[Southsider2k12]

http://www.michigancityin.com/articles/200.../25/news/n1.txt

By Michael Eliasohn, For The News-Dispatch

Teresa Lee, Pam Gonzales, Rick LoPresti and Casimir Mroczka need jobs.

Travis Terry has a job but wants one where he doesn't have to drive as far each day.

Tammie Hines and Joan Olson are seeking part-time work.

When the Four Winds Casino Resort opens Aug. 2, all of them hope they will be among the casino's more than 2,000 employees.

Lee, 47, has been out of work since October. That job was assistant manager at a retail store. The single mother has a son, 17, and daughter, 14.

The Stevensville, Mich., resident said she applied for a data entry clerk's job at the casino, “an entry-level kind of thing,” but is willing to take almost any job there “to get my foot in the door.” Lee said she expects there will be opportunities to advance at the casino.

She said she has an associate's degree and her past jobs have included being a waitress and working at preschools. Lee said she has been actively looking for a job since her last one ended. “There's just not a large variety in this area.”

Gonzales, 50, of Union Pier, Mich., was an administrative assistant in the sales and marketing department at Bosch Packaging in Bridgman until March 9.

“I'm out and about looking for a job, and it's hard to do that when you're still working,” she said.

The company, which makes packaging machinery, is scheduled to close in May. “That was the first thing I said when they made the (closing) announcement in November: ‘I'll just go work at the casino.'”

Gonzales said she has applied for four jobs at the casino and figures that with her background in administration and human resources she would be an ideal candidate to be hired early. But that hasn't happened. Fortunately for Gonzales, her husband, Joe, is working, and her two children are grown.

She said she has applied for “many” other jobs in this area but has a special reason to want to work at the casino - it's only five miles from home. She also has applied for a job at the Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, about 15 miles from home.

LoPresti, 59, of Watervliet, Mich., applied in January for a security job at the casino. Since losing his job as a public works employee for the city of Coloma in 2004, he has been cleaning cars, mowing lawns and plowing snow to get by.

LoPresti, who lives with and cares for his 86-year-old mother, said he has lost his house and his car. He's driving a car that belongs to his son.

The former police officer said he has applied for 10 to 12 jobs since his last one ended. “There's not a lot of jobs out there for my experience,” he said, adding that he thinks his age works against him.

Terry, 37, also wants to get a security job at the casino. The Benton Harbor resident said he has about 10 years of experience in security work, including the Cook Nuclear Plant and Elkhart (Ind.) General Hospital. The native of Tunica, Miss., also has worked at the casino in Tunica, but in housekeeping.

Since December he has been driving about an hour each way to work at George Weston Bakeries Inc. in Elkhart.

“Right now I make $10 (an hour),” said Terry, who has a wife, Sheila, and four daughters, ages 14-17, at home.

Even if he got the same pay at the casino, he said, he figures he would save $160 a month on gasoline because of the shorter commute, plus he would have more time to spend at home with his family.

Mroczka, 52, has been doing odd jobs since moving to Dowagiac in 1998 to care for his mother after his father died.

Before then he worked as an electronics technician for Lowrey Organ Co. in Chicago, so figures his skills would be of use at the casino fixing slot machines.

“I have no health insurance,” Mroczka said. “I'll take anything just to get my foot in the door and work my way up.”

In contrast to people seeking full-time jobs at the casino, Hines and Olson want to work there part-time.

Hines, 49, has been a grocery store cashier for almost 20 years. The Benton Township resident, who works Monday through Friday, is interested in a weekend job at the casino. “All my (three) kids are grown. I raised them by myself. My house is in bad need of repair, so I need some extra bucks to fix my house up,” Hines said of her desire for part-time work at the casino.

Olson, who lives in St. Joseph Township, retired 10 years ago after working 15 years at the now-defunct Wollin Products near Stevensville. “I've got to do something or I'll go nuts,” said the 74-year-old widow and great-grandmother.

“I like the excitement of casinos,” Olson said. “I thought that would be a nice place to work. I don't know what my chances are, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to call and apply and see what happens. I just figure there are lots of jobs I can do. I can work in a coat room or whatever.”

Michael Eliasohn is a reporter for the Herald-Palladium in St. Joseph, Mich.

[Max Main]

I wonder what will happen--if anything--to blue chip when the new joint opens up.