Two years ago, if you grew up and stayed in Gulfport, Miss., you most likely were either a fisherman or shrimper or worked at one of the nondescript stores, motels or fast-food joints along U.S. 49 that cater to the seasonal influx of tourists to the beach.
Or maybe you worked at one of the piers that together handle more bananas, pineapples and other fruit than any American port except Wilmington, Del.
In fact, you might have been driving one of the big Dole or Chiquita tractor-trailer rigs that haul the fruit away. But that was two years ago.
Two floating casinos have dropped anchor in Gulfport since 1992, and 12 others are in nearby Biloxi and Bay St. Louis. So, if you grew up in Gulfport and still live there now you probably work at a casino, right? Well, no, probably not.
The casino industry has created at least 35,000 jobs in Mississippi since it came to the state two years ago. Unemployment rates have dropped. But state officials say that many of the new jobs have gone to out-of-staters who came to town knowing how to deal blackjack.
"There's been growth in the number of jobs, but also in the number of unemployed," says Raiford Crews, chief of labor market information for the Mississippi Department of Industrial Security. "More people from out of state have come here looking for work." Jobless rates in three of the seven counties with casinos have begun to inch back up, which mirrors what is happening in Mississippi as a whole.
The state unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in 1992 when casinos opened; it dropped to 6.3 percent in 1993 but so far this year has increased slightly to 6.6 percent.
That's a point Marylanders need to consider as they prepare themselves for next year's expected assault on the legislature by lobbyists who want casinos either in Baltimore or some other location within the state that would be attractive to tourists.
The pro-casino folks will be predicting "gold in them there hills" for every level of government that allows casinos within its jurisdiction. That will be hard to resist for a city such as Baltimore, which has been suffering from a shrinking tax base.
Millions in taxes
Neither can Maryland as a whole be expected to ignore the temptation of a windfall such as the $128 million in gambling taxes Mississippi collected last year.
But the casino lobbyists won't just be pushing the possibility of more tax money; they will also claim that the gambling industry will create jobs. And it will.
However, the evidence from Mississippi suggests that opening casinos isn't the best way to address unemployment.
"The tourist-related industries that were in bad shape, golf courses, that sort of thing, have benefited from the casinos," says Mr. Crews. "The main thing casinos have helped is hotels and motels with low occupancy rates that were not getting their shares of tourists."
State law requires Mississippi's casinos to be on water, so there are two types of casino in the Magnolia State -- the 14 on barges or boats docked off the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico and the other 18 on barges or boats docked along the Mississippi River.
The unemployment rate has gone up slightly this year in the two coastal counties with casinos, Harrison and Hancock, and in one river county, Adams. The jobless rate in two other river counties, Coahoma and Washington, hasn't changed from last year, and the rate has continued to go down in Tunica and Warren.
More complicated
But Mr. Crews says a lower unemployment rate isn't the whole story. For example, Tunica County's unemployment rate went from 13.7 percent in 1992 to 9.3 percent in 1993 and 8 percent so far this year. The county gained 1,300 jobs during that period. But the number of people unemployed in Tunica County -- 70 -- hasn't changed.
Warren County is another example, Mr. Crews said. The unemployment rate has dropped from 9.2 percent in 1992 to 7.4 percent in 1993 and 6.9 percent so far this year. The casinos have created 4,000 jobs in Warren County, but the number of people unemployed there is only down 500 people from what it was two years ago.
Rob Wyre, general manager of the Grand Casino in Gulfport, says it's understandable that casino employees from other areas of the country would come to Mississippi seeking jobs. So many gambling dens have opened there in such a short period of time.
"In a new market there's rapid promotability," Mr. Wyre said. "A person with six months' experience as a dealer in Las Vegas has a chance of becoming a supervisor in Mississippi. "We're so new at this here [that] anyone with any potential at all can move up quickly."
But the influx of immigrant workers who can roll dice isn't the only reason unemployment rates have begun creeping up. Competition among casinos has been brutal, especially with the drop in patrons that began when summer ended and the number of vacation travelers declined.
After reaching a peak of $144 million in July, gross revenues for the Mississippi casinos declined each of the next two months. In August, the Southern Belle in Tunica County shut down and the Biloxi Belle in Harrison County filed for bankruptcy protection.
Other casinos are trying to remain afloat through layoffs.
Layoffs have become a sore subject among the casinos. So much so that Neil P. Narter, assistant general manager of the Copa Casino, a former luxury liner now permanently docked at Gulfport, refuses to reveal the casino's current number of employees.
Earlier this year the Copa, which is one of the smaller casinos, had 522 employees, according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
Mr. Narter won't confirm than number, but admits some people have since been laid off. "In some areas we cut 10 percent to 15
percent of our employees," he said.
Layoffs mean little
But Mr. Narter says the layoffs mean little in a market where so many new casino jobs are being created. Indeed, 14 applications for new casinos in Mississippi were being considered by the gaming commission.
L And Mr. Crews says the casinos average 1,000 employees each.
"A casino may lay off 20 people one week and the next week a new one will open and those 20 could find a place there," said Mr. Narter.
The Copa's closest competitor, the Grand in Gulfport, isn't laying off anyone.
With 116 gaming tables and 1,800 slot machines, it is expanding by building an adjacent hotel on land and bringing in a new barge on which it will erect a four-lounge entertainment center. With the biggest and gaudiest casinos most frequently attracting the largest crowds, the Grand's expansion increases the possibility of even more layoffs at the Copa and other smaller NTC casinos in Mississippi in the future.
"The pie can only be sliced so small," says Nonie Debardeleben, who led a successful grass-roots effort to keep a casino from opening at Henderson Point, her neighborhood near Bay St. Louis. "The slices are so small now, they're only redistributing what was here before."
Mrs. Debardeleben has become a keen observer of casino activity, trying to make sure her community remains free of them. She says with vacation traffic drying up for the winter, the casinos are trying to remain afloat by competing for local gamblers.
"The casinos cannibalize the local economy," she said. "Tax revenues from them may have increased, but a lot of local money is gambled away and leaves the state. Most of these casinos are not owned by Mississippi companies."
Mrs. Debardeleben said one casino in Greenville gives extra coupons good for gambling to customers who cash their paychecks there on Friday nights. "My husband and I have seen people come in there in their work boots and flannel shirts and they're cashing their paychecks. I would think if those people lost $20 out of a paycheck, it's going to hurt them," she said.
Restaurants losing money
Charter boat owner Louis Skrmetta says whatever positive impact on employment the casinos are having could be offset by gambling's negative effect on existing businesses that also depend on tourists.
Restaurants, for example, are losing customers to the casino buffets.
"Our business has suffered," Mr. Skrmetta said. "We find visitors coming to the gulf now are not interested in the traditional tourist draws -- water-related activities, sightseeing. As the dust settles, we hope the bigger properties will realize the importance of having both the casino industry and traditional tourist attractions."
Perhaps they will. Mr. Wyre, the general manager of the Grand Casino in Gulfport, says the operators of his casino and its sister, the Grand Casino in Biloxi, have begun to think about other attractions that would bring more tourists and create jobs.
"There has been some discussion of theme parks, acquisitions of golf courses and entertainment complexes," Mr. Wyre said.
Harold Jackson is a reporter for The Baltimore Sun.