Burgerville's websiteTIGARD — A new Burgerville on Pacific Highway is expected to draw big crowds next week, although the restaurant won’t officially open its doors for another two months.

The popular Northwest fast-food chain is hard at work building its newest location near Southwest Walnut Street, and the company announced last week that it hopes to hire all the employees for the restaurant in a single day.

Next Wednesday, May 30, the company is holding a day-long mass hiring event at Tigard’s Embassy Suites near Washington Square mall.

“We think of it as our own American Idol,” said Beth Brewer, the company’s vice president of talent and development. “People are pretty familiar with Burgerville. We are a quick-service restaurant with a high quality and a connection to the local community. We have higher expectations for quality of service.”

Brewer said plans are to hire 40 employees during the day-long event and have them all trained together in time for the restaurant’s opening this summer.

“We are committed to sourcing the best talent in the Tigard community,” Brewer said. “What is great about opening a new restaurant in a new community is we can really add jobs on the ground.”

This is the first time Burgerville has hired all the employees for a new store in a single day.

“In the past, we have done more incremental hiring, bringing on a few people at a time,” Brewer said. “But one of the things we really see with this opportunity is that we are able to bring everyone on at once and develop them as a team right out of the gate. Everyone is able to participate and benefit from working together as a team.”

This is the first new Burgerville location in a decade, Brewer said, and the second to set up shop in Tigard.

The company’s restaurant on Southwest Carmen Drive is known as the company’s “Lake Oswego” location, though it technically resides within Tigard city limits.

Brewer said the new location fills a major need in Tigard.

“It was really interest from the community that brought us to Tigard,” Brewer said. “Different folks throughout the years have requested that Burgerville build a restaurant in the city, and it will definitely fill a gap.”

Aside from it’s Carmen Drive location, Brewer said restaurants in Beaverton and Newberg have left a hole in Tigard that needed addressing.

Most of the management for the store has already been hired, Brewer said. Next week’s hiring event is looking specifically for full- and part-time hourly employees. However, Brewer said there is room to grow quickly in the company.

“We are committed to promoting at least one person from inside the 40 folks we hire to a salaried manager position within six months,” Brewer said.

The Burgerville location has already started getting involved in the community long before its doors were built, let alone opened.

The restaurant was one of several sponsors for the Sparrow Bowl at Tigard High School on Friday, which helped raise money for Juan “Junior” Arellano, a 4-year-old Tigard boy battling Leukemia.

The restaurant served hamburgers during the event and donated a percentage of each sale to the Sparrow Club, which matches children with a critical illness with a school and a sponsor.

Brewer said the restaurant will likely be involved in several fundraising efforts to help support schools and local families.

“There are several elementary schools and Fowler Middle School within a stone’s throw of the restaurant, and we will definitely want to support the schools and education as well as community events and interests.”

Applicants must be at least 16 years old and have basic math, reading, writing and communication skills.

Applicants are encouraged to visit Burgerville’s website, download and complete a “crew application” form and bring it with them to the hiring event, along with two forms of identification, including photo ID.

Hourly employees at Burgerville are eligible for health, vision and dental coverage through the company, Brewer said.

“We are not just adding 40 jobs to the community, we are committed to a self-sustaining set of jobs so that people really are able to have a living wage and live and work in the community they love,” she said.

The Tigard restaurant is expected to open in early July.

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Check it out

What: Burgerville — Tigard hiring event

Where: Embassy Suites, Washington Square, 9000 S.W. Washington Square Road, in Tigard

When: Wednesday, May 30, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Before you go: Fill out an application at Burgerville's website and bring it and two pieces of ID with you.