- Greg Lee, chairman and CEO of Eureka Casinos, the resort hotel company he built with his parents Ted and Doris Lee, recently announced the creation of the Lee School Prize for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a joint collaboration with the Lee Business School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. With a total pledge of $1 million, the initiative sees multiple prizes being awarded that will speed entrepreneurs in the development of innovations necessary to rapidly address the urgent problems facing the hospitality, entertainment or travel industries resulting from Covid-19. Prize winners will use the awards to develop and bring their concepts to an investor marketplace made up of leading corporations, private equity firms and angel investors. To assure a quick outcome, products and solutions must be brought to market within 12 months. Worldwide submissions are open to individuals or companies until July 5. For more information, visit LeePrize.com.
- Joe Bertolone, executive director of the UNLV International Center for Gaming Regulation, recently sent out an update detailing the ICGR’s mission to continue to educate regulators even during the pandemic. AGEM has a very good working relationship with the center, having been heavily involved since its inception. In his update, Bertolone noted, “We’re educating the industry about regulatory matters—both technical and operational—with our in-depth, multi-day focus and industry practitioners. This supports the natural evolution of the center’s purpose and need to expand. All of our educational offerings are now delivered online including the ICGR Regulator Roundtable meetings and our custom training programs. This will allow us to reach a broader audience and allow much more flexibility.”
- The NevadaWorksTogether.com website was recently launched to give gaming employees who have been furloughed or laid off access to jobs in other Nevada businesses and industries. Organizers of this worthwhile project are also currently working on potential funding for training courses that individuals may need prior to moving into other sectors. The service is providing a much-needed resource in Nevada at this difficult time.
- A recent development with the Nevada Gaming Control Board (GCB) has seen Chairwoman Sandra Douglass Morgan delegate GCB member Phil Katsaros to oversee the Technology Division and its lab. AGEM Executive Director Marcus Prater and Katsaros recently discussed general industry issues, and it’s clear Katsaros’ supplier industry background will serve him well in this new role.
- Omron, based in Kyoto, Japan, was voted in as a new AGEM Associate member at the June board meeting. The company has been a leading manufacturer and provider of advanced electronic components for more than 80 years and is committed to new products and solutions to promote safe gaming practices in the industry. This takes AGEM’s global membership to 181 companies, an all-time high.
Forthcoming Events
- Most events and trade shows around the world have been postponed or canceled due to the pandemic. However, the National Conference on Problem Gambling, of which AGEM is a major sponsor, has been scheduled as a Digital Symposium to be held July 20-23. The main in-person conference has now been pushed back and is now planned for November 4-6 in Washington, D.C.
AGEM INDEX
The AGEM Index increased by 26.84 points in May 2020 to 402.89 points, a 7.1 percent gain from April. Ten of the 13 AGEM Index companies reported stock price increases as global markets continued to rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic. The stock price for Konami Corp. (TYO: 9766) increased by 11.2 percent, accounting for a 7.95-point improvement in the AGEM Index, while Scientific Games Corp. (SGMS) experienced a 24.7 percent stock price jump that led to an index contribution of 5.87 points. All three major U.S. stock indices increased as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 grew by 4.3 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively. The NASDAQ also experienced a gain of 6.8 percent.
