CARTERVILLE -- Southern Illinois area businesses are invited to attend a series of three informational workshops, to be hosted at Walker's Bluff, 326 Vermont Road, in Carterville. These workshops will inform local businesses on how to prepare to become a vendor or supplier for the proposed Walker's Bluff Casino Resort.
Walker's Bluff Casino Resort, LLC has a casino license application pending with the Illinois Gaming Board to build a casino on property at Walker's Bluff, which began as a vineyard and winery destination in 2008.
All three workshops are free to attend, but preregistration is required at www.walkersbluffcasinoresort.com/vendoropportunities.html. Attendance is open to the public, for adults ages 18 and over.
The workshops will be held on Feb. 7 from 10 a.m. to noon, Mar. 12 from 5-7 p.m., and Apr. 8 from 1-3 p.m.
Walker's Bluff Casino Resort, LLC is committed to establishing a formal program to recruit and develop local businesses as potential vendors, with a special focus on identifying women, disabled, minority, and veteran-owned businesses. In support of this commitment, two local, woman-owned businesses -- KLG Grant Consulting in Carbondale, and Russell Business & Financial LLC of Du Quoin -- have partnered to offer the workshops and connect businesses with the information and resources needed to build their capacity.
The partnering company, Elite Casino Resorts, has an impressive track record of building successful resorts by contracting with local and diverse businesses in every market in which they operate. As stated by Dan Kehl of Elite Casino Resorts, "This initiative will deepen our involvement with the community by helping small businesses work with us to create a premier destination here in Southern Illinois. Our commitment to the region is to buy local first -- we are glad to provide some early technical assistance so that our entrepreneurs, especially veterans, minorities, women, and those with disability status can be prepared to grow along with us."
For more information, visit www.walkersbluffcasinoresort.com.
