VERONA, N.Y. (AP) – Facing a critical need to fill casino and hotel jobs, the Oneida Indian Nation said Monday it will make 50 new apartments in central New York available for its hourly workers at below-market rents.
The housing announcement comes as businesses nationwide, often in the service sector, struggle to find enough workers to fill positions.
The $15 million apartment complex near the Oneida’s Turning Stone casino west of Utica will begin taking in tenants July 1. Apartments will be available for new, full-time employees who are relocating to the area and those filling positions where there are shortages, according to the Oneidas.
“This investment in employee housing is to help fill critical, full-time, hourly positions at our resort – cooks, dealers, hotel jobs, to name a few. Upstate New York has been particularly hard hit by an employee shortage,” Oneida Indian Nation Representative Ray Halbritter said in a prepared statement.
Halbritter said he believes the five-building apartment complex opening throughout this summer will help attract new employees to the region.
Rents at the The Villages at Stoney Creek will start at $550 a month for a one-bedroom apartment with with three-bedroom apartments renting for $750 a month.
The tribe’s Oneida Nation Enterprises employs more than 4,500 people and its gambling operations and other businesses.
