News for the week of February 1, 2012 For complete articles and additional news reports, please see the Perrysburg Messenger Journal.
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A worker connects the electricity for the slot machines that soon will be installed on the bases already in place.
Casino nears completion
By Beth Church
Still predicting a spring opening, Penn National Gaming officials gave tours of the Hollywood Casino Toledo under construction at Rossford’s border January 20 to members of the media.
“The project has come to fruition very, very quickly,” said Richard St. Jean of Perrysburg, casino general manager, who led the tours and answered questions along with Mike Galle of Perrysburg, assistant general manager.
Mr. St. Jean praised the work of general contractor Rudolph Libbe–“they are timely, on schedule and on budget.”
Exterior construction of the 290,000-square-feet facility, which includes a parking garage that has 2,450 spaces, is almost fully complete, he said.
Interior work is about 85 percent complete, and a certificate of occupancy is expected in mid-March.
The 24-hour gaming facility on Miami Street just west of I-75 will feature a 125,000-square-foot casino floor with 2,000 electronic gaming machines, plus 80 live poker tables, blackjack, roulette, craps and carnival style games.
There also will be four restaurants in the casino:
•Final Cut seafood and steakhouse, 130-seat fine dining with a 28-seat lounge overlooking the Maumee River;
•Epic Buffet with seating for 260;
•Skybox sports bar and grill, with seating for 173 and a 20-foot projection TV with a glass screen, visible from both sides;
•H Lounge, an 80-seat entertainment lounge with live acts seven nights per week, and
•Take 2 Grill for “grab and go” sandwiches, salads and desserts.
Perrysburg Twp. trustees approve creation of regional SWAT team
By Jane Maiolo
Perrysburg Township is joining forces with area law enforcement agencies to create a special response team in the region.
At the January 18 meeting, the trustees approved the establishment of a SWAT team after hearing a presentation from township patrol officer Joe Ball about the need for the unit.
SWAT teams were created in the late 1960s by the Los Angeles Police Department after experiencing sniper incidents and a rash of other violent crimes that were “out of the norm,” explained the officer.
SWAT teams are special trained and equipped units that respond to and manage critical situations while minimizing police and civil casualties, he said.
Since inception of the initial team, units have been established nationwide in response to need and large law enforcement agencies have formed their own SWAT teams while smaller agencies have pooled their resources, he continued.
Officer Ball proposed that the township form a Northern Wood Regional SWAT unit in conjunction with Lake Township, Northwood, Owens Community College and Walbridge. He said Rossford and several other area law enforcement agencies also have expressed an interest.
“A SWAT unit in this highly populated region of Wood County is not only an asset but a necessity for the purpose of facilitating a timely response to critical incidents,” he said.”
Local specialists offer predictions on loans, investing, area employment
By Beth Church
Like 50-degree temperatures in January, there are hints that the economic recession in northwest Ohio may be thawing soon.
Banks are waiting to lend money, while home prices and interest rates for loans are low, according to several local financial and economic specialists.
At a January meeting of the Technical Society of Toledo, a panel spoke about hiring and employment trends, commercial lending and stock market investment advice.
“The banking industry right now is flush with cash,” said Chuck Hoecherl, vice president of treasury management at First Federal Bank.
“Banks primarily make money off loans, and there’s a much larger supply– deposits–and no demand, so the price falls. A 30 year mortgage is below a 4 percent interest rate.
“In 1961, my dad took out a mortgage at 4.25 percent–it’s lower today than 50 years ago,” he said.
He pointed out that Citibank, one of the largest national banks, had $478 billion in cash in September and $437 billion at the end of the year. Locally, Fifth Third had $18.2 billion, Huntington had $11 billion and First Federal had $356 million in December.
Recruiter lists ‘hot jobs’ in the area for 2012 Layoffs and downsizing may seem dominant now, but H.T. Williams, president of Key Recruiting in Perrysburg, sees evidence of growth among local businesses.
“In northwest Ohio, so many small to midsize companies are doing good things and hiring people,” said Mr. Williams, a Perrysburg resident who has spent 15 years in recruiting and seven years owning his business.
A recruiter/headhunter for the professional placement of degreed workers in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan, his business in the last six months “has picked up dramatically.”
“Last week, we had five new orders for $80,000 to $100,000 positions,” he added. “It’s definitely increasing.”
Mr. Williams listed Chrysler’s additional 1,000 jobs, Fed Ex’s 100 jobs at a plant in Wauseon and Hollywood Toledo Casino’s 600 jobs, among others, “which have a ripple effect that translates into 11,000 jobs.”
Unemployment rates have dropped slightly in the past year for Lucas County, Wood County and Toledo, he also said.
“With all of that, the economy in northwest Ohio is turning around–we’re definitely going in the right direction,” he said.
From his experience, Mr. Williams provided the following list of “hot jobs” for 2012 in the Toledo area:
•information technology (IT) professionals, such as programmers, network system administrators and help desk workers;
•engineers, especially in automotive and mechanical;
•health care, especially home health aides;
•sales professionals, because “as the economy comes back, people are hiring more sales people, especially with technical sales skills,” and
•accounting and finance.
