New Gaming Company Enters The Fray | Penn National enlists Sen. Moore for local contacts
A national gaming company has enlisted the help of state Sen. Michael Moore and the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce to connect with local communities as it pursues the idea of a Central Massachusetts casino.
“The Worcester area makes a tremendous amount of sense for us to look at,” said Eric Schippers, senior vice president of public affairs for Penn National Gaming of Wyomissing, Pa., which is looking to site a casino in the Worcester area. The location would allow the company to divert many customers who would normally travel to Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods in Connecticut, he said.
Roll Of The Dice
The company has toured a number of locations in Central Massachusetts, and has set its sights mostly on Auburn, Millbury and Worcester because of the highway access those towns have.
The company does not have a specific proposal because it is unclear whether legislators will take up casino gambling and if they did, it is unknown what form it would take, Schippers said.
Penn National Gaming is behind some of its competitors in preparing for the possible passage of casino gambling in the Bay State, Schippers said. Mohegan Sun has opened an office in Palmer, where it wants to open a casino. Middleborough has also approved the building of a casino on Native American land, although that project has stalled.
About six weeks ago, Moore said officials from Penn Gaming dropped by his Boston office and introduced themselves, telling him they were interested in locating in a town in Central Massachusetts that would be interested in having a casino.
He said he then passed the company’s contact information in a short e-mail to the communities in his district, which include a portion of Worcester and the towns of Auburn, Grafton, Leicester, Millbury, Shrewsbury and Upton.
“I gave them (Penn National) the names of the town managers and town administrators. I also let the towns know there was interest from the company,” Moore said. “I did express to them the concerns I have about casino gambling: they (casinos) don’t bring local businesses to the venue, they usually bring everything in-house.”
Officials in Auburn, Grafton and Shrewsbury said they had not been contacted by the company or Moore about casinos. Upton officials said they have been contacted and would like more information about the company.
Moore also said he was against Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal to approve and site three resort-style casinos is one fell swoop. “I think we should approve one,” Moore said. “Once one is up and has been running, and everything works out well, then we should consider more of them.”
But he said casino gambling is also a local choice.
Casino Free Mass, a consortium of groups and individuals against casinos in Massachusetts, is urging state legislators, individuals and communities to take a hard look at the impact of gambling on communities where they are located.
“To use gambling income to pay for services like public education, law enforcement and infrastructure such as roads and bridges is cynical at best and a warped public policy at its worst,” said Kathleen Conley Norbut, a spokesman for United to Stop Slots in Mass. and resident of Monson. Monson borders Palmer and is close to Warren, two communities that are potential casino locations.
“This is a regressive tax policy to solve a temporary economic situation,” Conley said, referring to the current recession. If politicians want to help communities, they should spend more resources on attracting more high-quality manufacturing jobs instead of looking to gambling, she added.
Open To Discussion
One local community has already had talks with the Penn National.
“We’ve met with them, we’ve showed interest and we’ve taken them to sites that might be appropriate for what they want to do,” said Bob Spain, Millbury’s town manager. “It’s all very preliminary. A lot would have to happen between now and then.”
Millbury has been told by Penn National that its proximity to Worcester as well as to Springfield, Boston, Connecticut and Rhode Island make it very attractive for a casino, Spain said.
Town officials like the fact that Penn National Gaming said it tries to work with existing businesses.
“We pointed out to them that the mall (the Shoppes at Blackstone Valley) is a drive-to destination,” Spain said.
“The town doesn’t want the mall and the casino to compete. We want them to complement each other and the company agreed.”
Penn’s outlook appealed to the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce, which also met with the company and gave their officials a tour of many sites throughout the area.
“They would bring jobs in, get the economy flowing,” said Jeannie Hebert, president and CEO of the chamber. “They also understand the needs of the area.”
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