Workers from Alaska, U.S. and world arrive to help in hospitality, farm industries

By Marcia Kuszmaul

Homer Independent Press

Seasonal workers are here and will continue to arrive from throughout the U.S. and around the world through mid-June to supplement local staffing for the summer shifts of many businesses.

Some arrive via domestic work-study programs; others arrive with J-1 visas, a non-immigrant visa category for individuals approved to participate in work- and study-based exchange visitor programs. According to the BridgeUSA program, the J-1 visas are “a valuable and important diplomatic tool of U.S. foreign policy. Its mission – to increase mutual understanding between Americans and people of other countries – remains vital to U.S. national security and building people-to-people connections around the world.”

This is accomplished through work experiences that enhance English language and intercultural skills – which is exactly why George Marinakis is spending his summer in Homer.

George Marinakis (left), from Greece, and Moxie Moxie (right), from the village of New Stuyahok, Alaska, meet at the Homer Chamber of Commerce’s  reception for seasonal workers, June 2, 2026. (Photo by Marcia Kuszmaul/ Homer Independent Press)

George, a native of Crete, studies agronomy at the university in Thessaloniki, Greece. He is working as a host at Captain Pattie’s Fish House. George is enthusiastic about the opportunity to improve his English and experience Alaska’s nature and wild animals (i.e., moose). 

“I also two times went to the beach to heat marshmallows,” he said. A first.

George is one of 67 students from eight countries working in Homer this summer in hospitality, retail and food services. These students are here through Greenheart International, a United States Department of State-designated non-profit that ensures the well-being of J-1 university students from 30 countries.

J-1 student workers typically fill seasonal, full-time, customer-facing roles for a minimum of 32 hours per week. In addition to wages, host employers are responsible for providing affordable housing (ideally less than 33% of income), facilitating cultural exchange and helping students learn about Alaska. 

Joe Chmeleck, owner of The Lodge at Otter Cove, employed a J-1 student from the Dominican Republic last summer and hired him back this year along with two others. 

“They are so happy to be here and so appreciative to see things they’ve never experienced before,” Chmeleck said. Of the returning student, Chmeleck said he was able to pay for three years of college with what he earned last summer.

Moxie Moxie, a Native Alaskan from New Stuyahok (population 512) near Dillingham, is working with the Alaska Beauty Peony Co-op Farms through the United States Department of Agriculture NextGen Internship program at the Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension, University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he is a business major.

Moxie Moxie, a summer worker through the USDA NextGen Internship program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, packages peony bath soak for the Alaska Beauty Peony Co-op Farms. (Photo provided by Alaska Beauty Peony Co-op Farms) 

“I’m learning how to manage products,” Moxie said, in describing his work in the production, packaging and distribution of the co-op’s many peony-inspired gifts.

So if you see a young person, typically on a bicycle, looking alone and lost, show them Homer hospitality and help them on their way.