LAUREN WOOD | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Brad Kerry with Modern Gaming installs a Whales of Cash slot machine Wednesday afternoon on the main floor of the Magnolia Bluffs Casino. The casino opens to the public on Tuesday.

Hitting the jackpot: Magnolia Bluffs Casino will add jobs, money to economy

Published 12:05am Sunday, December 16, 2012

NATCHEZ — With 265 employees, $7 million in payroll and a promise to be a community partner, Magnolia Bluffs Casino says it will deliver on its promise of economic impact for the area.Philip

Local contractors and city government have been feeling the benefits for months, but with Tuesday’s planned opening, round two of impacts can begin and long-term effects will start to be measured.

The casino has spent the last few months and weeks ramping up to full staff, and casino President Kevin Preston said approximately 75 percent of the total 265 employees are local residents.

LAUREN WOOD | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — Adam Boterf works on installing booths in the Cypress Mill restaurant Wednesday afternoon at the Magnolia Bluffs Casino.

Adding 265 new jobs for county residents to the local workforce could feasibly drop Adams County’s unemployment rate from 8.4 percent to 6.4 percent, but that’s likely not realistic math, said Mary Willoughby, the Mississippi Department of Employment Security’s chief of labor market information.

It is too early to tell exactly how the casino’s opening will affect Adams County’s employment rate because of several variables, she said. Those variables include whether positions left open by people leaving a job to work at the casino are filled and whether all 265 jobs went to Adams County residents or residents of neighboring counties or parishes.

The unemployment rate is calculated by the number of Adams County residents who are employed, not the number of jobs in Adams County, Willoughby said.

But for the local residents who did get full-time jobs at the casino, a steady check and health benefits are ensured, Preston said.

In addition to the added jobs for residents, Mayor Butch Brown said he believes the casino’s opening will continue to benefit the city and help fund city operations.

In addition to gaming taxes, the city will receive $1 million in annual lease payments. The city has been receiving $50,000 monthly payments since March 1 credited toward the first $1 million rent payment due by the opening of the casino.

Brown said the $1 million will likely go into the city’s general fund and be used where it is needed. He said, though, the city may put it in a separate account.

According to the casino’s lease with the city, it will also contribute $225,000 annually to a community development fund beginning one year after the casino opens.

With construction work done and only final touches remaining, the work of local contractors is winding to a close, but the extra business was appreciated, said Hayden Kaiser III of Jordan, Kaiser & Sessions, a civil engineering firm based in Natchez that worked on the casino’s construction.

“I’ve really been working on it for the past five years, but especially in the last year or two when the economy has been down,” he said. “It has had a tremendous effect. I know they helped us out and a lot of other contractors.”

And other Natchez businesses are ready and waiting for their piece of the casino pie.

Warren Reuther of New Orleans Hotel Consultants, the company that manages the Natchez Grand Hotel, said it is difficult to predict now how the casino’s opening will affect the hotel’s occupancy rates.

“I hope it will have a positive effect,” he said.

Reuther said he plans to meet with the casino’s marketing team this week and discuss potential partnerships between the casino and the hotel. Reuther said package deals for the casino and the hotel may be considered.

But Natchez Eola Hotel accountant Patti Jenkins said she does not believe the casino’s opening will affect business for the Eola.

“We have people who come stay and go to the boat, but that’s not necessarily why they visit Natchez,” she said.

Magnolia Bluffs Casino will be the second casino to open in Natchez. It has been in the planning and development stages for more than five years and, with Tuesday’s opening, its developers have succeeded where previous investment groups seeking to open a second Natchez casino have failed.

The largest unknown of all though, may be the impact the second casino could have on Natchez’s first casino, the Isle of Capri.

Isle of Capri Spokeswoman Jill Alexander said the company did not wish to comment on how it believed Magnolia Bluffs Casino’s opening would affect its own business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • Anonymous

    Only a buffon would believe this page of baloney.Where will the biggest portion of the casino profits go,out of state. If casinos helped so much what happened to the Isle of Capri,it,s steady cutting back on employee hours and benefits. Is this new casino going to be a miracle casino,with the taxpayers paychecks having bigger and bigger chunks taken out of it,and our economy crawling at a snails pace if not slowing up this year

  • Anonymous

    I really think you’re the “bufoon”… or as you put it , a “buffon” whatever that is. Thanks to everyone who had a hand in bringing this huge industry to Natchez. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

  • Anonymous

    If the city has been receiving $50,000 per month ($500,000 since March) why the need for a payday loan?

  • https://plus.google.com/101785462960818953428/posts Wilson Phillips

    Hold on a minute. The Isle has not cut back on hours this year. This is the first year since the recession that they have not had to do so. The economy had put a damper on a lot of things, but it seems to be easing up now. Things are improving.

    As far as benefits go, I have excellent insurance options to choose from and a 401K. The Isle of Capri has treated me very well and the thought of applying for a job at the new casino never crossed my mind. I have happily worked there for almost 14 years. I have to defend them against your comments.

  • Anonymous

    Because they spend it way before they get it.

  • Anonymous

    Because they spend it way before they get it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/ChickieBaby Alisha Wilson

    I guess you was lucky then. You might need to ask some of the other coworker,cause that’s not what I was told. If what u say is so true then why did all those people quit to work at the other boat.I am not the only one that has notice this.

  • https://plus.google.com/101785462960818953428/posts Wilson Phillips

    I am sorry, but you don’t work at the Isle, so you are going on hearsay. We did not lose nearly as many employees as was predicted. Some quit for promises that may or may not be fulfilled. Some left because they have always been unhappy and frankly, they won’t be happy over there either.

  • http://www.natchezdemocrat.com khakirat

    I feel this is going to be a great boost to the Miss-Lou area economy and both casinos will do fine and improve in time!! I’m happy for the ones that landed a job that had been out of a job and can bring resources to his family now that its Christmas!!

  • Anonymous

    I totally agree with Wilson on this one also. I’ve worked there for just over a year, and I have much better insurance than I had at 1/5 of the cost to me. They also have many other types of insurance and other programs available if you want to opt into it, including continuing education. There are also insurance options and PTO for part time workers, something that not many companies even offer. Ask some of your friends who work at Wal-Mart part time and see what they say about that.
    If anyone isn’t happy at the Isle of Capri, it’s their own fault. It is a service business and you do have a job to do, but that’s the nature of the business. If you don’t like your job at the Isle and you are just there for a check, you won’t like it at Magnolia Bluffs either.
    There have been some people leave for Magnolia Bluffs, but not in great numbers. The ones that did, probably are the type that I mentioned above. They won’t be happy there either.
    The Magnolia Bluffs Casino is the new kid on the block. The grass looks greener over there to someone who has worked the same job for years with no complaints. It’s a change, but again I have to agree with Wilson: It’s a change that I never considered either.

  • Anonymous

    It will be interesting to revisit these comments in a year or so. Personally, I don’t think that the market- which has not grown as anticipated- will not be able to support 2 casinos. One will fold, I believe. I keep thinking; if people are not flocking into Natchez to go to one casino, what will be the allure of 2 casinos? Okay…maybe you get to lose money in 2 places instead of 1. Nice.
    A friend, who worked for many a year on the casino, told me once how to walk off the boat with a MILLION DOLLARS!!! Guaranteed!! HOW!! Simple; you walk ON with 5 million dollars.
    Poor get poorer.

  • Anonymous

    Marketing of each casino will likely be the secret to success. Marketing to a wide area will expose their existence to those outside the immediate area. Problem may be the lack of big name entertainment venues much like other areas, maybe the River City Music Hall will become a reality and solve that issue. My spouse and I occasionally travel to other cities for that purpose and the buffets, we are not big gamblers, and still near broke!

  • Anonymous

    Easy, budget income of $50K/month and expenses of $75K/month. It is called balancing the budget hereabouts.

  • Eggplant

    is dis new casio cash checks from de gubment???

  • Anonymous

    People in Jackson (61N) go to Vicksburg to gamble. North of Jackson, they go to Tunica ot Vicksburg, depending on distance. People in Baton Rouge (61N) gamble there. People in Hattiesburg (US84) go to the coast. Every population center in the state has a closer, easier accessed location to gamble than Natchez.

    I may be wrong, and hope I am, but I do not see the market as outside the immediate area.

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