Primm Valley Casino Resort closes July 4, cuts 344 Casino jobs

Primm Valley Casino Resort will close on July 4, and 344 casino jobs will disappear with it. For nearly 250 workers who live in employee housing, the shutdown turns a layoff into a move-out notice two days later.

Affinity Gaming told the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation on May 5 that the closure would eliminate 344 employees. Megan Miller, one of the workers losing her job, said after learning her position would end that she would also have to leave her apartment after the resort shuts down: "It's unsettling".

Megan Miller and the July 6 move-out

Miller said she and her family are looking at apartments in Las Vegas and Henderson. She added, "We need the money now. We haven't been able to save for anything living out here". Her words point to the immediate cost of the closure: workers are not only losing paychecks, they are also trying to secure housing in a region where the resort had supplied both a job and a place to stay.

Employees who lease apartments from the casino company will have to move out two days after the resort closes. Nearly 250 workers live in that housing, according to one source familiar with Primm. The Primm Valley Lotto Store and a majority of other services in the area will also close on July 4, tightening the exit for workers and residents at the same time.

Yvette Cartsen's two-hour commute

Yvette Cartsen, who drives two hours from Apple Valley, California, to work at the resort, started a GoFundMe page to help her friends. "There are people in Primm who have no idea what to do or where to go, let alone afford a down payment" she said, capturing the pressure facing employees who now have to secure housing, transportation, and cash in a short window.

Affinity Gaming said it was working closely with its employees during the transition. Melissa Krantz, the company spokeswoman, said in an email that there are four meetings scheduled to provide information on public services available to employees at Primm during the transition. With the resort set to go dark and housing tied to the job site, those meetings are the only concrete bridge now on the calendar.