Indian casinos dealing jobs

Their main product is money -- and they keep most of that -- but Indian casinos in the Sacramento region also are producing something few other enterprises are these days: jobs.
At Jackson Rancheria, they're looking for a cage cashier. Thunder Valley could use an accountant. Cache Creek needs a bingo caller.

In fact, the three tribal casinos closest to the Sacramento metropolitan area plan to fill nearly 1,300 new jobs in the next six months.

"The gaming industry stands out as one industry that is doing very well when other industries are suffering," said David Lyons, a labor market consultant with the state Employment Development Department, "particularly in less urban areas, where there are few jobs of any kind being created."

Job creation by Indian casinos was part of the counterattack tribes used against Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger during the recall campaign. Schwarzenegger criticized casino tribes for not contributing enough to the state's economic well-being because they pay no taxes on their profits to the state.

Indian leaders countered that putting people to work should count for something.

"It's clear to see that tribal governments are contributing to jobs and prosperity to the state of California at a time it is needed the most," Brenda Souilliere, chairwoman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, said in a written statement before the election.

"Tribes are proud of what they are providing in the way of jobs and economic development ... and without a dime of taxpayers' money."

State employment figures show that through September, California's tribal governments employed 41,400 workers, about 90 percent of them non-Indians.

While the overall nonfarm job market in the state actually dropped by 0.2 percent over the past year, employment by the tribes increased 16 percent, virtually the only double-digit employment increase of any enterprise in California.

Those figures likely will continue to grow as the number of Indian casinos expands, and as existing casinos get bigger to match the competition.

At the Jackson Rancheria Casino in Amador County, the Jackson Rancheria Band of Miwuk Indians is completing expansion of its hotel and dining areas, and by the end of the year is expected to add about 100 jobs to its current payroll of 1,600.

The Thunder Valley Casino in Placer County, opened in June by the United Auburn Indian Community, expects to have 2,200 employees by the end of November. That would be about 400 -- or 18 percent -- more employees than it had when it opened. The casino's current annual payroll is estimated at $44.5 million.

"What we've found is that there are a lot of people who have multiple jobs," said tribal spokesman Doug Elmets. "For example, we have schoolteachers who work at night or during the summer.

"The hours are flexible enough -- we're the only entertainment venue in the area that's open 24 hours a day. ... People who need more than one job can work there."

At the Cache Creek Indian Bingo and Casino in Yolo County, which already employs about 1,650 people, 800 new jobs will be filled as the Rumsey Band of Wintun Indians turn the site they opened as a bingo hall in 1985 into a full-fledged resort.

When finished next spring, the complex will include a 200-room hotel; a bingo hall that doubles as a venue for concerts and box-ing; a 600-seat "entertainment venue" featuring a three-level night club and Las Vegas-style floor show; a spa; eight restaurants; and a casino nearly double the size of the current one. Eventually, it also will have an 18-hole golf course.

"We're adding a lot of bells and whistles," said A.C. Hopper, head of marketing at Cache Creek. "Thunder Valley is obviously a very impressive property. And we've been told that our property will meet or exceed it, and we'd be delighted to do that."

Hopper said the casino has established a toll-free hotline for applicants and will open a hiring office on Del Paso Road in Sacramento on Nov. 3.

Economic analysts note that service-sector jobs such as those created by casinos don't fully take the place of jobs in industries such as manufacturing or communications technology.

For example, said the Employment Development Department's Lyons, a job at a company such as Intel might have a "multiplier effect" that creates two to three other jobs in the community in industries that supply products or services to the manufacturer or its employees. A casino or other "hospitality sector" job, on the other hand, might create only one other job.

"But in rural areas, where the Indian gaming is mostly located, they can still have a significant effect on the local economy," he said.

In Yolo County, Cache Creek is already the largest private employer, and will be second overall only to the University of California, Davis, by next spring. Thunder Valley trails only Hewlett-Packard Co. among Placer County's private employers, and Jackson Rancheria is the largest private employer in Amador County.

Although most casino jobs offer relatively modest wages, tribe representatives are quick to point out they also offer a host of employee benefits, including 401(k) plans and medical, dental and vision plans.

But some casino workers say privately that discipline and dismissals can be doled out arbitrarily.

"The one complaint I hear the most, after the lack of health benefits for families, is lack of respect by employers," said Jack Gribbon, state political director for the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union. "That's not endemic to the Indian gaming industry, it's throughout the casino industry."

Gribbon said he thinks the union, which already has a contract at Cache Creek, will reach an agreement with the Thunder Valley casino because the labor group helped the Auburn tribe when it negotiated with the state for its casino compact.

"We were around," he noted wryly, "before it was a growth industry."