Casino sees more job-seekers than unemployed

OXFORD — The website that Black Bear Entertainment (BBE) set up to establish contact with would-be casino workers and business partners has been flooded with statements of interest.

In fact, there have been more people indicating an interest than there are unemployed people in Oxford County.

"We've been overwhelmed," said Scott Smith, the community development director for BBE. "There have been about 4,100 responses. At one point, I figured it out to be about one every five minutes."

That means that there have been nearly two responses for every unemployed person in Oxford County, a number that shrank to 2,340 in September 2010, according to Maine Department of Labor figures.

The website, mainecasino.com, gives visitors a chance to indicate interest in three different areas, including "keep me updated on progress," "keep me updated on job opportunities," and "keep me updated on B2B opportunities," with the latter referring to business partners, such as vendors and suppliers.

In other casino news, Oxford Town Manager Michael Chammings told the state's Gambling Control Board that the town is ready to host the casino.

"Oxford is ready to go," said Chammings. "We've looked at all impacts possible."

Peter Martin, government relations adviser for BBE, told the board that a gaming partner announcement was forthcoming.

"We hope to name a gaming partner as soon as humanly possible," he said. "We're in the final discussions with gaming companies right now. It's been an ongoing process for many months."

Recount looms

All of the planning surrounding the project would be brought to an abrupt halt, if a  recount were to unexpectedly overturn the initial results of the election.

"We look to begin the recount in earnest on December 2," said Martin. "We have tentatively agreed with the opposition to count the five largest Maine communities first, Portland, Bangor, Lewiston, [South Portland, and Auburn] what have you."

"At the end of those counts, if there is not a material change, we'll look to the opposition and they have the ability to withdraw at that point," said Martin. "If they want to continue, the tentative agreement is to then go to the next five largest communities and so on down the line."

Martin said that a full recount would take much longer than a partial one.

"This could get wrapped up in as quick as a week, or it could take upwards of 30 days or more," said Martin. "If they want to force a recount all 500 some-odd communities, that's certainly their right and we understand that."