CETUSA Warrell Corp Cumberland County Pa HersheyPark Agata Czopek Kevin Silva Warrell International House Night Clubs

Artiles is not interested in visiting typical tourist destinations or experiencing life with an American family.




Instead, the 26-year-old Dominican Republic college student will spend most of this summer cooking candy at Warrell Corp. in Lower Allen Township. His goal: to soak up the nuances of the U.S. business world and earn as much money as he can before he heads back to college Sept 30.



"We don't have companies (like Warrell) on the island. This is a good experience because when companies like this do come, I'll understand them," said Artiles, a marketing major at Universidad Dominicana OYM.



Artiles, who speaks fluent English, is one of 29 Dominican Republic college students working at Warrell this summer. It is the first time the Cumberland County firm has used foreign-exchange students to help during the plant's busy season, the summer.



So far, the experiment has worked brilliantly, said Kevin Silva, Warrell's senior vice president of administration.



"We'll absolutely do this again, said Silva, whose company hires an additional 60 workers to cook and package candy from mid-June through November.



The Council for Educational Travel USA is an international nonprofit organization that brings hundreds of foreign-exchange students to live and work in Central Pennsylvania every year. This summer, about 400 CETUSA students from 10 countries are working in the Harrisburg area.



The program's young adults typically are placed at Hersheypark or hotels and restaurants. Warrell is the first manufacturer to employ the CETUSA students, said Agata Czopek, CETUSA regional representative.



Czopek read about Warrell's perennial shortage of dependable hourly workers last year and asked Silva to consider hiring her students. Silva agreed, in part because the Dominican Republic students can stay at the plant through September, weeks after most U.S. students have returned to school.



Warrell pays the students $9.32 to $11.76 an hour, depending on their position. Candy packers are paid less than processors, for example. All the students work the second shift, from 3 p.m. to midnight. The candy manufacturer pays for a travel stipend with Capital Area Transit to help the workers get back and forth from their temporary homes at International House in Harrisburg. CETUSA supplies the students with housing, work visas and health insurance.
Although it was Czopek's idea to allow the students to work in manufacturing, both she and Silva had some reservations about how the students would adapt to the work environment and the regular Wartell employees.




So far, the students have quickly acclimated to their jobs and their American co-workers. There have been some minor glitches to work out. For instance, one student didn't want to work on Friday or Saturday for religious reasons. But all issues have been resolved, and Czopek said she is pleased with the results.



"It's like I'm putting them on a bicycle and watching them ride for the first time," Czopek said. "The most beneficial aspect for me is bringing this diversity to the United States. The cultural exchange is beautiful to watch."



Silva said the students are working out so well that he recommended the idea to other U.S. candy manufacturers with similar labor needs when he was at a recent convention.



"They're very ambitious, and if they finish a job, they come up and ask what they can do next. They have a wonderful work ethic," Silva said of the students.



Meanwhile, Artiles and his Dominican Republican co-workers said they are adjusting to life in Central Pennsylvania and the dozens of different students living with them at the International House. One difference: Night dubs in Harrisburg close at 2 a.m. instead of at 5 a.m. in the Dominican Republic.



Artiles said he likes his job at Warrell much more than the one he held last summer at an Alaskan salmon-processing plant.



"I'm paid more here. And I smelled like fish for three-and-one-half months last year," Artiles said