Rhino to hire 400 for WVU events; job fair set for July 27

MORGANTOWN — Rhino Sports and Entertainment Services will take over as West Virginia University’s primary customer services personnel provider for university events — including football and basketball games — this fall.
And by the time the first WVU home football game rolls around Aug. 31, Rhino, which has a multi-year contract with WVU, plans to have hired 400 people to staff Milan Puskar Stadium and other university sports venues.
“We’ve hired about 100 people so far and expect to hire several hundred more,” said Eric Martin, Rhino’s associate account manager for West Virginia.
Rhino opened an office in Morgantown Mall — across from GNC — and will hold a job fair from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. July 27. Successful applicants will then be asked to attend an orientation session from 1-3 p.m., said Kyle Headley, Rhino’s regional operations manager.
Rhino, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., is replacing Contemporary Services Corp. CSC staffed WVU events, such as its football games, since 1998.
“The contract with CSC expired at the end of the 2018-19 season and per state regulations, a new contract for services was put out for advertisement,” Michael Fragale, senior associate athletics director/communications, said in an email. “Three security companies submitted proposals for the service to WVU and Rhino was awarded the contract through the procurement process.”
The first WVU home football game is against James Madison University.
Starting pay for event staff is $10 an hour, while the starting pay for security personnel is $12 an hour. Rhino also provides ticketing, marketing and payroll services. Headley said Rhino has hired some CSC employees.
“More are welcome to apply,” he said.
The company, that inked the deal with WVU in mid-June, has been recruiting in the area through job fairs. People interested in applying to Rhino can email employmentwvu@rhino-ses.com, through its website, www.rhinosportsentertainment.com, or by calling 304-782-6644.
With the signing of this contract, WVU becomes Rhino’s northernmost client. The Winston-Salem firm has similar contracts with Clemson University in South Carolina, as well as Wake Forest University, Duke, Virginia Tech and Liberty University in Virginia and Baylor University in Texas.