Unemployed Seek Security in Surf Competition

Elaine Cooper has been looking for work for two years. On Tuesday, the Hempstead woman found herself at City Hall in Long Beach after she learned about an open house to hire security for the Quiksilver surf competition in September.

A former patient care associate at Glen Cove Hospital, Cooper is attending school to get licensed in phlebotomy and hopes to get a full time job, but for now she’ll take one of the hundreds of temporary security positions that Summit Security Services has created for the surfing event.

“I need something to do,” Cooper said while waiting to be interviewed at the community hall on the sixth floor Tuesday morning. “I don’t know what more I can do to find work.”

New York State requires licenses to perform security work, which means Cooper had to spend money to take certification classes.

Summit, a Uniondale-based company with 34 years in the security services business, has contracted with Quiksilver to provide security for the competition in Long Beach from September 1 to 15.

Summit has experience in special, large-scale events, such as the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing, and provides security for the Aqua, a condominium complex in Long Beach. Moreover, Summit's project manager at the surf competition is a Long Beach resident, according to Nick Auletta, Summit’s vice president of sales and marketing.

Summit has staged open houses at City Hall for the past three weeks, and plans to hold more open houses there until about a week before the event, after which they will recruit at their Long Island offices.  

Linda Piacentini, vice president of human resources at Summit, said the company is staffing for around-the-clock security throughout the event, with part-time, full-time, day, night and weekend and other flexible positions available.

“We’re looking for as many local people as we can,” Piacentini said about the hiring process.

Summit advertised their open houses through everything from fliers, which is how Cooper found out about them, to local newspapers, which Piacentini said has given them the best success.

“There are some who aren’t working and looking for something temporary, and a lot of people working full-time who are just looking to earn some extra income for a few weeks,” she noted about the typical applicants.  

Among them is Patricia Dillon, a Long Beach resident who has been out of work for about 18 months. A former executive assistant with a medical home care company, Dillon noticed an ad about the open houses in a local paper.

On Tuesday, while she was filling out an application, she expressed cautious optimism about landing a security job and about the event in general.

“I think this is going to be great for the local economy,” she said. “And I hope I get a job, because it’s really been terrible being out of work.”

* This article was updated from the original version.

Summit Security Services is holding the following open houses at City Hall:

Tuesday, August 9
12pm to 7pm

Wednesday, August 10
10pm to 3pm

Monday, August 15
3pm to 7pm

Wednesday, August 17
10am to 3pm


Long Beach City Hall
6th Floor – Community Hall
1 West Chester Street
Long Beach, NY 11561

REQUIREMENTS:

• Must have High School Diploma/GED
• Must be 18 years or older
• NYS Licensed Security Officers preferred

If unable to attend open house, please send your resume to eclarke@summitsecurity.com.