Apr. 3, 2003 - VALPARAISO, Ind.--Veteran housekeeper Lisa Eslick's expert hands snapped a crisp white sheet in the air and smoothed it over a queen-size mattress as seconds ticked away on a timer. 

At just over 3 minutes, Eslick was one of the fastest bedmakers in a competition put on by Focus Hospitality Services, owner of a hotel chain that includes the Holiday Inn Express in Valparaiso. 

The contest pitted five housekeepers in a race to fold sheets and blankets onto mattresses with near military precision. 

The winner would walk away with $50 and the chance to enter a nationwide competition, but the real purpose was to build pride in a job vital to the hotel industry, Focus Vice President of Operations Dean Morgan said. 

"Our goal is to be clean, comfortable and friendly, in that order," Morgan said. "Cleanliness is very important to us." 

Of about 400 employees in Focus's 23 hotels, nearly 175 are housekeepers, Morgan said. A downturn in the economy has meant more people seeking the job, he added. 

"You have a better pool of people to choose from," Morgan said. 

Peter Gallagher, director of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association based in Chicago, agreed. 

"It's easier now than in 2000 when business was extremely good," Gallagher said. 

"Since then the softening of the economy has triggered layoffs in the (hotel) industry in our location. It's easier to keep staffing up now," Gallagher said. 

About 1,530 people were employed in the region as maids or housekeepers in a variety of settings including hotels, according to government employment statistics. 

Statewide, nearly 21,000 people held housekeeping jobs in 2000, earning about $7.50 an hour. Locally, housekeepers earned an average of $7.14 an hour, according to the Gary area Primary Metropolitan Statistics Analysis. 

It's not a job people would necessarily seek out if they're in the job market, said Jeff Jordan, executive director of K-V Works, an arm of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. 

But in current economic conditions, "people are considering any type of opportunities at this point." Jordan said. "And if housekeepers do well, there are opportunities to move into other areas where the pay is higher." 

Lora Powers, executive housekeeper at the Holiday Inn Express in Valparaiso, started as a maid and worked up to the better paying supervisor's job, she said. 

In hiring new staff, she looks for people with enthusiasm, she said. 

"They have to like to clean," Morgan said. "But this is a people business. 

They have to be comfortable engaging our customers in conversation and making them feel welcome." 

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(c) 2003, The Times, Munster, Ind. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. SXC,