Many Faces

The casino gaming industry is proud of its commitment to a diversified workforce. Of the 1.7 million casino gaming employees nationwide, 45 percent are minorities—far more than the national average of 33 percent. To highlight this, and the industry’s overall efforts, the AGA traveled to Detroit, Michigan in October to present at the National Minority Supplier Development Council Conference & Business Opportunity Exchange (NMSDC).

This year, for the first time, AGA is proud to partner with NMSDC to actively support their mission and advance “business connections that count” for many years to come. In fact, many of AGA’s members have been active participants with NMSDC for years, and we were pleased to highlight them at the conference roundtable.

The event, a part of AGA’s Get to Know Gaming (G2KG) campaign, included Stacy Taylor, senior vice president and chief procurement officer of global procurements, MGM Resorts International; Jessica Rosman, vice president of procurement, Caesars; Renee Boyce, president, CEO and founder, My Next Career Path Staff, LLC; Jacci Woods, vice president of public relations and community affairs, MotorCity Casino Hotel; Paul Jenkins, MiG Construction; and Shaundell Newsome, founder, Sumnu

Marketing.

During this year’s G2KG campaign, AGA has highlighted a number of minority-owned businesses nationwide. In April, AGA kicked off the American Gaming Small Business Jobs Tour at Eastern Food Services, a minority-owned business in Laurel, Maryland that works with MGM National Harbor to provide MLife water bottles to the new property.

In June, AGA traveled to St. Louis to meet with minority-owned Regents Maintenance Supply, a janitorial supplier and equipment provider for the region’s casinos. That same month, AGA traveled to Maryland Live! Casino to highlight Edwards & Hill Office Furniture, a minority-owned office furniture supply and installation firm in Annapolis, Maryland. Each company said its business grew exponentially thanks to their work with the gaming industry.

Earlier this year, AGA released a report, “The Gaming Industry’s Impact on Small Business Development in the United States,” that examined nearly a dozen U.S. gaming markets and assessed casino gaming’s direct and indirect impact on local, small businesses. Researchers from Spectrum Gaming Group concluded that gaming’s widespread impact is felt in markets across the country, but has larger impacts in small to mid-sized communities where local businesses work to integrate into gaming operations.

Nationwide, the small business report concluded that the casino gaming industry generates $52 billion in annual revenues for American small businesses and supports $13 billion in small business employee wages. In addition, $52 billion in annual small business revenues goes toward real estate, finance, health care, STEM, manufacturing, information technology and other industries.

We’re proud of our commitment to working with minority and women-owned businesses in cities across the country. Small businesses—and minority-owned businesses—are instrumental in driving our industry from $240 billion today to $300 billion tomorrow. AGA looks forward to working with NMSDC and partnering with the minority business community.