Cordish courting applicants for casino jobs at Arundel Mills 

Posted: 9:06 pm Thu, November 19, 2009
By Nicholas Sohr
Daily Record Business Writer

A Baltimore-based developer courted applicants for 4,000 jobs on Thursday — from butchers to bartenders, equity partners to concrete workers — for a proposed Anne Arundel County casino that has yet to receive state and local approvals.

Hundreds of job seekers milled among tables set up in the food court of the Arundel Mills shopping mall, just a short walk from the slots parlor’s would-be home in what is now a parking lot.

“We’ve got to be able to hit the ground running,” said Joseph Weinberg, principal and president of development at Cordish Cos., the company that proposed the casino. “We probably should have done this a couple months earlier.”

The fair came less than a month before the Anne Arundel County Council could vote on zoning legislation that would pave the way for the casino. At the Dec. 7 meeting, council could also act on a bill that would require the county’s single allotted gaming facility be built south of Route 32, which would rule out the Arundel Mills site.

A state commission has indicated it could approve the proposal before Dec. 7.

“We’re confident we’re going to be approved by Anne Arundel County,” Weinberg said.

While chatting with attendees, County Executive John R. Leopold said: “I remain cautiously optimistic that they’ll do the right thing. We’re talking over $500 million a year in revenue to the state, $30 million to the county. … In this down-turned economy, this has to get done.”

Cordish officials said they expect the $320 million project to create 2,500 construction jobs. The 200,000-square-foot Maryland Live! Casino would be staffed by about 1,500, according to the company.

Charles Hopkins, president and CEO of RMD Holdings, a retail and hotel developer, said he hoped to invest with Cordish in the casino and license.

“We’re not big enough to bid on this on our own, but as an MBE (a minority-owned business) in the gaming industry, we want to at least be a partner,” he said.

Contractors and job applicants filled out cards with their specialties and areas of interest. Cordish employees, wearing black shirts bearing the name of the casino in purple, handed out postcards addressed to council members, pushing the passage of favorable zoning legislation.

Jim Collins, of Chestertown, said he used to own a company that made material for kitchen and bathroom remodeling, but has been looking for work for about six months. Collins said he was interested in gaming operations.

“It seemed like a pretty good opportunity to start with a company from the ground up,” he said.

James Jernigan and his father, co-owners of Hanover-based Jernigan Concrete Pumping Inc., are hoping to snag a construction contract. Their company recently cut 20 workers who used to lay concrete for pools, Jernigan said.

“They used to do two pools a day three or four years ago,” he said. “Now it’s pretty much the same sad story all the way around.”