Owners of Philadelphia's second casino have announced
agreements with the city that includes being more inclusive toward minorities,
a commitment to giving workers minimum wages and working with local
universities.
Live! Hotel and Casino last November won the city's second and last
Category 2 standalone license. Its parent company, Stadium Casino LLC — a joint
venture between Cordish Cos. and Parx Casino owner Greenwood
Gaming and Entertainment Inc. — on Thursday announced a committment to four key
initiatives.
Inclusion, diversity local economic opportunity
The first agreement Stadium Casino made with the city is
the Economic Opportunity Plan that calls for:
- 47 percent to 58 percent of construction contractors to be minority business and women businesses
- 50 percent to 60 percent post-construction professional services and suppliers to be minority and women businesses
- 42 percent to 50 percent of the construction workforce to be minority.
- 50 percent of the permanent workforce to be minority and 40 percent to be women.
- 60 percent of the construction and permanent workforce to be local residents and 85 percent to be state residents.
The Cordish Cos. have come under fire over
alleged discrimination against African-Americans, although leaders of the local
NAACP chapter and other civil rights groups have called the accusations bogus.
Stadium Casino also announced it would report to a
diversity advisory board in order to facilitate compliance to the Equal
Opportunity Plan.
The company said Councilman Kenyatta Johnson will announce the board members
at a later date.
“The Stadium Casino agreement with the city is
transformative and sets a new gold standard for inclusive economic development
in the city," Steven Bradley, chair of the African-American Chamber, said
in a release.
Living wages
Stadium Casino also announced it would commit to a
minimum wage of no less than $12 an hour for all contractors during operations.
That rate went into effect for all city contractors earlier this year, but
contractors based outside the city limits were not required to pay the $12
wage.
The company said the construction process would generate
3,000 jobs, resulting in about $145 million in estimated new wages and salaries
during construction, which will be all union. The casino should also create
2,000 permanent jobs, according to Stadium Casino.
The company said about 750 of the permanent jobs will be
associated with table games, with an estimated average total compensation of
about $70,000 a year, including tips.
Stadium Casino said it's signed Community Benefits
Agreements with five community groups in the neighborhoods surrounding the
casino site, which will establish a community charitable fund amounting to a
minimum of $15 million in grants from the project to local communities during
construction and the 20 years of operation.
The grants will be administered by the community advisory
board, Stadium Casino said. The company added it would also partner with local
schools to create training programs for prospective casino dealers and other
hospitality workers at the casino.
Commitments include job fairs, local job placement workshops,
online job postings, job matching and recruitment services, and community
college and university partnerships for job placement.
The casino in early October got the majority vote from
the city planning commission after adjustments made to the master plan,
including eliminating two large-scale digital billboards.
The revised master plan for the $500 million project was
a result of a letter received in August to address four topics, Eric Rahe,
principal at BLT Architects, said in the October meeting.
Plans for the South Philly casino are pending final
gaming approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, although the
developer is dealing with several other issues that are putting a wrench into
construction.
During the October meeting, Alan Greenberger, deputy
mayor for economic development and director of commerce, addressed an appeal
filed against the Gaming Control Board’s decision to award the casino license.
It's related to the licensure itself to turn on gaming machines and run table
games, Greenberger explained.
The state Supreme Court will review the appeal before
making a decision.
Members of the National Action Network were present at
the October meeting, reiterating their findings that Cordish Cos. discriminated against African-American
workers.
Richard W. Hayden, attorney of Saul Ewing
representing Live!, said in October the companies' studies found contradictory
results and that NAN's allegations had no merit.
About Live! Hotel & Casino
Live! Hotel & Casino, located at 900 Packer Ave.,
will include a 2 million-square-foot facility with a Las Vegas-style casino
floor, featuring more than 2,000 slot machines and more than 125 table games.
The property will also include an 18-story hotel, spa,
valet parking and a seven-story, 3,000-square-foot parking garage. It will also
have restaurants, entertainment venues and other amenities.
The casino-hotel is expected to generate gross gaming
revenues (table and slots) of more than $300 million a year and more than $1.6
billion during its first five years of operation. It will generate about $130
million in state and local taxes.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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