Many Look for Opportunity at FireKeepers Casino

Like clockwork, the cars roll over the stone parking lot just off Interstate 94 a little before 8 a.m. The drivers waste little time and head into the nondescript building for the first of three shifts at dealer school for FireKeepers Casino.

Two-thousand answered the call for 300 available slots as dealer-school students. They were screened and tested before being invited to attend. They get paid nothing and are expected to be there four hours a day for 12 weeks. In the end, they may or may not be offered a job. The casino says that, altogether, more than 28,000 people have applied for 1,500 full- and part-time jobs that will be filled before opening in early August.

"This is a career opportunity," says Lance Allen, director of table games for the casino. "A lot of people just look at it as a job. But it really is more than a job."

Allen should know. He started out as a dealer 28 years ago and has risen to a key management position for the $300 million casino.

At 47, Gary Smith from Parma was considering going back to school to train for a health-field position. He worked for Libra Industries -- an automotive supplier in Jackson -- for the past five years as a shipping and receiving manager. Like many, he gets no health insurance from his part-time job at a convenience store. If Smith makes it through the next 12 weeks, he'll get the benefits that are so important to him.

"Auto is a dying industry," Smith said. "I want something with long-term potential."

For the complete story, please see Chris Wheelock, What's the Deal? Some see second career as casino dealers, West Michigan Business, May 28, 2009.