City hall was buzzing Tuesday evening as applicants lined up to apply for jobs at del Lago Resort and Casino's job fair.
Mayor Lovely Warren said the city was excited to partner with the gaming facility to give residents the access to stable jobs.
She said even though the resort its self isn’t in Rochester, these jobs will have a positive impact on the city.
"The people live here, and people pay taxes here, they raise their families here, they send their children to school here. And so even though the job opportunity may be somewhere else, those dollars will come back to our community in one way or another."
The resort was hiring for a number of positions including dishwashers, cashiers, servers and maintenance, often hiring on the spot.
Jillian Moran was one of the lucky applicants to be hired at her interview, as a server. She said she’s been looking for stable work for about 5 years now, and is happy she will be able to provide for herself and her 2 year old son with this job.
“Put food on the table for him and stability, just financial security, we don’t have to worry about tomorrow or the next week."
Many of the new employees, including Moran, will be taking advantage of the vanpool program that the city and del Lago will help subsidize.
Mayor Warren said it’s just one of many barriers they can try and knock down to help residents get jobs.
"We recognize transportation is a barrier, child care is a barrier at times, housing is a barrier at times, if we do everything we can to build that stairway out of poverty, we believe people will rise to the occasion and walk that stairway to success."
Employees can participate in the vanpool program for a fee of $75 dollars a month, which goes towards the vehicle, maintenance, and fuel.