Much has been made of the number of jobs created by the proposed casino. As stated in the ads, thousands of jobs will be a huge benefit to Maine. In fact, a job fair in Lewiston-Auburn reviewed the possibilities for potential applicants. Looking at a map gives a different impression.
The Lewiston-Auburn area is about 65 miles from Sanford, which is located near the New Hampshire border. People in New Hampshire and Massachusetts also suffer unemployment and, in many cases, are located much closer to the proposed casino.
For example the Rochester/Portsmouth area is 15 to 25 miles from Sanford, has a work force of 126,300 people and a 3.7 percent unemployment rate. In Massachusetts, Amesbury is 45 miles away, has 8,959 workers and a 6.3 percent unemployment rate. In the Lawrence, Mass., region there are over 250,000 workers and an 8 percent unemployment rate. Lawrence is about the same distance from Sanford as Lewiston-Auburn.
Distance is important as winter weather makes a long ride even longer and local employees can be more flexible in terms of overtime and sickness. All of this is to say that there is nothing to indicate that Mainers would get a majority of the jobs in a casino.
Like so many of the numbers associated with the casino, the benefit to Maine does not hold up.
William Dugan, Kennebunkport
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