It’s a drizzly morning in the South Valley. Despite the rain, hundreds of well-dressed teenagers and young adults trek from the Gilroy Gardens parking lot to the main gates, following signs that bear the words: “Job fair.”
The woman at the center of the annual recruitment effort, Gilroy Gardens General Manager Barbara-Lea Granter, said she and her staff “actively look for people without experience,” so teens and young adults can begin to build their resumes.
While Gilroy Gardens does require applicants to be at least 16 years old, younger teenagers can volunteer as soon as they turn 14. In fact, the park needs such a large staff, according to Granter, that she can provide any local teenager with the opportunity to complete the volunteer hours required to graduate from Gilroy’s public high schools.
“I’m not married and never had kids, so I feel like the kids in the park and the teens who work for me are like my children,” Granter said. “They are engaged, happy and enthusiastic. They keep me young.”
Resume-building activities for her employees aside, Granter describes her own career trajectory as an “accident” that led to finding an unexpected home in Gilroy, a community that has allowed her to honor her professional and personal passions.
“I only intended to stay (at Gilroy Gardens) for two or three years,” Granter said. Yet more than 10 years have passed since her first day on the job at the horticultural exhibit and theme park in 2003. “It’s a nice place. I love Gilroy because (the community) adopted me.”
Granter, a native Canadian and naturalized American citizen, attended college at Queens University in Toronto where she studied intellectual history and theater. After graduation she began her career as a stage manager at Canada’s Wonderland, a major Canadian theme park owned by Paramount Parks (a subsidiary of Paramount Studios that itself was owned by Viacom) in a Toronto suburb. She would eventually grow into operations at the park and was there for 20 years before embracing a new challenge: transferring to another position within Paramount Park’s holdings to oversee Star Trek the Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton, as well as the CBS Television City attraction at the MGM Grand.
Because of her expertise in operating unique properties, Granter was transferred to Gilroy in 2003 when her company began investigating nonprofit properties – including Gilroy Gardens. After the dust settled from a complicated series of corporate acquisitions that linked the struggling Gilroy Gardens (previously Bonfante Gardens) to Great America in Santa Clara, Granter set about the task of making the park into a self-sustaining community asset.
From an entertainment and attraction industry perspective, it is a challenge that Gilroy Gardens is located more than 25 miles from a population center with at least 1 million people, Granter said. Additionally, parks designed to cater to the youngest visitors typically don’t generate the kind of revenue that attractions geared for teenagers and young adults do, she added.
Yet Gilroy Gardens wasn’t simply a theme park, but a horticultural exhibit with its own distinct mission that had its own place at the heart of the community.
Due to the relatively small size of the community, Granter was suddenly thrust into the spotlight for the first time. This was a unique experience for the 56-year-old, who had worked exclusively in large markets where she had been able to remain somewhat anonymous throughout the course of her work. Gilroy Gardens, however, was different in a number of ways.
“Everyone knew the park,” Granter said of those early days. “And everyone knew what my job was.”
It was the late Bob Kramer, chairman of Gilroy Gardens Board of Directors in 2003, who helped her understand what the property meant to the community. He introduced her to city leaders, business owners and other important local contacts.
Jane Howard, executive director of the Gilroy Welcome Center said she has witnessed Granter’s “… transformation as a new arrival to Gilroy with anonymity and no fanfare, to an individual recognized as one of the new leaders in this community.”
Howard, who has worked with Granter for the last eight years, currently serves as secretary of the Gilroy Gardens Board of Directors.
“Amazing is a perfect description for Barb Granter,” Howard said. “Sharing a passion for tourism and a love for this community, Barb and I work as a team promoting Gilroy as a destination. Barb’s dedication and her commitment to sharing Gilroy Gardens mission with visitors and our residents is an inspiration for all.”
Mark Turner, president and CEO of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce, agreed and added that Granter has “elevated the quality guests experience when they visit the park.”
“Not only does Barb inspire others to reach higher and achieve more, but she has a heart for Gilroy and works tirelessly for the benefit of this community,” Turner said. “She is always willing to help other people and organizations. Barb is a selfless individual with a compassionate heart and a desire to serve.”
Participating in Leadership Gilroy also helped Granter forge relationships with notable members of the community. Leadership Gilroy, a nine-month program for Gilroy community and business leaders, promotes networking and understanding of vital areas within the community, such as education. Each Leadership Gilroy class must complete a project to benefit the community as part of the training. Gilroy Garden’s natural science program, in which all second- and fourth-grade classes in the Gilroy Unified School District participate in docent-led tours of the park and activities, was developed as Granter’s Leadership Gilroy class of 2004 community project.
She currently sits on Leadership Gilroy’s board of directors and previously served as president.
Granter said she sees a bright future for Gilroy. She said Gilroy’s ideal location, as well as its variety of unique attractions – including the annual Garlic Festival, golf courses, outlet malls, wineries and Gilroy Gardens – the city has the potential to become a world-class tourist destination.
“The synergy is very interesting,” Granter said. “This is my next challenge.”
