Youth Professional Development - Neptune Island Waterpark
The City of Hartsville’s Neptune Island waterpark, which welcomed nearly 200,000 guests in its first three seasons, employs about 200 seasonal staff members each year. Nearly all of these workers are high school or college students, making the park one of the region’s largest employers of this age group. The city recognized it as a unique opportunity to enhance leadership and teamwork skills in the community’s young people, building job experience in its local workforce.
After using a local staffing agency for the waterpark’s first season, the city switched to handling human resources for the park internally. The Neptune Island team then developed new training efforts based on its own experiences and guidance from companies respected for their customer service, such as Disney and Chick-fil-A. The team built strategic partnerships with local school districts to engage with students. They also created employee incentive programs and model leadership opportunities.
Neptune Island’s staff members have benefitted from the job skills learned at the attraction as they have transitioned into their professional lives, making the park an investment in Hartsville’s future workforce. In 2021, Neptune Island will introduce an Employee Advisory Committee to give employees more opportunities to improve the guest experience at the park. It will also grow the leadership program with additional training offerings, and will feature professional development activities like interview training, professional communications and resume-building workshops.
Contact Lauren Baker at lauren.baker@hartsvillesc.gov or 843.917.0602.