Job seekers see hope in Rivers Casino

PHOTOGRAPHER: Patrick Dodson

The Rivers Casino held a job fair at Schenectady Community College on Saturday.

Pamela Carnegie said she’s excited about the future jobs a casino in Schenectady would bring and exploring her options in a new market.

Carnegie, 59, said she would like to be a table game dealer at the future Rivers Casino and Resort at Mohawk Harbor off Erie Boulevard.

“I’m excited about it because I was born and raised here in Schenectady,” she said.

Carnegie was one of more than 1,000 people who attended casino operator Rush Street Gaming’s job fair at Schenectady County Community College on Saturday.

“I’m considering SCCC’s gaming program to get me prepared for a job,” she said. The college had its first graduates from the two-year casino and gaming management program in May.

Carnegie attended the job fair with Alex Rivera, also of Schenectady, who was there to learn about job options in food and beverage at the casino.

“Maybe I could be a cook or a waiter,” Rivera, 29, said. “I’m really just looking for a job.”

The Mallozzi Group will operate the 10,000-square-foot banquet facility at the casino along with a marketplace and steakhouse.

The Mallozzi family — brothers Bobby and John and their father Joseph — spoke to people at the job fair about positions they would be looking to fill including busers, chefs and servers.

“We’ve talked to people with various backgrounds and experience interested in food and beverage jobs,” Bobby Mallozzi said. “We’re providing our contact information to them so if they want to reach out sooner we’ll talk to them now about a job.”

The family was celebrating its 50th anniversary of downtown Schenectady bakery Villa Italia on Saturday. Mallozzi said they are considering a bakery at the casino, too.

The Mallozzi’s are looking to hire between 180 and 220 people to staff the restaurants and banquet facility at the casino.

The fair was not set up to take job applications, but to give people a chance to see what will be available when it opens. Rush Street had staff on hand to discuss future job opportunities in finance, gaming, information technology, marketing and security and surveillance.

“There’s a slew of jobs in accounting and finance at a casino,” said Scott Weranry. “There are more than 50 accountants in Illinois.”

Rush Street owns and operates three casinos — the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia and Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Illinois.

Rush Street is waiting to receive a casino license from the state Gaming Commission. The earliest the license could be awarded is Sept. 30. Then it would take about 16 to 18 months to build, said Mary Cheeks, the Schenectady casino’s general manager.

The 150,000-square-foot Rivers Casino will house 1,150 slot machines and 66 table games. It’s expected to create 1,200 permanent jobs. Most of those jobs will be full-time, Cheeks said.

She added that all employees would be required to have at least a GED to be hired by Rush Street. Rush Street is looking to start hiring people three to nine months before the Rivers Casino opens, said Leigh Whitaker, vice president of communications for the SugarHouse Casino.

“There will be job postings about 10 months before the casino opens,” Whitaker said. “It’s all dependent on the license and what the Gaming Commission tells us. We’ll have to figure a lot of that out.”

Gina Magnan runs Certified Document Security in North Chatham and attended Rush Street’s vendor fair on Friday. She returned for the job fair on Saturday with her son Brian.

“It was such a great opportunity I went home and told my son and some of his friends about it,” she said.

Brian Magnan, 21, graduated from SCCC in May with an associate degree in audio technology. He is searching for a full-time job and looking at his options at the casino.

“I heard about one or two audio visual positions,” Magnan said while leaving the job fair. “Or there’s jobs with slot machines. Everyone is really nice and they’re open to all ages and genders.”

Gina Magnan, of Guilderland, said she is impressed that Rush Street’s other casinos have been named best places to work.

“We liked that they said they start you at a certain level and then promote from within,” she said. “That’s promising.”

Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy said the city wants to get local residents talking to Rush Street early so they get the first shot at future jobs.

“We want them to understand what they need to do to start working on day one,” he said. “I hope this helps city residents find jobs. It’s exciting and a big opportunity.”

Mike Young, 47, of Wilton, said he thought the job fair was very informative. He attended the event because he’s looking to switch careers.

Young said he visited Las Vegas once and had a great experience because the casino employees made his trip memorable.

“I have worked at hospitals and now I’m looking for something different,” he said. “I can talk to people as a casino host. I would like to do that. People are put off by the two years, but it will come quick.”

Wendy Brockway, of Mariaville, said she would like to work in the casino’s offices, possibly as an office manager, once it’s up and running.

“I want to have a chance at getting a job here,” she said. “We would all be starting new, so it would be a team effort. I’m not a gambler, I’ve only been to the racino and Turning Stone, but I’m very excited about this opportunity.”