Job Seekers Wonder When Light At End Of Tunnel Will Appear
Last updated Saturday, October 4, 2008 6:22 PM CDT in News
By Charles Huggins
The Morning News
Related Photos
WEST SILOAM SPRINGS, Okla. -- Amidst historic job losses nationwide, federal bailouts of major financial institutions and an economy on the brink of implosion, James McDormand is banking on a job at Cherokee Casino.
McDormand has been out of work for the past three months and has been struggling to make ends meet for his wife and 2-year-old son in Westville, Okla. He woke up Saturday morning at the crack of dawn to go hunting for jobs, and ended his day at the casino’s job fair, set to soon open its expansion project that will create 500 new jobs starting at $9 an hour.
“I’ve worked all my life, hoss,” McDormand, 34, said between puffs on a cigarette, his burly frame standing outside the job fair awaiting word on his job interview. “The hardest part is finding labor work without a high school diploma or a GED. I’ve looked in Siloam Springs, Fayetteville, Springdale — they’re just real hard to come by.”
Tom Ketcher was waiting on an interview with Cherokee Casino and quickly realized he had more in common with McDormand than their place of residence.
“Good jobs are few and far between,” Ketcher, said, who at 53 has worn many hats including working as a truck driver, electrician and general handyman. For his job interview Saturday to work in sanitation services, Ketcher wore a camouflage Bass Masters hat.
Ketcher and McDormand began trading stories about the job market like two World War II veterans, well aware both locally and across the county, jobs were being eliminated by companies left and right.
“I’m fighting hard to find work. The scary thing is it could happen to anybody. Nobody’s safe,” McDormand said.
That’s why 650 job seekers attended the fair Friday and Saturday, applying for waitress, shuttle driver, bartender and cashier positions. Kasey Rogers, 19, lives in Tontitown and is desperate for a customer service job.
“I’m bad in credit card debt, and I need to get out of this hole,” Rogers said.
Bringing this many good jobs to the area will not only help out those struggling to find a job, it will boost the overall economic picture in the area, said Gary Weddell, general manager of Cherokee Casino.
“It’s a big deal for us to have starting pay above minimum wage,” Weddell said. “It’s going to have quite the benefit, pumping $25 million in payroll to the economy. Our whole goal is job creation and economic development.”
“Really, this is the best thing to happen to Siloam Springs and this whole area,” said Ketcher, whose wife Helen was also there seeking a part-time casino job. Helen works full-time for automotive supplier Gates Corp., one of the main Siloam Springs employers who recently announced the layoff of 50 workers.
In September alone, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently announced 159,000 jobs were lost. Since this first of the year, 760,000 pink slips have been handed out.
Add increasing costs for everything from gasoline and groceries to utilities and insurance premiums, and hard-working families are getting nervous.
“You make the best of what you have, but it’s tough everywhere,” Ketcher said, and McDormand went through the list of cuts to his family’s own budget. Spending money on entertainment is way down, dinners at restaurants with his wife and son rarely happen, and McDormand can’t always buy his son that toy he wants.
“It kills me. We’ve gone to the necessities: Utilities, roof and food,” McDormand said, squinting into the afternoon sun. “I just want (my son) to have a good life.”
Signs of hope for an upward economy still exist. The new casino jobs are a breath of fresh air for people looking for employment, and President Bush on Friday signed the $700 billion bailout bill.
“Economists say (the bailout) won’t work unless we use the money wisely in the market. The financial guys and politicians really put themselves in this situation,” Ketcher said.
Politicians need to put political rancor aside and listen to the American people, McDormand said, like conversations he has with his wife late at night in their bedroom, when they ask one another, “What are we going to do?”
At A Glance
Cherokee Casino Renovation Project
• Total cost of $87 million
• Expand to 200,000 square feet
• Phase 1 will be complete in November and includes gaming floor, seven bars with 240 people capacity, live entertainment, two restaurants and buffet
• Phase 2 includes a hotel with 142 rooms and will open in July 2009
• Phase 1 will create 400 jobs and Phase 2 will employ additional 100
Source: Cherokee Casino General Manager Gary Weddell
Reader Comments (6 comment(s))
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsibility of their authors. The Morning News does not review comments before their publication, nor do we guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by our comment policy. If you see a comment that violates our policy, please notify the web editor.
django wrote on Oct 5, 2008 10:28 AM:
Madison wrote on Oct 5, 2008 12:07 PM:
It's a shame that citizens of this country can't find work because of greedy companies either moving jobs out of this country, or hiring illegal aliens so they can make bigger profits.I think even the none citizens that are here legally should not be hired over a citizen.It's time they pack their bags,and their anchor babies,and head back to their home countries before they collapse ours. "
amazed wrote on Oct 5, 2008 1:00 PM:
recross1 wrote on Oct 6, 2008 9:16 AM:
recross1 wrote on Oct 6, 2008 9:21 AM:
Not already registered?
recross1 wrote on Oct 5, 2008 9:55 AM: