GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Online casino games are incredibly popular, and there's a spot on many apps with live dealers where you'll see someone sitting at a table on your phone. Now there's a place in Grand Rapids that's bringing that experience to life with hundreds of new jobs.
"It looks very empty now, but in a couple of months we will have a lot of tables up and running here," Evolution North America CEO Jacob Claesson said.
For neighbors looking for jobs, this could be a lead worth exploring.
"I think we'll be over 300 employees here," Claesson said.
Evolution North America is a company focusing on online casino gaming. Their employees are the ones you often see on casino apps like FanDuel, Hard Rock and BetMGM.
"Live casino is essentially that you play with a real dealer from your own device, wherever you are, and that's streamed from one of our studios. We provide that to essentially all the online casinos around the world," Claesson said.
In Michigan, the state requires this setup for residents to play online. Evolution already has a studio in Southfield.
"We're growing a lot. We're almost 1,000 employees in Michigan already, but we're sort of running out of space and capacity," Claesson said.
I first reported on this new addition back in April and have been asking for updates since then. CEO Jacob Claesson, with key in hand, showed me around the facility here in Grand Rapids.
"So this is a rare moment, and I would say this is actually the only time we've allowed someone to come in and film inside of a gaming floor," Claesson said.
Claesson couldn't show off every spot but is looking forward to unveiling a game many grew up playing.
"We're launching Monopoly Live here in Michigan. So this will definitely be the biggest launch of this year," Claesson said.
He says he can't wait to see the talent pool. After several visits to Grand Rapids, he knew this was the right spot to expand.
"I didn't know the terminology West Michigan nice until then, but I just felt that friendliness, people were smiling, people were greeting you, and that was not just one interaction," Claesson said. "It was the Uber drivers. There were the hotels, the cafes, the restaurants that I went to. So that really helped me with that decision."
Careers are here.
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