The new Cleveland casino is scheduled to open in March of 2012, and they’ve already been hiring a training dealers. Now they’re opening up applications for 750 casino positions in 40 different job areas.

There’s a pay range for each position, and starting salaries are listed on the web site. For example, security officers start at $12 an hour, beverage and buffet supervisors at $30,000 a year, and those who oversee slot machines will earn at least $39,000 annually.

Full-time positions offer a complete benefits package, including medical, dental and vision insurance, tuition reimbursement and a 401K retirement plan.

“We’re looking for personality,” said Glover, a Caesars Entertainment Corp. executive. “We’re looking for upbeat and positive attitudes, for people who have an ability to interact with strangers and provide excellent customer service.

“Some of that we’ll train, but we need a lot of those characteristics to be inherent in the individual.”

Clevelanders and other gambling fans in Ohio are naturally thrilled. First, it’s good for the local economy. But more importantly, gambling fans in the state now have another outlet to go with online sports betting.

It took a long time for Ohio to join the party. The conservative forces in Southern Ohio were always against legal gambling and they consistently defeated attempts to bring casinos to Ohio. But Dan Gilbert finally made it happen, so soon we’ll have a grand opening with plenty of economic activity in Downtown Cleveland.

Cleveland.com is reporting that the developer of the downtown Cleveland casino is looking to acquire a parking garage from the city:

The developer of a casino in Cleveland’s historic Higbee building has offered the city $21 million for the nearby Gateway North parking garage.

It’s a proposal that officials said Wednesday would benefit both sides by helping the cash-strapped city get out from under a garage that is described as seldom used while putting the developer a giant step closer to having a parking plan that could accommodate up to 5 million annual visitors.

Officials at Rock Ohio Caesars say that the casino-goers’ experience begins when they park their car. And Rock Ohio Caesars wants to wow them. But officials add that having a seamless parking plan is important for securing financing for the $350 million project.

This seems to make a ton of sense. It won’t matter for high rollers arriving in a limousine, but for visitors parking their cars, the experience needs to be positive from the beginning.

Also, let’s hope the casino operators don’t make the same mistakes that were made in Pittsburgh. The parking needs to be affordable!