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KATRINA RELIEF EFFORTS SWING INTO ACTION
With relief efforts and aid finally starting to pour into the Gulf Coast communities affected by Hurricane Katrina-amid strong criticism of governments (state and federal) slower than anticipated response to the devastation-attention now is turning to evacuating remaining survivors, helping those in need of food and medical attention, and assessing the damage, which officials estimate to already be well beyond $100 billion.
For the gaming industry, that damage has been severe...especially in the storm-ravaged Mississippi communities of Biloxi and Gulfport. Casinos there are all either destroyed or completely inoperable. And the economic effects to those communities and the entire state have been great.
With the casinos out of action the state is losing an estimated $500,000 a day in tax revenues. Meanwhile, thousands of employees have no place to work. Most don't even have homes or possessions to come back to.
Gaming industry organizations are ramping up relief efforts. The American Gaming Association ( www.americangaming.org ) has set up a fund to help casino employees in Mississippi and New Orleans. Meanwhile the Gulf Coast Community Foundation ( www.gulfcoastfoundation.org ) and the Mississippi GulfCoast Convention and Visitors Bureau ( www.gulfcoast.org ) have teamed up to establish the "Bring Back Our Coast Fund" (Full text of their press release can be seen below).
"I am pleased to report that many corporations, national organizations both in and out of the travel industry, and foundations have offered help," said MGCVB executive director Steve Richer. "I have personally been impacted most by the generosity of the American people and friends around the world. The kindness and caring has been overwhelming."
Casino companies directly affected by the disaster are taking actions to aid their employees. MGM Mirage, whose Beau Rivage resort-casino in Biloxi structurally withstood the storm but still took heavy wind and water damage, said its immediate focus was on helping its workers.
"The significant damage sustained to the Beau Rivage is part of a substantially larger story of devastation in Gulfport and Biloxi," said MGM Chairman and CEO Terry Lanni. "Our immediate focus is on the well-being of our employees and their families.
"To our employees: Your family, your homes and your community are the priority right now. The best initial course of action for you is to aid in the recovery of the area is to closely follow the advice of our local, state and federal authorities as they establish an orderly recovery process."
Lanni added that the company's Mirage Resorts subsidiary president and CEO Robert Baldwin will establish an assessment team to evaluate damage to the Beau Rivage. That effort could take weeks. Lanni added that it could be several months before basic services are reestablished to the affected areas.
Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which owns three affected properties-Grand Casino Biloxi and Grand Casino Gulfport (both destroyed) and Harrah's New Orleans-said it is establishing it's own relief efforts and will pay its more than 6,000 affected employees their regularly scheduled base pay for up to 90 days.
"In addition to providing immediate relief, the Harrah's Employee Recovery Fund will help our employees with the long rebuilding task," said Harrah's Chairman, President and CEO Gary Loveman. "Along with the Harrah's Foundation grant to the recovery fund, we began distributing payroll deduction contribution forms to all of our nearly 100,000 Harrah's employees nationwide so they have an opportunity to pitch in and support the relief efforts."
Other companies like Boyd Gaming and Pinnacle Entertainment have relief funds and ongoing employee assistance as well. Even casino companies without a presence in the Gulf Coast are chipping in. One such company, Station Casinos, set up a pet relief drive at its Santa Fe Station Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to help bring in supplies and money for Wheels of Hope, an effort to provide temporary shelter for pets displaced from their owners.
The wrath that Katrina brought to the Gulf Coast could bring about significant changes to Mississippi's gaming regulations.
By law to this point, the state's commercial casinos have been required to float on moored barges either on riverfronts or in the Gulf of Mexico. Many operators have long-wanted that requirement dropped in favor of building land-based casinos.
Now, with the damage caused by Katrina, gaming officials and industry analysts said a strong push will be made to change that law, and Mississippi legislators that make gaming law are likely to be more open to the idea, they said.
"I don't know how they will get these companies to invest millions into these projects unless they are allowed to build them on land," Deutsche Bank analyst Mark Falcone told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "They would not only protect the assets of the casino companies, but land-based casinos could benefit the market greatly."
Mississippi Gaming Commission Executive Director Larry Gregory agrees.
"I think that will be a public policy question that will be on the minds of every legislator when they come in for the nest session," he said. "That discussion will be the No. 1 issue in this legislative cycle. This will definitely out the fire under their feet."
-Andy Holtmann
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MCGVB/GULF COAST COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ANNOUNCE RELIEF EFFORT
The Gulf Coast Community Foundation ( www.gulfcoastfoundation.org ) and the Mississippi GulfCoast Convention & Visitors Bureau (MGCVB) ( www.gulfcoast.org ) announced jointly today the establishment of the "Build Back Our Coast Fund" to aid the economic recovery, rebuilding efforts and job regeneration in the coastal region. The foundation has already received funding commitments from organizations across the country.
"Right now, the focus in the region is appropriately on basic human needs-potable water, food, shelter, medical care, fuel, and other basic necessities for our community. We salute all the organizations and individuals who are helping us from around the nation, and even the world, through their donations to organizations like the American Red Cross and other charities," said Steve Richer, executive director of the MGCVB. "We must, however, look at the long term needs of our community. That means jobs and bringing back the businesses that support them, particularly those generated by our hospitality industry.
The Gulf Coast Community Foundation has set up the 'Build Back Our Coast Fund' for this purpose.
"I am pleased to report that many corporations, national organizations both in and out of the travel industry, and foundations have offered to help. I have personally been impacted most by the generosity of the American people and friends around the world. The kindness and caring has been overwhelming."
Donations can be made via the Foundation's Web site at www.gulfcoastfoundation.org, or via phone at 888-000-0000. Donors may earmark funds specifically for similar efforts in Louisiana, Alabama, or Florida via sister community foundations in New Orleans, Mobile, and Pensacola.
The Gulf Coast Community Foundation is a 20-year-old philanthropic organization based in Biloxi, Mississippi that administers charitable funds for many local entities, as well as its own funding. Both the offices of the Foundation and the Mississippi Gulf Coast CVB were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Coastal leaders, including Dickie Roberts who has evacuated the Coast and set up temporary offices in neighboring Alabama are working from their remote locations to continue serving their constituents. Ms. Roberts stated that "the opportunity before us is challenging and enormous however, we are experiencing all of the for-profit and non-profit forces joining together as never before to dream, plan and regenerate."
Encouragement has been pouring in from national organizations, starting with the National Tour Association, American Bus Association, Travel Industry Association, Hotel Sales & Marketing Association International, and American Society of Association Executives. The American Gaming Association and its "Katrina Relief Fund," which was already underway and has begun soliciting its members, is cooperating with the effort.
Richer acknowledged the work of the CVB's ad agency, TURKEL, located in Miami, for its contribution and commitment to help with the fundraising, and the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau for its contribution of both professional staff and the services of its New York-based public relations firm, Rubenstein Associates.
For more information on the organization, contact:
Marlisa Shapiro/Turkel 305-476-3516
Ms. Dickie Roberts/Gulf Coast Community Foundation 251-445-6924 drgcf@bellsouth.net
Steve Richer/Mississippi GulfCoast CVB 228-596-7004/772-388-6580 Stevep68@aol.com
Digital files are available at www.turkel.info/gulfcoast.
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GAMING TRIBES COMING TO AID OF KATRINA VICTIMS
Gaming tribes and organizations across the United States are working to raise money for the Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Fund. Spearheading the fundraising efforts are two of the nation's largest Native American groups, the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) and the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI).
Last Friday NIGA announced its partnership with its member tribes to assist in raising money for the Disaster Relief Fund. The association has set up an account to collect funds from American Indian nations to help provide relief for the hundreds of thousands of residents of the Gulf Coast states affected by Katrina.
"This is one of the worst tragedies in American history which demands our full-scale attention and concern as these regions begin rebuilding their lives, communities and economies out of the decimation that occurred earlier this week," said NIGA Chairman Ernie Stevens Jr. "NIGA and our member tribes are absolutely committed to assisting in the relief effort and are asking all American Indian tribes to help in this dark hour. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims, the survivors and their families at this time."
NIGA contributed $5,000 to begin the effort and is calling upon all tribes to help meet a $1 million goal for the relief fund. Tribes located in the Gulf Coast states survived with minimal collateral damage, NIGA representatives said, but those tribes have been affected by power outages and by the flow of people from the coast to the reservations seeking assistance.
Mississippi Choctaw Principal Chief Phillip Martin said that his tribe had been putting up tribal members and non-Indians from the coast at the tribe's casino hotel, but that they will be moved to other areas when the power returns. The Choctaw are based in Philadelphia, Miss., and own the Golden Moon Casino & Hotel and the Silver Star Hotel and Casino.
"We're going to do everything we can to find a place for them," Martin said in a statement released through NIGA. "But we have our hands full trying to get water and power back to the reservation. Clean water is of the greatest importance right now-because so much depends on it."
Donations may be made to the Spirit of Sovereignty Foundation, Attn: Hurricane Katrina Fund, 224 Second St. S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003. For more information on how to contribute, please call Suzette Brewer at 202-548-3817 or e-mail her at sbrewer@indiangaming.org.
The National Congress of American Indians has also set up a relief fund to assist tribes and their members in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Six federally recognized tribes are located in the three states that were most significantly impacted by Katrina.
In addition to the Mississippi Choctaws, they include the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, owner/operators of the Creek Bingo Palace in Atmore, Ala.; The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, owner/operators of the Cypress Bayou Casino in Charenton, La.; the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, owner/operators of Grand Casino Coushatta in Kinder, La.; and the Tunica Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, owner/operators of Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville, La.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of the Indian Nations located in the region affected by Hurricane Katrina," said NCAI President Tex G. Hall in a statement. "It is times like this when it is important for Native people to come together to help one another out."
Meanwhile individual Indian tribes are also doing their best to help. The Seminole Tribe of Florida sent emergency crews to the Mississippi Choctaw Reservation earlier this week, Indian Country Today reported. Additionally, the Klamath Tribes are sending their primary physician, Dr. Curtis Hanst, and their pharmacist, Dr. Matt Baker, to New Orleans, the city that has endured some of the worst damage.
NCAI representatives said they attempted to contact tribes that were in or near the path of Hurricane Katrina. The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana sustained some wind and rain damage, according to an NCAI statement, but the tribe's members that live in Slidell, La. felt the brunt of the storm. The tribe has become a refuge for some trying to escape the aftermath of the storm as its Mari Center, which houses the tribe's Paragon Casino, has become a Red Cross shelter which now houses nearly 600 refugees.
NCAI staffers encouraged tribes who wish aid the tribes affected by Hurricane Katrina to send donations to:
NCAI
1301 Connecticut Ave, NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
-Matt Connor
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RACING INDUSTRY REACTS TO KATRINA
New Orlean's Fair Grounds Race Course, home to the oldest site of continuously operating horse racing in the country, will not conduct its regular fall/winter race meeting as a result of the damage to the track and city.
The track surface and the stable area were flooded, and the grandstand sustained some damage from wind and water. The popular meeting, which normally runs from Thanksgiving weekend through late March, annually attracts some of the top racing stables in the country, which will now have to consider other options.
Track owner Churchill Downs is negotiating with Louisiana Downs, located in the northern part of the state in Bossier City, to run a special shortened "Fair Grounds at Louisiana Downs" meeting in December. According to Churchill president and CEO Tom Meeker, the abbreviated meeting would serve primarily as a means to generate income and purses for Fair Grounds personnel and horsemen. In addition, any money made at Louisiana Downs during the short meet would be donated to hurricane relief.
Churchill Downs has posted a toll-free number (877-244-5536) by which its Louisiana employees can contact the company to let them know they are safe. As of Monday, just over 200 employees, or about 40 percent of the workforce displaced by Katrina, had been located through the hotline or through Fair Grounds' Web site, www.fgno.com.
Meanwhile, racing organizations across the country have rushed to help raise money for the American Red Cross and other relief funds aimed at Katrina's victims. In Louisiana, Evangeline Downs Racetrack & Casino in Opelousas donated 100 percent of its revenues from races held on September 4 to the Acadiana Chapter of the Red Cross Relief Fund. In California, a "Racing With Heart" effort throughout Labor Day weekend also helped raise funds for the Red Cross. Racetracks and off-track betting locations served as revenue collection centers; simulcast schedules were adjusted in order to accept wagers from Evangeline Downs to help support that track's efforts; and Del Mar's jockey colony volunteered to be dunk tank targets for fans making donations to the relief effort.
A far more widespread fundraising effort will take place on October 8, which has been designated as "Racing to the Rescue Day."
Numerous racetracks and horsemen's groups have already committed to the effort, including the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Churchill Downs, Inc., Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Thoroughbred Racing Associations member tracks, the national Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, American Quarter Horse Association, Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Thoroughbred Owners of California, The Jockey Club, Keeneland, Oak Tree Racing Association, Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, Television Games Network, Harness Tracks of America member racetracks, and the United States Trotting Association.
The NTRA has also announced that the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, to be run at Belmont Park in New York on October 29, will serve as a platform to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Jockeys, trainers, breeders and owners will be encouraged to contribute a percentage of their purse winnings on Breeders' Cup Day to the fund.
The industry's reaction has not been limited to helping raise funds for relief organizations. For example, racetracks such as Texas' Retama Park have offered to provide jobs for displaced Fair Grounds employees.
And in Florida, dormitories at Magna Entertainment's Palm Meadows training center, which are vacant this time of year, are housing about 300 evacuees from New Orleans.
-Patricia A. McQueen
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