Thousands at job fair for Legends at Sparks Marina
05-08-2009
By SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press Writer
SPARKS, Nev. (AP) _ They came by the thousands, in suits and shorts, T-shirts and ties, with backpacks and briefcases, all looking for the same thing.
``Work, same as everybody else,'' said Brendan Jacobs, 34, as he waited in line Thursday at a job fair at a Sparks hotel-casino. ``Just a paycheck.''
Jacobs was among the estimated 3,000 who had turned out by noon _ some with young children in tow _ in search of one of the 700 jobs expected to be available when the $1.2 billion Legends at Sparks Marina shopping and entertainment center begins to open this summer.
Sponsors said they expected two to three times that number by the time the event was to end at 7 p.m. in a state where unemployment climbed to 10.4 percent in March, the highest in a quarter century.
Job offerings at the new development just east of Reno on U.S. Interstate 80 range from sales clerks and managers to waitresses and security guards. Most of the applicants on Thursday said they weren't picky.
``Just a job,'' said Brad Miller, 23, who has worked in retail and warehouses.
``Anything right now,'' said Carrie Gillespie, 22, whose experience is mostly in retail.
``Just something to pay the rent,'' added James Cuevas, 22, who also has worked in retail and warehouses.
The trio got in line 90 minutes before the 11 a.m. fair began at John Ascuaga's Nugget, just across the street from where the Silver Club hotel-casino closed after 30 years of business due to the economic downturn.
Security guards said the line started to form at 6 a.m., snaking hundreds of yards around the two hotel towers and parking garage.
``It's better than seeing a bread line,'' said John Ascuaga, 83, the son of Basque immigrants who opened the Nugget Steak House in 1955 and owns the hotel-casino.
``It just shows you that people want to work,'' he said as he mingled with job applicants. ``I'm really impressed with the caliber of people looking for work.''
Future businesses at the shopping center manned
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