Lottery hires 13 new workers, most marketers

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas lottery has hired 13 more employees, including a former head football coach at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and a son of a former state lawmaker.

These latest hires increase the number of employees whose hirings have been announced by lottery officials to 55.

Ernie Passailaigue, executive director of the Arkansas Lottery Commission, said Monday that he expects to hire a total of 83 employees and to fill the vacant positions by at least a week before the lottery plans to begin selling tickets on Sept. 28.

"We have hired a lot of the critical positions," he said.

According to a list of the most recent hires provided by human resources Manager Robin Ussery, Maurice Forte of Pine Bluff and Jeffery Fitch have been hired as marketing sales representatives at annual salaries of $39,631.

Among other things, marketing sales representatives will recruit lottery retailers, train retailer employees, post sales materials at the retailers and provide information about lottery games, Passailaigue said.

Forte's resume said he was head football coach at UAPB from 2004 to 2007, at Northfolk State University from 1999 to 2002 and co-owner/president of MMC Custom Sportswear Inc. from 1997 to 1998. He also has coached for the Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, North Carolina A&T State University, Arizona State University, Michigan State University, Duke University and University of Minnesota.

Ernestine Middleton, vice president of administration for the lottery, said Monday that Forte applied for and was interviewed for least two positions.

Fitch's resume said he has been retail sales representative for AT&T in Springdale, and was direct sales representative for Cox Communications in Johnson, assistant director of Art Expo NWA in Fayetteville, political director for the state Democratic Party in Fayetteville, and correspondence manager for U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor in Washington, D.C.

Julie Baldridge, the lottery's director of commission and legislative affairs, said Monday that Fitch is a son of Arkansas Live-stock and Poultry Commission Director Jon Fitch, who served in the Legislature from 1979 to 2003.

She said Fitch was hired on his own merits.

Middleton said the lottery doesn't employ close relatives of current elected officials.

"It is not relative to the position nor is it part of our employment interview process to inquire as to the former employment or public service status of the applicant's parents," she said.

Ussery said Don Smith of Barling; Veronica Davis Love of Helena-West Helena; Cindy Carlock of Blytheville; William Cotton of Fort Smith; Molly Harris of Harrison; Ali Mustafa of Lowell; Don Cassil of Hot Springs; La'Tonyalyn Ketrise White of Pine Bluff; Douglas Robinson of Little Rock; and Susan Devecki of Mountain Home also have been hired as marketing sales representatives at annual salaries of $39,631 each.

Smith has been a senior corporal with the Arkansas State Police; Love a human resource manager for Phillips County Autoplex; Carlock the owner of K-9 Korner Pet Boutique; Cotton a national account representative for McCourt Manufacturing; and Harris an August 2008 graduate of Arkansas Tech University, according to their resumes.

Mustafa was an office leader/ manager for H&R Block; Cassil owner of an advertising and public relations firm; White store manager for Follett Higher Education Group; Robinson business development manager for Advantage Sales and Marketing in Irvine, Calif.; and Devecki merchandiser for HD Supply Co. of Aliso Viego, Calif., according to their resumes.

Ussery said Christopher Pabin of Conway has been hired as a computer operator at an annual salary of $28,165. Pabin was a software quality analyst for Quickoffice Inc., according to his resume.

Passailaigue initially proposed hiring 88 employees at an estimated annual payroll at $5.1 million before proposing a cut to 77 employees at an annual cost of $4.6 million.

But the number of employees is now expected to be 83 at an annual estimated cost of about $4.8 million, after an experimental plan to contract out prize payment centers in three regions of the states fell short of attracting bidders.