Property will close through mid-November for renovations??
A total of 271 employees of the River Palms Resort Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, will be laid off over a two-week period beginning September 3, reported the Mohave Valley News. A federally mandated “notice of mass termination” was recently sent to the Laughlin Town Advisory Board, the Clark County Board of Commissioners and the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, the News reported.??
The River Palms was formerly owned by Columbia Properties Laughlin and CP Laughlin Realty. It was purchased by Nevada Restaurant Services and Laughlin Hotel LLC on July 1 for $6.75 million.??“
All hotel and casino operations will be shut down on or before the expiration of the lease,” said Lance Millage, executive vice president and CFO of Tropicana Entertainment. “The affected employees do not have bumping rights and are not represented by a union.”
??Millage added that the new owners, at their discretion, “may choose to communicate with some or even a majority of the employees prior to the expiration of the lease to discuss future job opportunities.
”??Steve Des Champs of Nevada Restaurant Services, who has been named general manager of the property, told the Laughlin Nevada Times that all River Palms employees will be invited “to a series of job fairs” where they can apply for their old jobs or higher-level jobs.??“
What companies often find is staff people who are great employees but who have never had the opportunity to elevate to a management position,” Des Champs said and added that most if not all of the current management employees will be moving over to the Tropicana Laughlin, formerly the River Palms’ sister property.??
Nevada Restaurant Services owns the Dotty’s chain of slot taverns. It will renovate its new property before reopening it under a different name. Des Champs said the facility will be closed four to six weeks and could reopen November.??
“We’re the new kid on the block and we have a unique focus,” Des Champs said. “Our intent is to build on the local’s market. We want to grow the market and not take away from the other establishments. We hope we’re welcomed into the marketplace.”
