Friday, Mar. 05, 2010

New casino sailing into Grand Strand

A new casino boat is coming to Little River and could set sail within a month, bringing about 200 jobs and additional revenue to Horry County, officials say.

The casino boat will replace a SunCruz boat that abruptly stopped sailing Dec. 15, shortly before its owner, Oceans Casino Cruises, filed for bankruptcy.

"We believe that the casinos are an amenity for our area, something for the tourists to do," said Horry County Councilman Harold Worley, who added he is happy to see a boat return to the area.

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  A new casino boat arrived in Little River on Friday, bringing a second boat to the area for the first time since December.

  The boat will temporarily keep the SunCruz name and will run out of the same office as the previous operator, said owner Bob Weisberg, of Highland Park Real Estate Development.

  "We want to have the boat operational by May 1, but it will probably be the middle to the end of the first week in May before it has the first passengers," said Tom Herron, a public relations consultant for the company.

• Hundreds bet on casino boat jobs

  Hundreds bet on casino boat jobs

  The parking lot was full Thursday at the former SunCruz building in Little River, where hundreds turned out to apply for jobs with the new casino boat coming to the area. The new boat's owners say they want the positions to be filled by the time the cruise starts sailing next month.

  "It provides jobs for several hundred people. It is a tremendous boom for the local businesses in the Little River area not counting the casino boat's own business," said John Weaver, the interim Horry County administrator.

  The Coastal Workforce Center organized the job fair and will narrow down the list of applicants for each position based on skill level. A second job fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 6p.m. Tuesday at 4465 Mineloa Ave. in Little River, and applications are also available at the workforce centers in Conway, Myrtle Beach and Georgetown.

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  Tourists and locals alike line up to board casino boats as fishermen haul in their catch on the Little River waterfront, marrying two unlikely industries along one stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway.

  SunCruz casino and The Big "M" Casino, the county's two casino boats, operate from piers about a block away from each other in Little River. They attract visitors interested in a hand of poker, a chance at a slot machine and a cruise on the ocean.

  In addition to serving as a tourism draw, the boats have brought jobs and more than $3 million in boarding fees to the county's coffers.

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  Hundreds apply for jobs on casino boat at job fair; Ship expected to sail soon

  The line stretched through the parking lot at the former SunCruz building as hundreds of people applied for a job with the new casino boat coming to Little River.

  By midday employees of the Coastal Workforce Center, who were running the job fair for the casino boat owners, had signed in more than 400 applicants for about 200 jobs.

  The new owners Robert Weisberg and Spiro Naos, who are backed by other unnamed investors, were on hand and said they are excited to bring a new boat to the area and provide jobs to the community.

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  New casino boat, same fee deal for Horry County

  Horry County officials are hopeful that the Aquasino casino boat, scheduled to start business in the coming weeks, will bring back about $1 million in revenue to the county's ailing budget.

  County Administrator John Weaver told the Horry County Council Administration Committee the per-passenger fee agreement that existed with the SunCruz casinos before the company declared bankruptcy and left for Florida would apply to the new company. Weaver said the new boat, the Aquasino, owned by former partners in the SunCruz operation, will pay a $7-per-passenger fee in lieu of taxes for five years and then the county can charge up to $3 per customer for five years after that before a new contract would need to be negotiated.

  "The boat is on the way up here. It will be here next week. I don't know how much training they have to do, but they are coming back with a single-boat operation rather than a multiboat operation," Weaver said.

Robert Weisberg, who leads the company that is bringing the new boat to the area, said he sees the move as a good opportunity.

"This location has always been a great location and it's not affected by the problems of the Florida gaming market," he said. In Florida, increased land gambling opportunities have hurt the casino boat gaming industry.

Weisberg's company isworking to get a business license and has worked out an agreement with the county to pay fees owed by the SunCruz owners as a condition of operation, Worley said.

The SunCruz ship owed the county $100,000 for October fees and an unknown amount for November fees. Casino ships operating in Horry County are required to pay a $7 per passenger fee, which goes into a county public safety fund.

Weisberg, a former owner of the SunCruz boat, owns the marina and building that Oceans Casino Cruises used to operate the SunCruz boat.

He said the company may choose to keep the name because it is a good brand and most customers won't care that the previous operating company had financial problems.

The new catamaran style boat holds about the same number of passengers, 600, as the SunCruz, and will feature all the table games the SunCruz ship did. The boat is currently in Florida undergoing some repairs but would soon join the sole casino ship currently operating from the marina, The Big "M", if everything goes as planned, said Tom Herron, a public relations consultant for the new company.

The company plans to hire about 200 people and has teamed with the Coastal Workforce Center, affiliated with the S.C. Employment Security Commission, to host several job fairs. The job fairs will take place at the former SunCruz building at 4495 Mineola Ave. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on March 11 and 16.

The company will be hiring a variety of positions from waiters to crew members, and salaries will range from minimum wage to over $50,000 a year, Herron said.

If job seekers can't make it to Little River, they also can apply at the Coastal Workforce center in Conway, Myrtle Beach or Georgetown.

"We're really excited to be bringing this thing back into town," Herron said. "It's not only a great employer ... but it also brings in a lot of tourists."

After a tough winter the added jobs will be welcome news and are sure to have a positive impact on the Grand Strand, Worley said.

While businesses at the marina haven't typically had a lot of business from the casino boats, some are hoping that will change, said Clayton Mishoe, the manager of Capt. Juel's Hurricane Restaurant.

"Hopefully the new boat will help us out a little bit and bring in more business to the area restaurants down here," he said.