Picking up, moving on after failed slots bid
For better or for worse, Central Massachusetts is out of the running for any type of gambling site, after the Massachusetts Gaming Commission awarded the state's only slots parlor license to Penn National Gaming, which will build a facility down Interstate 495 in Plainville.
Officials in North Central Massachusetts expressed disappointment at the decision, but public support for similar projects in other corners of the region was difficult to ignite over the last two years. And whether the wider Central Massachusetts area will miss the potential economic benefits of a casino development is debatable.
But for Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella, the missed opportunity to host Maryland-based Cordish Cos.' 125,000-square-foot facility, just west of Interstate 190, is a painful reality. Mazzarella said he found it difficult to listen to commissioners — who initially voted 3-2 in favor of the Plainville project — explain their logic in awarding the license to Penn National.
Mazzarella and others who supported a slots parlor in the city were particularly miffed when commissioners cited as part of their decision a desire to keep alive the existing Plainridge Racecourse, the horse-racing track that will accommodate Penn National's slots parlor. Mazzarella said prospects to support future industry in North Central Massachusetts outweighed the benefits of keeping a somewhat dated pastime alive.
“We were talking about saving the harness industry like we were talking about saving the VCR,” Mazzarella said of his impression of commissioners' discussions.
Mazzarella said he's not dwelling on the failed slots parlor proposal. Instead, he wants to look ahead to future development prospects, which he believes are brighter as a result. According to the mayor, Leominster has 450 acres of infrastructure-ready land to accommodate new development, and Mazzarella said he will implement a new marketing strategy to promote it.
“People who have never heard of us have heard of us now,” Mazzarella said. “It would be sinful for us not to turn this into something positive.”
It is natural that the failed slots parlor bid would lend itself to discussion about future development prospects, said Alan Clayton-Matthews, a Northeastern University economics professor who specializes in labor market assessments, and he said that's the lasting benefit the slots discussion will have for the city. While the Cordish proposal may have raised Leominster's profile, Clayton-Matthews said the city has long been on the map, given its rich manufacturing history.
Worcester and the Central Massachusetts towns of Boxborough, Millbury and Littleton sent casino developers packing after proposals for their communities. And though support for the Leominster site was not universal, it's clear that the attitudes about how gambling could help the economy in Northern Worcester County were more positive.
It's no wonder. Cordish estimated it would have created between 500 and 700 permanent jobs at the Leominster site, an enticing prospect for a region that has consistently posted higher unemployment rates than most others in Massachusetts, due largely to the weakened manufacturing industry. The latest figures released by the state illustrate this well: While unemployment statewide was 7.1 percent in January, the North Central rate was 9.3 percent.
The NIMBY factor
Clayton-Matthews said it's somewhat surprising that support for casino proposals throughout the region wasn't stronger, but the “Not in My Backyard” — or NIMBY — effect is likely a culprit. Though Central Massachusetts could certainly use the jobs and tax revenue a gambling facility would generate, NIMBY is often strong enough to override potential gains, according to Clayton-Matthews.
“Often, nothing gets done, because of the political nature of (NIMBY),” he said.
Luis Rosero, assistant professor of economics at Fitchburg State University (FSU), said it's likely that the upside of having a slots parlor in Leominster — more tax revenue, new jobs, and increased foot traffic at neighboring businesses — would have been at least partially outweighed by new costs, like increased use of public services.
But according to Rosero, it's also clear that the North Central region is different from the rest of Worcester County, as well as the state. This may explain the more positive reception a proposed gambling facility received there.
“While there have been some important projects in recent years, such as the (Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority's) improvement and extension of the Fitchburg commuter rail line, it is clear that the North Central Massachusetts region remains largely isolated, economically, from the rest of the state,” Rosero said in an e-mail. “With unemployment rates in most North Central Massachusetts cities and towns well above the state's average, it appears that the partial economic recovery Massachusetts experienced in recent years mostly eluded our region.”
Rosero said the region has a diverse population, and being home to FSU and cultural attractions like the Fitchburg Art Museum should support a healthy creative economy. But he said worker retraining and greater accessibility to and from Boston are needed to make a meaningful difference.
As part of its Leominster plans, Cordish had proposed funneling $1 million a year to the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2), a joint venture of the University of Massachusetts Lowell and University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. That money would have expanded the program that provides development assistance to medical device startups. The program would have provided $100,000 a year to 10 startups, which would have used the money to contract with Central Massachusetts manufacturers to produce their products so they could be brought to market.
Cordish's proposal would have put the program on the fast track, which would have boosted what M2D2 Director Stephen McCarthy said is a strong medical device industry in Central Massachusetts. McCarthy said that while Cambridge is a hub for biotechnology startups, the highest number of medical device firms lies in the area between Worcester and Lowell.
“We got tremendous press out of this (discussion with Cordish),” McCarthy said. “We're still hopeful someday we'll be able to fund such a thing.”
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