Tuesday afternoon was the groundbreaking for Danville’s Golden Nugget Casino, and Tuesday evening the Danville City Council heard a more detailed summary of all the plans, as we head towards the scheduled March of 2023 opening. Juris Basens from Wilmorite Management Group will be serving as the general manager of Golden Nugget Danville. One of the items he mentioned was their planned partnership with Danville Area Community College for the training of casino employees. Basens told us afterwards that previous casino-community college relationships that he’s been part of have worked out very well.
While waiting for the Golden Nugget Danville Casino to be completed, DACC President Dr. Stephen Nacco (middle picture, far right) and his staff will be preparing corporate training for casino employees.
AUDIO: An example is Atlantic Community College in New Jersey; has been in that business since the 1980s when I worked in Atlantic City. And different places in Louisiana and Mississippi where I’ve opened casinos. We’ve been very successful partnering with local community colleges.
DACC president Dr. Stephen Nacco credited Danville mayor Rickey Williams, Jr for getting DACC’s involvement into the contract. Golden Nugget Danville will be making an annual donation of $50,000 to help defray the cost of the training. And as Dr. Nacco points out, this will not only be training employees to work on a casino floor. Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management are a big part of this too.
AUDIO: It’s perfect for them, as they understood that to be in a community with a community college; it’s a mile away, it’s ready to help them however they need it. But we’re also nimble enough to make other changes as needed. DACC is ramping up its program from Culinary into more of a degree that will transfer to a Bachelor’s degree in Restaurant Management and Hospitality.
Also reemphasized by Basens were Golden Nugget Danville’s plans for initial payments of one million dollars to the Danville Riverfront project, the Boys and Girls Club, and municipal improvements. He also mentioned commitments that hired employees will be 75 percent local, 30 percent minorities, 40 percent women, and five percent Veterans. He stated that Golden Nugget Danville will soon have a physical business presence in town while construction is going on, as well as its own website. Basens also mentioned that a very attractive sports bar is planned, but as of yet, that sports bar does not have a name.
