Thousands show up for Legends center job fair

SPARKS " They came by the thousands, in suits and shorts, T-shirts and ties, with backpacks and briefcases, all looking for the same thing.

"Work, same as everybody else," said Brendan Jacobs, 34, as he waited in line Thursday at a job fair at a Sparks hotel-casino. "Just a paycheck."

Jacobs was among the estimated 3,000 who had turned out by noon " some with young children in tow " in search of one of the 700 jobs expected to be available when the $1.2 billion Legends at Sparks Marina shopping and entertainment center begins to open this summer.

Sponsors said they expected two to three times that number by the time the event was to end at 7 p.m. in a state where unemployment climbed to 10.4 percent in March, the highest in a quarter century.

Job offerings at the new development just east of Reno on U.S. Interstate 80 range from sales clerks and managers to waitresses and security guards. Most of the applicants on Thursday said they weren't picky.

"Just a job," said Brad Miller, 23, who has worked in retail and warehouses.

"Anything right now," said Carrie Gillespie, 22, whose experience is mostly in retail.

"Just something to pay the rent," added James Cuevas, 22, who also has worked in retail and warehouses.

The trio got in line 90 minutes before the 11 a.m. fair began at John Ascuaga's Nugget, just across the street from where the Silver Club hotel-casino closed after 30 years of business due to the economic downturn.

Security guards said the line started to form at 6 a.m., snaking hundreds of yards around the two hotel towers and parking garage.

"It's better than seeing a bread line," said John Ascuaga, 83, the son of Basque immigrants who opened the Nugget Steak House in 1955 and owns the hotel-casino.

"It just shows you that people want to work," he said as he mingled with job applicants. "I'm really impressed with the caliber of people looking for work."

Future businesses at the shopping center manned tables where they handed out applications and accepted resumes. They included Guess Factory Store, GAP Outlet, Best Buy, Ann Taylor, Adidas, Bose Factory Store and the Fuddruckers hamburger chain.

Nevada JobConnect, a state employment assistance agency, also was on hand.

"This is a big thing, a good thing, a breath of fresh air," said John Parel, a business service representative for the agency.

"You're going to find all sorts of jobs here," he said. "Most of the people here are unemployed, or if not unemployed, underemployed."

Kathie Holbrook, manager of the Nevada JobConnect center in Reno, said they were hoping to locate people who might be eligible for the agency's re-employment services.

"This is a great opportunity," she said, adding that job fair sponsors were projecting anywhere from 7,000 to 10,000 people would turn out over the course of the day. "At first we thought that might be high, but the reports I'm hearing now are that it is doable."

The Legends at Sparks Marina being built by the Kansas City, Mo.-based RED Development LLC is expected to attract 600,000 to 800,000 people to the region annually with an economic impact of $415 million a year for the next 20 years.

A total of 4,400 jobs are expected to be created by the time the project is completed over the next two years.

The site is anchored by the Scheels mega sporting goods store, which opened in September. Target and Best Buy also have opened in recent months.

Legends at Sparks Marina: www.ExperienceLegends.com