How one Coast casino is helping process Mississippi’s unemployment claims

D’IBERVILLE, Miss. (WLOX) - A casino resort here on the Coast is stepping up to help the Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES) and Mississippians during this difficult economic time.

Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in D’Iberville said some of their employees went from being furloughed to processing unemployment claims and assisting Mississippians access their benefits.

This operation is set to work with 30 workers from the Hotel Reservation and Casino Host departments, answering calls from MDES’s main number. This satellite call center will be open from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. every day of the week. And according to Scarlet Pearl, they are the “first private business in Mississippi to lend services to the state in this way.”

Scarlet Pearl staff assisting the MDES(Photo source: WLOX)

Additionally, Scarlet Pearl employees must undergo a background check, as well as further their customer service skills through classes. They also noted that they are still instilling proper social distancing measures to keep employees safe during this time.

CEO of Scarlet Pearl, LuAnn Pappas, is excited to see this partnership with the casino resort and the unemployment security department as it not only helps Coast residents get back to work, but it also helps the state.

“Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort will not sit on the sidelines when our community is in need,” says LuAnn Pappas, CEO of Scarlet Pearl. “Scarlet Pearl is proud of our ‘caring culture’ that serves customers, associates and the Mississippi Gulf Coast community. Helping MDES accomplishes all three.”

This partnership goes a step further than just getting back to work. You know everyone needs a purpose right now and there’s a lot going on. Our staff could not be more happy as well as our customers. Think about it, it impacts not just our employees but our customers and everyone in the state of Mississippi. So, we feel really really good about this. It was actually very emotional sharing with the team at Scarlet Pearl what we were able to do. They too are so proud to work for the Scarlet Pearl because of this," said Pappas.