Job fair should ease Ormsby House employees to new jobs

Ormsby House employees today have the pick of jobs available at seven casinos and an assortment of businesses that have set up booths at a job fair in the hotel/casino.

Valley and Lake Tahoe casinos are in the market for some of the 230 Ormsby House employees who were notified Sept. 21 they will be laid off by Nov. 25 when Carson City's largest hotel/casino shuts down for major renovations.

Caesars Tahoe, Harvey's, Harrah's and the Hyatt Lake Tahoe all signed up for the job fair as have the Pinon Plaza, Slotworld and the Carson Valley Inn.

They are among 25 employers at the job fair, which also includes employers seeking workers for a bowling alley, a children's home, 7-Eleven, temporary job agencies and the Incline Village General Improvement District.

The Hardman House Motor Inn hopes to hire three or four housekeepers and a front desk person at the job fair, general partner Doug Davidson said.

"We want to see what caliber of employees are available at the job fair," Davidson said. "This allows us to take a look at a lot of people in a short period of time."

The job fair was organized by the state Employment Security Division's Rapid Response team, which specializes in providing job-finding services when mass layoffs are announced.

The team was on hand Sept. 21 when the Ormsby House owners gave 60 days notice that they would shut down the hotel/casino, in accordance with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

"We go in and help employers and workers have a smoother transition," said Karren Rhodes, spokeswoman for the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. "We can get people back to work faster when we do this."

Rapid Response does career counseling, proficiency testing, job placement, job search workshops and other job related services.

Rhodes said her department knows of at least 1,000 job openings in the Reno-Carson-Douglas corridor.

"The indications are that employees are going to come out of the job fair very happy," Rhodes said. "If they have the skills needed by any of these 25 employers, they have and incredibly good chance of getting hired."

The Ormsby House will keep a skeleton staff of maintenance and security people once the hotel/casino shuts down. It will be closed for an estimated nine months for renovations that will significantly upgrade the property, owners Al Fiegehen and Don Lehr said.

Cashell said it has not been determined how many people will keep their jobs, but some employees have already quit.

"We have a few who've already found jobs," Cashell said.

The following businesses and job service agencies are looking for employees today at the job fair at the Ormsby House:

Jackson Food Stores

Job Opportunities in Nevada (JOIN)

Carson Lanes

Incline Village General Improvement District

Pinon Plaza

Manpower

Harrah's

Kelly Services

Enterprise Rent-a-Car

Carson City Beauty Academy

Hyatt Lake Tahoe

Snap-on Tools

Homemakers

Westaff

Blue Ribbon Personnel Services

Eagle Valley Children's Home

7-Eleven North Carson

Warehouse Demo Services

Wal-Mart

Caesars Tahoe

Carson Valley Inn

Target

Slotworld

Harvey's

Hardman House