Lowe's to bring 125 jobs to Kill Devil Hills, N.C.

KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C.

A Lowe's store that sparked controversy when it was first proposed is now bringing something desperately needed in a community still reeling from Hurricane Irene's economic impact - jobs.

The Mooresville, N.C.-based home improvement chain has started accepting applications for 125 positions at the 160,000-square-foot store it's building just north of the Wright Brothers National Memorial.

This week, it will pick department managers, and within two weeks, it will start hiring sales associates in advance of the store's mid-March opening, according to human resources manager Jill Morton.

Job opportunities are scarcer in winter in a community filled with tourist-dependent restaurants and beachfront hotels. After the summer season, some businesses shut their doors and wait until visitors start to trickle back in March.

The closures leave residents without work, and unemployment figures reflect that. Last January and February, unemployment in Dare County peaked at 17.7 percent, according to the North Carolina Division of Employment Security. Kenny Kee, branch manager of the division's Nags Head office, expects unemployment to peak at 15 percent this winter.

Lowe's arrival was controversial. Residents complained about the lights, construction noise and traffic the development would bring, and many feared it would edge out locally owned businesses. News of its building plan sparked a lawsuit from neighbors, which a judge dismissed in June, and provoked debate between residents and town commissioners.

But the potential of jobs is good news, Kee said, especially after Hurricane Irene brought a quick end in August to a booming summer season. Dare unemployment rose to 9.8 percent in both September and October, according to the state's employment security division, up from 6.6 and 7.9 percent, respectively, in 2010.

Plus, Kee said, the Outer Banks has felt the effects of the national economic downturn, particularly in the building industry.

"It used to be everywhere you looked someone was building something in the winter," he said. Lowe's could bring similar jobs back, he said.

Morton said about half the new jobs will be full time and half part time, with some seasonal hires as well.

The company has set up an office in a strip mall blocks from where the store's cinder-block skeleton is taking shape overlooking U.S. 158. Inside the bare-bones office, staff members work at folding chairs and tables, ready to answer questions from job seekers and to instruct them to apply on the company's website.

Though Morton said the number of applications the store has received so far was not available, she said the office has "had calls and a lot of walk-ins," adding, "we're happy the community is receptive to us and we're happy to bring jobs."

One prospective employee is Charlie Hunt, who was laid off three years ago by a local home improvement and construction business.

Hunt, a 47-year-old Colington resident, has worked sporadically since, waiting tables and repairing roofs damaged during Hurricane Irene. He said he would appreciate having steady employment and benefits, especially because he and his wife, who works as a waitress, are raising their 5-year-old granddaughter.

"People talk about living paycheck to paycheck," Hunt said. "Try living no paycheck to no paycheck."

Gabriella Souza, (252) 441-1711, gabriella.souza@pilotonline.com