Go-karts, the great outdoors and a bevy of teens and early twenty-somethings make The Track an ideal place to work for many high school and college students.
Larry Schmitt, one of three owners of the five family fun parks in Branson, hopes the company's other perks will keep those young people working for the attractions long term.
"Our corporate culture is pretty simple," Schmitt says. "We are a small company. Titles don't mean a whole lot. And we believe that everyone is an important contributor."
The majority of the Track's annual business comes from the busy season that runs Memorial Day to Labor Day. That means the parks employ around 200 people - many of them students - during the summer.
To attract these young, energetic workers, Schmitt and co-owners Craig Wescott and Mike Russell place an emphasis on education. The company spends between $25,000 and $30,000 annually on scholarships for college-bound students.
"It's a great recruiting tool," Schmitt says. "Most of our work force is 16 to 22 years old and when they start here, we want to keep them all the years they are in college."
To qualify for the college cash, employees must bring in copies of their transcripts at the end of the semester. Students can receive up to $1,000 per semester, and the amount they get is based on credit hours, their tenure at The Track and the number of hours they worked the previous year.
The strategy seems to be working. Every one of The Track's year-round managers started as seasonal student employees .
"We just hired two young managers right after they graduated," Schmitt adds.
Each week, the owners take one outstanding employee from each park location out to lunch. They also hand out $50 debit cards to reward great work.
"At the end of the season, we name an employee of the year for each of the tracks, and we take them out to a nice dinner at the Texas Land & Cattle Steak House restaurant," Schmitt says. Award-winning employees also get a $500 debit card.
Full-time, year-round employees are immediately vested in an individual retirement account for which The Track matches contributions of up to 3 percent of each employee's annual salary. Full-time employees also receive 100 percent-paid health and dental insurance and their dependents' health coverage is paid at 50 percent. Other perks include seven sick days a year, which can be taken 60 days after employers are hired, and five paid holidays and two weeks of vacation with no waiting period.
"It's just a very family-oriented business," says Julie Wilson, sales and marketing manager who has worked at The Track for four years.
"They invest in you. I had a baby who (is now 2), and my maternity leave was great," she says. "They actually paid me during leave, which many companies don't do. They are flexible with scheduling, and family comes first."
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