What you need to know

• In addition to gaming jobs, opportunities in many different fields are available, including hospitality, culinary, security, retail, information technology, and facilities management
• The Expanded Gaming Act established job creation and the development of a diverse workforce as primary objectives
• Certain casino employees and gaming vendors must be licensed or registered by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission prior to commencing employment or conducting business at a gaming establishment in Massachusetts.

Training

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is committed to providing the greatest possible economic development benefits and revenues to the people of the Commonwealth. Aware that a new industry will require specialized skills, MGC has emphasized partnerships to train a workforce that will be ready to fill jobs when the casinos open.

Greater Boston Gaming Careers Institute

Cambridge College, in collaboration with Encore Boston Harbor and under the leadership of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, has created the pioneering Greater Boston Gaming Career Institute—or Bet On U. It’s a flexible program that only requires about 16 hours of your time every week for a few months. Classes will be held on the Cambridge College campus in Charlestown, with a choice of times throughout the day Monday through Thursday:

• 8:00am to 12:00pm
• 1:00 pm to 5:00pm
• 6:00pm to 10:00pm

The cost for each game is $700 with 50 fully-funded scholarships from Encore Boston Harbor available for eligible local residents who require financial assistance and 25 fully-funded scholarships available for residents of Greater Lawrence. Half of the scholarships will be awarded to women. Students must be 18 years or older to apply to the Institute and work as a dealer in Massachusetts.

The Institute is located at 510 Rutherford Avenue in Charlestown at the Hood Executive Park, less than two miles from the Encore Boston Harbor Resort and easily accessible via the MBTA’s Orange Line. The second semester of the Greater Boston Gaming Career Institute will start in January of 2019, with applications being accepted now.

Massachusetts Casino Career Training Institute

Holyoke Community College (HCC) and Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) are collaborating on a casino management program to prepare students for employment at a casino as part of an overall workforce training program that can prepare students for a variety of positions in a gaming establishment.

HCC and STCC have launched this casino workforce training program as part of their Training and Workforce Options collaborative and the Massachusetts Casino Career Training Institute. The gaming school, located on the ninth floor of 95 State Street in Springfield, opened in February and is currently accepting applications for future sessions.

Students who complete two table-games courses will automatically be given the opportunity to audition for a job with MGM Springfield. MGM Springfield is offering a tuition reimbursement program to students who go on to work at the resort for a year.

CATCH Institute

MGC issued the state’s first Gaming School Certification to Bristol Community College. BCC’s Casino Management program, known as the CATCH Institute, prepares students for employment at a casino as part of an overall hospitality program that can prepare students for a variety of positions in a gaming establishment.

The institution prepares students for positions – depending on a particular student’s concentration – in the following areas: Culinary Arts: Tourism Management, Casino Management.

The first three semesters of instruction are conducted at the BCC Fall River Campus. The Casino concentration courses in the fourth semester are conducted in the classrooms and casino training lab located at the Silver City Galleria Mall in Taunton. Students who choose the Casino Management program will be required to complete core courses before moving on to specific gaming training courses. An example of these courses includes Introduction to Casino Operations, Casino Loss Prevention, Gaming and Social Policy and Introduction to Casino Games.

Holyoke Community College MGM Culinary Institute

Located at the Cubit Building in downtown Holyoke, the HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute offers various associate degree, certificate and non-credit hospitality, culinary arts, and workforce training programs. The development and funding of this center are the fruits of the partnerships between the City of Holyoke, Holyoke Community College and MGM Springfield.

The Institute is providing 50 Holyoke residents with free entry to non-credit programs every year.

Workforce Development Pilot Program

FY19 was the third year that MGC allocated funding for Workforce Development purposes as part of the Community Mitigation Fund. This program was conceived as a pilot program to help increase job readiness in both Regions A and B in anticipation of the casino openings. Approximately $900,000 for the Workforce Development Pilot Program was approved for this fiscal year funding round as follows:

City of Boston: $213,400 Funding to support the next phase of the Greater Boston Casino Pipeline Initiative to create a pipeline of job seekers to resolve the backfill needs of local hospitality employers as talent migrates to Encore, as well as to help workers gain employment at Encore.

Holyoke Community College: $300,000 Funding for the continuation of the Work Ready program, which will enroll up to 200 individuals in the gaming school through scholarships, up to 70 individuals in certificate training, 180 in English literacy for the workplace, and 100 individuals in Adult Basic Education classes in order to get them into the pipeline for skills training and job placement.

MetroNorth Regional Employment Board (MNREB): $300,000 Funding for a project whereby local residents are engaged and referred to services aimed at preparing them for career opportunities in the hospitality and gaming sector.

Workforce Development Plans

To ensure that Massachusetts residents benefit from casino development in the Commonwealth, the Expanded Gaming Act requires that casino licensees produce Workforce Development Plans. These plans must describe how the licensee will identify and market employment opportunities to under and unemployed residents of the Commonwealth, and provide valuable resources for job-seekers looking for hiring timelines.

• View the Plainridge Park Casino Workforce Development Plan
• View the MGM Springfield Workforce Development Plan
• View the Encore Boston Harbor Development Plan

Apply for a License or Registration

Certain candidates for employment in the expanded gaming industry are required to be licensed or registered by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission before beginning work.

To learn more about the licensing and registration process, click here.