Mayor announces local casino jobs memorandum

Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and the the office of employment development announced an approval of local jobs memorandum Wednesday in conjunction with the construction of the Caesars Horseshoe Casino in South Baltimore.

The memorandum is a requirement of a recently approved land disposition agreement to promote the hiring of Baltimore city residents to fill the new jobs created by the casino.

"When the city's casino officially begins construction, the biggest winners should be the many city residents who will receive job opportunities at Baltimore's newest attraction," said Mayor Rawlings-Blake. "Today's agreement between Caesars and the city puts in place a local hiring plan that will generate a significant benefit for residents and our communities."

Several key aspects of the MOU include:

· A community recruitment coordinator, funded by Caesars, will join MOED's Business Services Division to staff the casino's local hiring initiative. This position will leverage the resources of MOED's career centers and engage its broad network of workforce development, faith-based , and community-based partners to implement outreach workshops, provide training and preparation curricula, and develop easy access to the casino's application and hiring process for city residents. The coordinator will also aggressively market qualified city residents to Caesars' contractors and subcontractors.

· Caesars will give priority to city residents who are qualified to fill its open jobs and will especially seek candidates who demonstrate a strong knowledge of and familiarity with Baltimore City culture, lifestyle, and amenities.

· Caesars will comply with the provisions of the mayor's Employ Baltimore executive order and will direct its contractors and subcontractors to also comply with the requirements, which include meeting with MOED Business Services staff within 2 weeks of contract awards; providing MOED with workforce plans that describe the expected number of job openings, listings of job titles, and the related skills requirements; and posting new jobs with MOED's career centers for 7 days prior to publically advertising these jobs.
Caesars and its contractors and subcontractors will be required to submit workforce reports to MOED reflecting the number of casino project employees who are city residents. These reports will be submitted every six months for the life of the lease agreem