Gary Loveman
President & CEO, Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.
Gary Loveman addresses the Chief Executives’ Club of Boston.
Harrah’s CEO pitches casinos to businesses, lawmakers
The head of Harrah's Entertainment Inc. yesterday urged Boston business leaders
and legislators to bring casinos to the Bay State, arguing the addition would
bring millions of dollars in revenue to Massachusetts.
Gary Loveman, CEO of the multimillion-dollar corporation, said in a speech to
the Boston College Chief Executives’ Club that Harrah's would like to build
casinos in the state, possibly on the Suffolk Downs racetrack campus, which
he said has enough space for a hotel and entertainment facility. Loveman said
he knows he has a skeptical audience.
“This is not a blue-collar, downtrodden, customer base who seeks desperately
to entertain themselves through a casino,” he said at the Boston Harbor
Hotel. Harrah's owns 28 casinos in 12 states across the country.
(Clockwise, far right) Jack Connors (Chairman, Hill
Holiday), Bob Kraft (Owner, New England Patriots), Chad Gifford (Chairman,
Bank of America), Cathy Minehan (President, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston),
Pat Purcell (President, Herald Media), Fr. Leahy (President, Boston College),
Ted Kelly (Chairman, Liberty Mutual), Ron Sargent (President, Staples), Al
Verrecchia (CEO, Hasbro), and Bob Popeo (Chairman, Mintz Levin) listen to
Mr. Loveman's speech.
“We’'re prepared to invest hundreds
of millions of dollars, and we always end up paying taxes.” Interestingly
enough, particularly here in Puritan New England, that offer seems to be poorly
received.
Loveman, who has taught at Harvard Business School, said Massachusetts residents
flock to Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut and argued that Boston-area residents
would want a closer location. He sought to dispel what he contends are misconceptions
about the gaming industry, saying only 2 percent of Harrah’s customers are susceptible
to compulsive gambling and that most of the customers are older, educated people.
Political leaders have opposed casinos in the past, arguing they would compete
with the Massachusetts State Lottery.
(Left-right) Al Verrechia, Gary Loveman, Bob Kraft, Bob Popeo, and Jack Connors mingle in the Boston Harbor Wharf Room.
“The
lottery rakes in $800 million a year, which is pure oxygen to our economy, and
the state is desperately dependent on it,” said former House speaker Thomas
Finneran, who attended the luncheon.
Deputy Treasurer Doug Rubin said Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill does not want
casinos in Massachusetts, mostly because they could threaten the state’s lottery,
which provides more than $700 million in aid to cities and towns.
Article by Janette Neuwahl
Boston Globe
Friday, January 21, 2005
