Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort & Bayer MaterialScience AG

Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort announced recently it is laying off 93 workers, or 4 percent of its workforce. That will leave MTR Gaming Group Inc. with 2,076 employees at its Northern Panhandle casino, said a track spokeswoman. The cuts affect "nonessential personnel" like maintenance workers and carpenters. MTR had raised the prospect of layoffs last month during a conference call on its third-quarter financial performance, which included a double-digit gain in overall revenues but a loss of $8.2 million. Revenues at Mountaineer were up 15 percent, with table games generating $13.2 million. Slot play, however, fell by $4.2 million. MTR blames the drop on slot parlor competition from Pennsylvania, as well as high gas prices that cut down on travel and a lousy economy in which gamblers are holding tighter to their wallets.

Citing a bad economy that has led to decreased demand for its products, the Bayer MaterialSciences plant in New Martinsville plans to cut 70 jobs, about 17 percent of its workforce. The Plant manager said the company started notifying employees recently, and the cuts will continue into 2009. Prior to the cuts, the plant employed 413 people. The plant makes high-performance polymers commonly used in the automotive and home construction industries, which have both been badly hurt by the economic downturn.