployment above 6 percent, according to data from the state and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. For Teton County, that is a jump of one-half percent from the same time last year, but is not a signif- about icant increase, said Carola Cowan, a Wyoming-based research and planning supervisor with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “It’s up a bit from last year, but 2 percent is still very low,” Cowan said. Getz And November historically sees a peak in unemployment in Teton County, though April, the month when Jackson Hole Mountain Resort closes for the season, has seen the highest unemployment rates in recent years. Teton County posted an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent in November last year, though it dropped a full percentage point in December, and further down again in January. Previous years saw similar employment trends. And while there is talk of other, non-seasonal local businesses already cutting down on jobs or scaling back on employee work hours amid troubling economic crisis, nationally, the valley’s only temporary employment placement office has not noticed a dramatic increase in unemployed workers looking for work. “This time of year, we normally see people who already have [a job] lined up for the winter season,” said Chris Daly of Jackson Temp Services. “I’d say it’s pretty average with what we’ve seen in the past.” PJH “At first, I was very apprehensive doing it.” - Matthew Kingsley weds god RAPPER SAYS THAT ALLAH IS A WOMAN. by Henry Sweets Occasionally, I receive press releases and wonder if they ricocheted off some errant particle in the ether of cyberspace, and were redirected to my inbox by mistake. But the press release I received from Eric Kingsley was surely intended for me, so I could share it with you. Here is the lead: “American rap musician Eric Kingsley in his newest book, The Psalms of Moses, describes I forward his sacred marriage this to the trib- message al god of at the Arabs, whom he risk of insists is a religious Woman, persecution. and that he is having sex with Her,” the press release said. A 2005 graduate from a Stanford Religious studies program, white rapper Kingsley has written his third book about Islam, and though I haven’t read it, I recommend it. The palpable rewards of making love to a god are surely too good to be withheld from everyday people like you. “Eric has said he may die for having this religious tenet, but would rather promote his works collectively known as The New Testament of Allah, than to keep this affair secret,” the press release said. I am forwarding along the message at the risk of being exposed to religious persecution so this new phenomenon can be explored by everyone. PJH
Wells Fargo dust settles LOCAL INDEPENDENT BANKS SEE INCREASED BUSINESS. by Henry Sweets As a local bank gave way to corporate iant, some customers were miffed. The fact that two other local banks are eeing an increase in accounts cannot be ntirely attributed to that dissatisfaction, ut it is a factor. Last month Wyoming Bancorp and ackson State Bank and Trust, which held bout 20,000 accounts in Jackson alone, etamorphosed into an arm of Wells argo. Long lines, lost or misplaced pinumbers and a flurry of logistical probems could not be avoided when changing housands of accounts from one operating ystem to another, President Pete Lawton aid. And once the switch from one sysem to another is complete, he believes he friction will be eliminated and cusomers will have better business options, ffered by the same local people. “I think what people will find is there re some additional products that [Wells argo] will offer that will be attractive to hem, but its going to take a while for peole to understand it, and see what those roducts are,” he said. In the meantime two local banks, Bank f Jackson Hole and Rocky Mountain ank, have both seen surges in new ccounts. Though representatives from hose banks didn’t attribute their success irectly to the Wells Fargo conversion, hey both said it was a factor. “Business is brisk,” Katie MacKenzie ice President of Marketing for RMB aid. “We’ve had quite a few people comng in and we’re opening our Jackson ranch on Broadway and Scott [in a eek], and a lot of people have said they ill wait and show up as soon as doors pen there.” MacKEnzie said that a number of the anks new customers have recently left ells Fargo. “We have a lot of people walking in ere and saying, ‘can you just call [Wells argo] and move all of my accounts over or me,” MacKenzie said. “People have een angry about how they’re screwing up ccounts or lost information or standing n line for two hours in their lobby.” Bank of Jackson Hole CEO Scott andell said that his bank has seen about ,300 new accounts in the last two months. For a bank with between 12,000 and 14,000 accounts, that is a significant increase in a customer base. Yandell said that Bank of Jackson Hole usually sees around 200 new accounts a month. “We certainly have seen a lot of new customers and a lot of new accounts,” Yandell said. “I’d like to think it’s a combination of the marketplace and our marketing, and certainly the change [from JSBT to Wells Fargo] has been one of the factors, I can’t deny that.” Yandell said the campaign hasn’t been intended to sway any customers away from other banks, but to say, “If your thinking about changing, here we are and look at us.” The advertisements, taken out in the News and Guide and Jackson Hole Daily, feature locals like the owners of Skinny Skis or Chinatown, with slogans like “We’re independent, so you can be too.” “What we’ve been trying to do is market the strengths of our Bank,” Yandell said. “We’ve been here a long time, we’re still giving that personal service and that’s what we’re trying to highlight; not that we’re different or better, but ‘this is who we are.’ That’s been our tact and I think that’s been showing some fruit.” But Wells Fargo is insisting that once the change is complete, they will be just as local as they were when the Tetons graced their debit cards. Lawton said that some of the corporate protocol that might have caused people to react – like having to show two forms of ID to get cash back on a check deposit – will be amended once the conversion process is over, he said. An email from Sharon Larson, Wells Fargo project manager, also highlighted a number of new products offered by the bank, and included the compelling argument that “customers will find that being able to bank at 3,300 locations and having access to 6,900 ATMs in 23 states is an advantage when traveling.” But the folks at Wells Fargo don’t want people to think they have to give up local flavor to have the financial products and convenience of banking around the region or country “Our goal is to have the big town business capabilities with the small town flavor,” Larson said. PJH www.PlanetJH.com updated daily l Planet Jackson Hole l November 12 - 18, 2008 9
Page 1 and 2: NEWS Editorial 3 Give a brother a h
Page 3 and 4: Give a brother a home Oh, man . . .
Page 5 and 6: infantile hope, but real Faith that
Page 7: Nikai Sushi NOV. 2 PRE-ELECTION AND
Page 11 and 12: LOCAL NEWS Town to mull future land
Page 13 and 14: On a brisk autumn night, rain dampe
Page 15 and 16: Anomaly Farm: art-conscious shreddi
Page 17 and 18: AAA again bestowed its five-star ra
Page 19 and 20: Just as locally-based filmmaker Dav
Page 21 and 22: Cardio Hip Hop, 6:15 to 7:30 p.m.;
Page 23 and 24: o 6:15 p.m.; Tae Kwon Do, 6:15 to 7
Page 25 and 26: Phil Round: valley music staple, me
Page 27 and 28: Village Road, serves up a variety o
Page 29 and 30: Hot dog turf wars I’ve mused befo
Page 31 and 32: one to be laughing at themselves. S
Page 33 and 34: Hog Island elite Alice, my Republic
Page 35 and 36: Teton County Library TCLib.org Teto
Page 37 and 38: Planet Jackson Hole invites you to
Page 39 and 40: Locally Owned Chuck moved to Jackso

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