NW Iowa Casino To Begin Hiring From Minn., S.D., Iowa
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- A $120 million casino being built in northwest Iowa, just over the South Dakota border, soon will begin a push to fill hundreds of jobs.
The Grand Falls Casino Resort near Larchwood is expected to open in late May. The company plans to fill more than 500 positions through six job fairs this month in Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota, starting in Sioux Falls on April 17, General Manager Sharon Haselhoff told the Argus Leader.
"We are hopeful that we will get all of the employees that we need to hire out of these job fairs" and through online resumes, she said.
The casino will include an events center and a 100-room hotel. An 18-hole golf course is scheduled to open in 2013. The resort will employ more than 700 people, including managers and supervisors who will already be on the job when the job fairs begin. About 150 people also are taking dealer training and will audition for jobs in May, Haselhoff said.
The casino is hiring at a time when many parts of the region are experiencing higher-than-usual jobless rates.
"Look at the unemployment rates in the area, and you'll see that people will be looking," said Steve Simons, director of economic development for Iowa's Lyon County. "The employment phase will be exciting for the job seekers from this region."
Greg Johnson, manager of the South Dakota Department of Labor office in Sioux Falls, said "many more people are still looking for work than all of us would like. So, we think that (the casino) will find the people they need."
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