Easton man turns helping students into full-time career

By Gwenn Garland
Delmarva Business Weekly Editor

It was a worst-case scenario: 11 young people arrive on the Eastern Shore after a long journey from Eastern Europe to start their new summer jobs, only to find that the housing they thought they had secured was nonexistent.
"I had 11 Russian college students sitting in my dining room with no place to stay," recalled Doug Lozinak, who was then a manager for McDonald's, the students' employer. "It was a bad situation."

Lozinak found them a place to stay, but was appalled at the way they were treated. "I knew I could do better than that," he said.

Lozinak was impressed by the students' work ethic. In return, the students appreciated Lozinak's help -- so much so that when they wanted to come back to work in the United States this summer, they turned to him, and referred their friends to him as well.

So Lozinak was able to turn the worst case into the best: He retired from McDonald's, and in December, he started a new company, People First International, that helps foreign students find jobs and housing.

"They were such great workers, I knew I'd have no trouble finding places for them," he said.

Lozinak has about 70 students coming this year, and plans for three to four times as many next year. Word of mouth has worked in his favor; many students are returning from last year, and bringing their friends along this time.

PFI workers are mainly students from Eastern Europe, but Lozinak said he's talking to sources in South America to expand, and provide workers available in the winter months as well as the summer.

He has found jobs for his clients in places such as Schooners Landing in Oxford, Big Bats Cafe and Ruby Tuesday in Easton, Pizza Palace, Snapper's Cafe and Canvasback Restaurant in Cambridge.

The job opportunities aren't limited to Talbot County, though; students are also set to work at a McDonald's in Aberdeen, Md., and the Hard Rock Cafe in Baltimore.

Lozinak says he'd like to include businesses in Salisbury also.

"The service industry on the Eastern Shore is dying for help," Lozinak said.

With the expanding retail market in Salisbury, the need for workers will only grow.

Even in Ocean City, home to many seasonal workers, the market is changing.

"There's a growing need for year-round help," said Deborah Travers, executive director of the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce. "We have been effective in building up the shoulder seasons and attracting national chains like Quizno's, Applebee's and Carraba's, and they're open all year. The needs of businesses are going beyond seasonal help."

Lozinak says he has found this to be the case as well. "The need for workers in the wintertime is tremendous," he said. He is working to build up a list of students who can come in a variety of seasons.

People First International works with overseas agencies that secure student visas for their clients. A stipulation of the J1 visa is that a person has to have proof of a job commitment before they arrive in the U.S., and that's where Lozinak comes in.

"I fax the job commitment papers over so they can get their visas," he explained.

The students that go through PFI typically arrive in New York and get an orientation to the United States. Then they take a bus here, and People First makes sure they get to where they need to go so they can start their new jobs.

"I only regret that I just started using them as workers in my last year at McDonald's," Lozinak. "I could have been using them for 20 years."