Casino struggles shift Tunica's fortunes
Tunica, Miss., was the poorest county in the nation twenty years ago. That changed when casinos came to town and brought thousands of jobs. But the recession is hitting the casino business hard. Jeff Tyler reports.
Gold Strike Casino Resort, at 31 stories, is the second tallest building in Mississippi. (Jeff Tyler/Marketplace)
More on America's Financial Crisis
Links
Nail salon owner Dametra Adams was able to open her business without a loan using money saved from working as a cocktail waitress at a casino in Tunica County.
Lyn Arnold, president and CEO of the Tunica County Chamber of Commerce, poses in front of the Mississippi River.
Jenny Glasper, who was laid off after working 15 years for a casino.
Jerry Robinson, who was laid off as a casino groundskeeper and now works part-time at a convenience store.
Freddie Brandon with Catholic Charities.
TEXT OF STORY
Tess Vigeland: Twenty years ago, Tunica, Miss., was the poorest county in the nation. What few job opportunities there were existed mostly on cotton plantations. That all changed in the early 90s when the casino business came to town. Now Tunica is one of the most popular gambling destinations in the country. Just behind Vegas and Atlantic City. And the standard of living for its mostly poor and African American residents has improved dramatically. But the recession is hitting the casino business hard and threatening those advances. Marketplace's Jeff Tyler looks at shifting fortunes in the Mississippi Delta.
JEFF TYLER: Two months ago, Dametra Adams opened a nail salon. Adams had spent 10 years working as a casino cocktail waitress.
Tyler: Were you able to save any money?
DAMETRA Adams: Oh, of course. This is how I bought my business. And bought everything here. I didn't have to get a loan or anything.
She's a success story; someone who used her casino job as a springboard to launch her own business. But it may not be so easy for those coming up behind her. Thanks to the recession, fewer people are coming to the casinos. Lyn Arnold -- president of the Tunica County Chamber of Commerce -- says the casinos have been cutting their workforce.
LYN Arnold: Most of the positions that have been eliminated have been through attrition. Just recently have they had to turn to actual layoffs of employees.
She says the unemployment rate for the county is about 16 percent. That figure could drop as the agriculture industry, a big employer, begins hiring seasonal workers.
The Delta is the birthplace of the blues, the music captures the hardship of life along the Mississippi River. In Tunica County, generations of African-American sharecroppers picked cotton for next to nothing. Agriculture was about the only option for low-skilled workers.
Today, 10,000 people live in the county. Most are African-American. Their prospects have improved considerably since the casinos opened in 1992.
Set just inland from the Mississippi River, the casinos tower above the flat farmland. The state wanted them as a source of revenue. The gaming industry liked the location, about a half-hour south of Memphis and midway between Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
About 12,000 people work at the county's nine casinos. Lyn Arnold with the Chamber of Commerce says the industry gave people the rare chance to get ahead.
Arnold: Casinos have paid very good wages. They have supplied benefits. And they train from within and promote from within. It allowed people not only to get in on an entry-level job, but to also have the ability to advance.
That opportunity draws workers from rural counties where there are virtually no jobs. Some travel more than a 100 miles to get to work. For several years, 38-year-old Jenny Glasper drove an hour each way to her job counting money at the casino.
JENNY Glasper: That was a great job opportunity, even though it was a little drive. It was worth it. Because it was more than minimum wage, and there was no job opportunity right next door.
After 15 years on the job, Glasper could afford to buy a four-bedroom house in the Memphis suburbs. But the casinos giveth, and the casinos taketh away. Weeks after moving into her new house, Glasper became one of several hundred employees who were laid off.
Glasper: I have no idea how I'm going to continue to pay my mortgage here.
Forty-nine-year-old Jerry Robinson lost his job as a casino groundskeeper in October. Now he works part-time at a convenience store.
JERRY Robinson: I applied for jobs at the casinos, but they weren't doin' no hirin'. I applied for jobs on the farms, but they ain't doin' nothin' right now.
In fact, the tractors are back in the fields. But modern machines do the work that used to be done by laborers. Making matters worse, many farmers have changed crops from cotton to corn, which also requires fewer workers. So people like Jerry often can't go back to the old ways, even if they want to. And there's another challenge to finding work.
The casinos are full-scale resorts with food and entertainment. Often, big tourist destinations create an opportunity for small businesses on the fringe. The casinos have had the opposite effect. The guests here never need to leave. So few new businesses have been sprung up around the resorts.
Tunica County does benefit. Casinos contribute about $50 million a year in revenues. That helps support schools and county jobs. But some would like to see more economic diversity. Freddie Brandon works with Catholic Charities.
FREDDIE Brandon: You have quite a few, what you call minimum-wage jobs around. Such as McDonald's and Waffle House, and things like that. But that's mostly for teenagers, people that's living with their parents. A family can't live off minimum wage.
He says Tunica needs other industries. Warehousing and manufacturing companies are considering moving to the area. And the casinos will recover along with the economy. Tunica's economic progress won't be erased. But for now, people seeking good jobs may need to leave the county to find them.
In Tunica, I'm Jeff Tyler for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
07/03/2009
You are so right! We just returned from a 3 day stay in Tunica and will not go back. No incentives, rude employees who act like they are doing you a favor by letting you stay at their hotels, super stingy slots. We didn't win....never even got ahead for a few spins, but we didn't see anyone else winning either. You would think that with the economy the way it is, these casinos would be bending over backwards to draw visitors and be cordial enough to them that they'd want to return. Nope. The attitude seemed to be, "We got your money. See ya." Everyone can have a bad day, but seems to be a widespread, day-to-day problem with casino and hotel workers in Tunica.
From FL, 06/10/2009
I WAS planning a trip to the Tunica casinos in a couple of months, but after trying to find any coupons, hotel disounts, and interesting "perks" to give me the incentive to come, I've decided against it.
I found a message board about Tunica casinos and the "gripe" from many people was the lack of incentives .. more than a few called the Tunica casinos tight and stingy.
Perhaps now that the casinos there are feeling the economy crunch .. maybe they will get wise and start offering people some discounts and freebies to encourage out of state tourists like me to get excited about visiting there (instead of Vegas).
After all, good business is ALL about advertising and pleasing the customer, right? It seems Tunica casinos have yet to learn that ..
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.