Published: November 21, 2008 11:56 pm      

Mountaineer Casino lays off 93

CHESTER — The number of unemployed West Virginians keeps growing: Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort announced Friday it is laying off 93 workers, or 4 percent of its work force.

That will leave MTR Gaming Group Inc. with 2,076 employees at its Northern Panhandle casino, said track spokeswoman Tamara Pettit. The cuts affect “nonessential personnel” like maintenance workers and carpenters.

MTR had raised the prospect of layoffs last month during a conference call on its third-quarter financial performance, which included a double-digit gain in overall revenues but a loss of $8.2 million.

Revenues at Mountaineer were up 15 percent, with table games generating $13.2 million. Slot play, however, fell by $4.2 million. MTR blames the drop on slot parlor competition from Pennsylvania, as well as high gas prices that cut down on travel and a lousy economy in which gamblers are holding tighter to their wallets.

MTR Chief Executive Bob Griffin said Mountaineer must reduce overhead by $2 million to remain competitive.

“As the largest employer in Hancock County it’s vital that we act to ensure that Mountaineer is profitable and that we continue to provide jobs for residents and revenue to our county and the state of West Virginia,” said Griffin, who replaced Ted Arneault on Nov. 1.

MTR also owns Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Erie, Pa., and owns or has interests in tracks in Ohio, Michigan and Minnesota.

Word of the layoffs follows similar manufacturing job cuts in other parts of the state.

This week, Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Buffalo announced it would eliminate 120 temporary workers by the end of January to cope with weak auto sales, while Bayer MaterialSciences in New Martinsville plans to cut 70 jobs, or 17 percent of its work force.

Workforce West Virginia reported earlier this month that the state’s unemployment rate increased three-tenths of a percentage point to 4 percent in October. Unemployment in Hancock County, where the track is located, was 5 percent last month.

Employment growth in the state’s leisure and hospitality sector is expected to slow with the overall economy in 2009, according to the annual forecast issued Tuesday by West Virginia University.

The sector is expected to add jobs on average over the coming five years, but the forecast shows growth slowing considerably next year.