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When push comes to shove in a tight labor market, recruiting farther afield is certainly an option, but how
much farther afield? If you want the new recruits to stick around, John Leehman recommends that you look in "areas where the climate is similar to
yours and the market is depresses."
Leehman, executive vice-president of Bread Loaf Construction Co. -- a 160 - person business in Middlebury, Vt., in
the heart of New England's ski region -- considered both Denver and Houston as possible recruitment sites since the construction market was flat in
both cities. Because Houston's climate differed so dramatically from Vermont's Leehman ultimately decided to place a newspaper advertisement in
ski-happy Denver.
It worked. Resumes flooded Bread Loafs mailbox. Leehman spent two days in Denver interviewing
approximately 30 candidates. Ultimately, he hired four employees.
In the ensuring two years, one did leave after his first six months and another eventually yearned for home and
returned to Denver, but, Leehman insists, "For the cost of a hotel room, plane ticket, and 30% of their relocation costs, it was worth it."
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