Atlantic City places a new bet on an old favorite: casinos

The casinos, which have hired more than 7,000 workers in total, are expected to open Thursday. Atlantic City officials and business leaders have encouraged new jobs, while highlighting the investments of a local university and a gas company that they believe show that the Game-dependent economy is finally starting to cover its bets.

"The atmosphere is so positive," said Debra DiLorenzo, executive director of the Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. "I do not have a crystal ball, but I think that having nine casinos again will be fine."

At one end of the Atlantic City Boardwalk, Colorado developer

Bruce Deifik

opens Ocean Resort Casino in the 6.4 million square foot complex formerly known as Revel Hotel and Casino, a $ 2.4 billion casino that opened in 2012 and went bankrupt twice before closing after two years. Nearby, Hard Rock International has spent $ 500 million to renovate, "de-thematize" and redecorate the Taj Mahal closed casino that once belonged to the president.

Donald Trump,

according to the president

Jim Allen.

The new casinos are following a turbulent period for the Atlantic City economy. The city's monopoly on East Coast gaming collapsed after the opening of new casinos in neighboring states, and gaming revenue fell to $ 2.4 billion in 2015 from 5 , $ 2 billion in 2006, according to official records.

Four of the city's 12 casinos closed in 2014 and a fifth closed two years ago. In total, nearly 11,000 workers were fired, according to a spokesman for the Department of Labor and Manpower Development.

Declining casino revenues and five closures have decimated the city's tax base and have plagued its budget. Atlantic City avoided municipal bankruptcy when the state took control of the city's finances and operations in 2016, a move that was unpopular with local authorities and residents.

Today, the Atlantic City casino industry seems to be stabilizing, with gaming revenue increasing to about $ 2.7 billion last year, according to the New Jersey Division of Records Enforcement Records. Mr Allen said he was particularly encouraged by the 23.7% increase in gross operating profit of the remaining casinos last year, to $ 723 million.

"Atlantic City is still a 2.5 mile drive from nearly 30 million people," Allen said. "It's still the second largest gaming market in the United States"

The big question now is whether new casinos will erode the revenue of other gambling halls. Mr. Deifik, who bought the former Revel casino for $ 200 million earlier this year, said he believed that sports betting, which was recently legalized in New Jersey, will help generate more revenue. income for all casinos.

He acknowledged that other properties would be likely to "share with us for a period of time" but said that he expects his investments and those of Hard Rock to end up doing grow the industry of Atlantic City casinos.

"It's not a bad thing, sometimes, to get things moving, while everyone needs to improve a bit," said Deifik. "My hope is that over three years, four years, two years, a rising tide will lift all ships."

Atlantic City is struggling to diversify its economy, and even recent hiring by local medical institutions and several new restaurants and bars have added only a few hundred jobs, said

Oliver Cooke,

Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Stockton.

"We have seen growth in employment in other areas," he said. "But frankly, it was rather anemic."

The Atlantic City unemployment rate had fallen to 8.6% in April, its lowest level since 2008 but still nearly double the rate of 4.5% at the same time. State. The two new casinos have submitted a large number of job applications, MM. Allen and Deifik reported receiving a total of 88,000 CVs for 7,100 open positions.

Although new casinos have attracted a lot of interest, houseworkers, cooks and janitors are still in demand.

Bob McDevitt,

president of the local union of casino workers.

"It's a problem we did not have in 2014," said McDevitt. "It's a problem we absolutely have now."

The union works with casinos and the Ministry of Labor and Development of State Labor to recruit and train workers for these entry-level positions. Next month, a state-funded pilot program will provide training to 60 local residents for culinary, janitorial and janitorial jobs.

Previous training programs in Atlantic City have not been successful in attracting meaningful participation. A federal emergency grant awarded to New Jersey after the casino closures in 2014 has provided $ 29.4 million to 4,000 workers, but only 1,500 people have ended up signing up to 4.8 million, according to a spokesman for the Department of Labor.

This time, state officials have consulted the casino industry about their employment needs, and participants who complete the training program are guaranteed permanent full-time jobs time in a hotel or casino in Atlantic City.

Robert Asaro-Angelo,

Commissioner of the Department of State Labor.

"It makes me sick to think how much money we sent back to the federal government before I came in because we did not use it," said Asaro-Angelo, who took the lead from the department earlier this year. .

Local officials have expressed confidence that Atlantic City is attracting other new types of investment, and have pointed out that a $ 200 million public-private project is on its way. ;completion. The project includes a new residential campus for the University of Stockton, which is expected to open this fall, as well as a new headquarters for South Jersey Gas.

Business groups are also pushing for state incentives that would encourage development around a technical center of the Federal Aviation Administration located 10 miles northwest of Atlantic City.

For the recent graduate of the University of Stockton

Briana Ingrum,

more job choices can not come soon enough. Ingrum, who lives in nearby Galloway Township, works at an Atlantic City retail store this summer, but said she sees herself leaving the area to pursue a career in marketing.

"There are not many jobs in companies here," she said. "Many jobs here are hospitality."