Johnny Reese says, "It means economic growth for our employees. We'll be able to pay them, and they'll be able to keep working on projects like this enabling them to stay in their homes and pay their bills at a time like this."
Johnny Reese is president of Reese Enterprise, a trucking company looking to get work from the casino project. Reese enterprise plans on hiring 30 extra employees for the new $250-million casino. And all hires will be from Toledo.
"It was one of the requirements that everyone be local as far as the selection process for the companies," says Tim Wilmott, president and chief operating officer of Penn National Gaming. He adds, "Our commitment here in Northwest Ohio is to hire as many people locally as we possibly can." He also states, "This is going to take about 18 to 20 months to build out. And once we finish the construction and open in the early part of 2012, we're going to have approximately 1200 full time jobs operating Hollywood Casino Toledo."
So, 90-percent or more will be hired locally for everything from entry-level positions to management. "We're going to have jobs on the casino floor, dealing jobs, in our restaurants in our cage areas in our entertainment lounges in our beverage department. So there is going to be a lot of entry level positions and then supervisory and management level positions that follow in those organizations."
The casino will begin taking job applications starting next summer. Click here for more information.
Hollywood Casino Toledo will be a 290,000-square-foot development with structured parking. The casino will offer approximately 2,000 slot machines and 60 table games, plus a poker room, food and beverage amenities, and an entertainment lounge.
It is projected to produce $25.3 million in annual tax revenues for the city of Toledo, Lucas County and the county's school districts.
