A job fair was held for Harrah's Chester Casino and Racetrack last week, pooling up potential employees for the slot-machine parlor and racetrack that is under construction on the riverfront. Harrah's Entertainment Inc. would not say yet just how many of the applicants it would be hiring.
"We certainly have high aspirations that we will find future employees in the city of Chester," said Vince Donlevie, general manager of Harrah's Chester Casino and Racetrack. The GM declined to give a figure.
One Chester resident, Bobby Wilson is one of the hopefuls. He was one of the 400 residents who lined up for the fair. "I still believe in the rebirth of Chester," he said.
The depressed city once enjoyed a thriving industrial base and lively nightlife, but is now in need of an economic overhaul. Harrah's said it could not say exactly how many of the 900 jobs would go to Chester, a city of 37,000. Harrah's also said that it is likely to be holding more job fairs to seek applicants.
"One of our hallmarks is excellence in guest services," Donlevie said. The casino wants employees with outgoing personalities "who enjoy taking care of people and helping them have a good time."
William Eadington, a gaming industry expert and director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada in Reno said that Harrah's is a leader in "disneyfying" casinos. The term he used pertains to the casino entity's emulation of the famous theme park's strict standards for appearance and conduct.
Eadington explains that casino workers put up with a lot of bad behavior from their customers. He said that finding suitable employees might be a problem in industrial cities citing that most of its residents "don't have a strong service tradition".
Last year, Harrah's contributed $500,000 to help fund a job-readiness training program in Chester.
"There is no doubt in my mind that Harrah's is going to find the kind of workforce there that it is looking for," said Keith Reeves, a political science professor at Swarthmore College, calling the city a "very resourceful community". Reeves has studied aspects of the city's revitalization.
Harrah's will be in need of 175 employees when the harness racing season starts in September, while the slots parlor is next in line for January. Applicants must pass drug tests before they are to be employed, and state laws prohibit those with felony convictions from holding any casino jobs.
"It isn't going to be an issue for me," said Ron Coles, 50, one of Chester's residents and applicant to the job fair. "I hope it isn't for a lot of other people." Coles used to be a shipyard welder during Chester's better days.
While for some, reasons are far grander like economic salvation for the city, a lot of residents like Coles have more personal reasons for wanting the casino job. "What I'd like to find is a steady job, " he simply said.