MIDDLETOWN - Empire Resorts, the company behind the Resorts World Catskills casino, is learning how difficult it can be to find 1,500 qualified job applicants in a county with just 1,600 unemployed people.

“We have to fill our pipeline with thousands and thousands of candidates to yield 1,400 full-time employees and another 100 part-time employees. That is a significant challenge,” said Ryan Eller, president and CEO of Empire Resorts. 

“I think that we will be successful, because we’re going to have very compelling compensation. It’s going to be really solid, middle-class jobs.”

Eller and Charles Degliomini, executive vice president of Empire Resorts, visited the Times Herald-Record on Monday afternoon for an editorial board meeting.

The men offered an update on hiring efforts and said they remain confident the $1.2 billion resort in Sullivan County will succeed in the increasingly competitive gaming industry.

Resorts World Catskills is one of four non-Native American casinos approved by the state following regional competitions.

The other three are already operating, and gaming revenue has fallen well short of projections, but Eller and Degliomini said they don’t expect Resorts World Catskills to suffer the same fate.

“Those were regional casino properties, focusing on that type of business,” Eller said.

“Ours is something where we’re focusing on a destination resort that is anchored by casino gaming.”

He said the project will be unlike any competitor in the Northeast, pointing to a range of planned amenities including a five-star hotel, a golf course and a water park, and dining options such as a high-end Italian steakhouse and an authentic Asian restaurant.

“The only way that you’re going to be successful is doing something different,” Eller said.

The company is expected to employ 2,200 people in a couple years, once the entire complex is up and running on the former site of the Concord Resort outside Monticello.

Degliomini likened it to a small city, one that will require a range of employees from marketers and accountants to maintenance people and room attendants.

And then there’s the matter of finding 600 gaming dealers in time for a March 1 opening.

Jobs offer starting pay of $40,000 to $50,000 or more, depending on tips.

Empire is running dealer classes in Sullivan, Ulster and Orange counties, and while the turnout has been good, “it needs to be better,” Degliomini said.

“We’re going to start using more social media, more advertising … to get the word out there.”

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