Good morning Austin. Thank you. We're calling to order commission meeting 282 of the Massachusetts gaming commission on Thursday, November 21st 2019 at 10 a.m. At our offices here at 101 Federal Street in Boston We will start with item 2 commissioner step and approval of our minutes. Sure. Thank you, madam chair In your packet you have the meeting minutes from the November 7th meeting down at Plainville I would move their approval again always subject to any immaterial corrections or typographical errors Any edits questions a second all those in favor I All those opposed Five zero Todd. Thank you Moving on to item number three our administration administrative update from Executive director, Bertrosian, please. Thanks. Great. Good morning commissioners. I got a number of items for you First I want to tell you about some recent meetings that have happened since our last open meeting At which both staff and commissioners attended so I'll just give the highlights then if commissioners want to film later They can The g-pack gaming policy advisory committee met on Tuesday, November 12th up at the State House In it among the items they discussed was a sports gambling update from our own associate general counsel Justin Stempeck administrative update on the region of status of region C and Racing was also done and John Did a update on a community mitigation fund John's yeah So in the chair was there so she can say a little more later. She thinks that was not enough We had also had another meeting of the public health Trust fund executive committee, which was literally in this in the space right here And that was this past Monday at 2 o'clock They received the same presentation that you received previously on the Boston China's down study. They also got a gap analysis On gaming treatment services gap analysis from the folks at Cambridge health Alliance And they had a DPH communications campaign presentation and they have some standing items that they address at all their meetings So and I know a couple commissioners one was On and one was in attendance in addition Both region B in region a local community mitigation meetings happened This past Tuesday and Wednesday commissioner Stevens was present a lot of our staff was present The region B was out in Pioneer Valley Planning Commission out in Springfield and the region a was here I attended a bit of the region a it would say there was some very Robust discussions about the guidelines for next year, but I don't want to steal John Joe's thunder for the next meeting in front of commissioner or commissioner Stevens thunder But those were meetings that have happened since our subcommittee meetings have happened since our last public meeting Okay, so other things that have happened Last Friday the 15th as we do every 15th. We published a gross gaming revenue for the previous month I've been reminded that I still owe you and I will work with John's Yemba on this a letter to the legislature just reminding them both about our Bill for racing and the statutory Deadline now, so I will get that done. I apologize, but I've been reminded about that. I will get that done Let's see Next week because of the holidays I think we may move agenda setting from Wednesday morning to Tuesday afternoon If that works for everyone so we can get that done In appropriate time and give people because we'll also probably lose some people Preparing for the public meeting afterwards and it gives a little more of what I call a runway So I think we're good and we will obviously post that in compliance with the open meeting law Okay Speaking of next week next week is the last week of harness racing at Lane Ridge Park casino and They will be racing they actually race today Tomorrow and then next week they'll be racing Monday Wednesday and Friday and a little bit of trivia next week is the only Wednesday race of the season Obviously because of the holiday, but it's the only race of the season. So excuse me. You gave us the answer though Well, I didn't okay other than I'll I haven't let I have another trivia question for you that I will do later Okay, okay So You know, I want to thank our staff Oh, we have a really dedicated seasonal staff and those folks, you know, if you look at the racing schedule It starts in April 4 o'clock races this number of days it transitions Later in the year to 2 o'clock races Sometimes there on Sundays sometimes there so we have an incredible seasonal staff and full-time staff who work You know in snow and rain and mud and all sorts of all sorts of weather and conditions and do just a great job So we are very very fortunate for that So just a big big shout out to them. Thank you very much So, okay speaking of trivia Tomorrow is what Tomorrow Eight years ago tomorrow Your law was a gaming act was passed eight years ago. There you go. Okay. All right. Yeah, that's it But of course because of our ethics rules, I have no price No price. No price So that is it so Just a quick question on one of your notes the the racing letter that you mentioned You know, we should give some thought to and I thought we had talked about maybe having it on the agenda for the next meeting Being a letter that the five of us sure can sign off on. Yeah, not that your signature doesn't carry a lot of weight But I think it I think it helps remind folks how closely we're watching Yeah, we'll put we'll get one that we can put in the packet for the next meeting I think it's still timely enough that we get done by the next meeting be fine Yeah, I think in the beginning of December with the reminder of the deadline Helpful yet that is all the same one as they have the questions No, thank you. Thank you So moving on now to item number four We have mr. Delaney today our construction project oversight manager meeting the on Budsman's report starting with just flipping our agenda a little bit our Folks from Encore Boston Harbor are here and the MGM will follow once they arrive Hopefully safe safely a little bit of black ice today. So good. Thank you commissioners I'm pinch hitting for John Siemba today. He sends his apologies for not being able to be here As much we have two items on the agenda The MGM Springfield and the Encore Boston Harbor third quarter reports So first up is Encore Boston Harbor's quarterly report. This is their first report now dealing solely with operations So a little new format for this report from what they what you've seen in the past, which dealt mostly with construction We have with us today Brian Gullbrant's president of Encore Boston Harbor Jackie Crumb senior vice president and general counsel and Eric Krauss senior vice president for communications and public affairs For this report there was certain information Regarding vendor spend that wasn't available when we went to press for the You know for the packets So Encore will be providing us with some supplementary information regarding vendor spend There'll be some discussion about it today, but we'll get that and present that at a later meeting So at this point, I'll turn it over to Brian and the Encore team for their presentation And Brian before we get started we want to welcome you congratulations on your new position This is your first time here as president. So congratulations from I think I can say from all of us and also Eric welcome We um, thank you and look forward to your Continuing reporting in terms of the quarterly reports. They're always very very helpful and Continuing a very healthy regulatory relationships. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you And if I could just ask Brian and Eric to introduce themselves and give a little bit of their background information As this is the first time that they're appearing at this in this context Thanks, thank you chair and commissioners. Good morning. Thank you for allowing us to be here And thank you for greeting me and thank you for welcoming me in just a little bit of background I've been on this project whether you're aware or not since we broke ground I've been here for a little over two and a half years My original role here was to oversee operations. So I came in as executive vice president of operations I've been with the company at eleven a half years. So nine years in win and encore in Las Vegas running non-gaming hotel operations their resort operations and Four weeks in the job And we've got our hands full so we've got quite a bit to do and we're going to report today on some of the changes That we're making and the direction that we're taking and looking forward to working with you and Making sure that everything's in line the way it should be. So thank you very much Now turn it over. Thank you Brian and thank you for the warm welcome chair and In the commission. I'm Eric Krauss. I do not have the illustrious tenure at the company as Brian I'm two weeks old and But I've been in the Boston community for quite some time Started my career as a reporter at the Boston Herald and I was chief communications officer for the Gillette company And then I left I took Tycho healthcare public and created Cavite in in Mansfield, Massachusetts And then was chief communication officer for both Bacardi and Hamilton Bermuda and then back here in Massachusetts For clean harbors before joining Encore Boston Harbor I was chairman of the board of select men for six years in Walpole, Massachusetts where my wife and I still reside but I am absolutely thrilled to join on core and Help progress what we're trying to do both internally, but most importantly Externally and continue to work with the communities continue to work with the municipalities And then obviously with Jackie with all bodies that are external. So I'm thrilled and thank you for having us today Okay, okay So we're gonna start with the gaming revenue and taxes. I know you've already reported out and we've reported out publicly Just to kind of run you through where we've been and where we are and where we're going We successfully opened our facility back in June 23rd We're now focused on stabilizing our operations and really refining and growing our business As you can see 48 million 52 million 48 million gaming revenues Producing 41 a little over 41 million in Massachusetts state taxes We're at this point really growing our business and we're I mentioned some changes We've had some changes in leadership some changes in marketing leadership. We've added Eric to the team we added Jenny holiday recently to the team and We're really listening to our customers right now it's about making sure that the customers in Boston and in the local areas Enjoy our place and feel comfortable in our place and a lot of the Initial barriers that we set up are being taken down and let me speak to some of those We thought we could charge for parking here in Boston and we were wrong We have now made self-parking free for all all guests 24-7 We thought we could charge for some of the transportation like boats and premium bus buses We were wrong and we're now making those complimentary or at a very low price We've also looked at our floor at our casino floor our gaming floor and talked to our customers and listened to our customers and our demand far out Wayed our supply of tables when we open and we had $50 minimums And we were watching social and listening and responding and talking to customers now We have $15 tables always so we value everyone's money So we want to make sure everybody has an opportunity to play We're also in introducing new slot product to the floor We're rearranging the slot floor to better meet the needs of the customers so they could traverse back and forth easier But it's really about making sure that our f&b offerings our room offerings our non-gaming amenities are meeting the needs of the customers The last thing we want to do is be a Vegas casino in Boston. We want to be a Boston casino in Boston We want to be greater Boston's hometown casino and we want everyone to come and feel welcome And feel like they can have a great time there whether they're playing or not playing Frankly, we have outstanding restaurants and non-gaming amenities You don't have to play to come visit us and we'll talk about some of the events We've done that are non-gaming related that have really I think exposed our facility to people that wouldn't normally come to our Place and you've all been out you've seen the facility It's actually a nice place to stay in a nice place to hang out whether you play or not Obviously our focus is on gaming revenue as well But we just wanted to make sure you understood that we are making every effort to grow our business Something that we also I think maybe fell short on when we opened we launched our red card program But it wasn't a tiered carded program that really we figured it figured out quickly. There's a requirement So we will be launching a tiered card loyalty program January 1st That will give different levels of benefits to different levels of players and customers And we believe that that along with some of the promotions and some of the different marketing messaging that we're doing Will help grow the revenues as well as help grow our business and be much more inclusive of everyone Not just the top 10 percent. We want everyone to come and have fun So With that I would like to talk about lottery sales unless there's any questions Yeah, actually Brian can just just some revenues of course a couple of things. I remember a Prior presentation that a good early indicator was the rate of signing up into the red card Are you still seeing some of those? You know good rates in terms of you know, what's what's the potential we are sign-ups are still in the Thousands as each week progresses ahead has slowed since opening because a majority of The hoopla and excitement was right at the beginning But as we launch our tier carded program We'll also have a tier match program so that customers that are at the silver level at some other Facility will automatically be in the silver level at our our facility people that are in the top tier can come and be Automatically brought into the top tier and I think that will have sent additional sign-ups. We've also partnered with a lot of local agencies Facilities we've partnered with the New England Patriots We've partnered with the Wang theater. We have facilities now secured at Fenway TD garden Gillette the Wang making sure that we're meeting all the right people and Introducing different groups of people to our facility in our business So we're going to continue to do everything we can to grow that number because that loyalty program does in fact drive the business for Sure, great question One of the other things we heard early on it was you know kind of wanted to get the bugs out before you really marketed internationally You didn't mention that is that something that? will You'll start to do more frequently. Yes, absolutely we have a Very significant VIP business in our other facilities and we have built this facility to Take care of those customers the few that we have brought in I don't want to say prematurely, but on the early side of our business have been blown away I do believe our staff is at the level they need to be now And I do believe it's the right time to start bringing in our international customers and our higher-end customers I hope that you all have the opportunity to come out. I haven't seen any of you recently, but at opening When you start with 4,700 brand new people that are all learning their jobs in a brand new facility It could be a little challenging and for some of us it was quite challenging We're now at a place where we've stabilized and are continuing to refine now And I think we're at that place where we can start bringing in international clientele, but great question Yes, it will definitely impact our business. Thank you. I Appreciate it the context of your theme about listening to the customer and how that is driving some pretty proactive changes I would just suggest on You know some of the changes you made to parking and transportation. I think Understanding the marketplace or at least an expectation in the marketplace When you open, but I also think some of those things that you were doing We're also driving people to get out of their car and look at the additional modes of transportation to be able to access Because you know without driving their car solely so So as you've made those changes, I think it's great I think it's timely because people have gotten somewhat accustomed to getting to Encore Boston Harbors through some of the other transportation options. They've all figured it out focused on And we're gonna help help the ones that haven't figured it out yet figure it out And I think by lowering those barriers cost and price People go, well, maybe I will jump on that boat if it's free And it's an amazing arrival experience. So why wouldn't you you don't have to sit in any traffic, right? Any other questions on the evidence could you just update us on The convention business, I know that there's When you had start up there were challenges of getting that in are you able to so the business is growing our prospects and Definites are growing on the books But we were slow at the beginning This is a business that books 9 12 18 months out You don't decide you're gonna have a meeting for 400 people tomorrow or even next week or next month Although there is some short-term business. It's usually smaller the larger groups and convention business has a much longer booking window So we're really seeing great activity for 20 and 21 And that's starting to materialize now and we're adding to the sales team So it's important that we have all the horsepower we need in sales But we certainly have the facility the team is doing an outstanding job So we're really looking forward to that on the short-term business though We have a great facility for catering and holiday parties and that's just exploding right now So really excited about the short-term opportunities, but to your to your point on convention It's really a long-term play and it's a 12 to 18 month booking window that we're working on right now We just had a beautiful wedding there Yeah, so social events and different things that are happening and we'll touch about some of that later in the presentation course With respect to the lottery sales We started a little slow at a hundred thousand, but in August we went to 241,000 now that is with the addition of Kino that happened in August up and on deck burger bar Where we offer that and then September 186,000 we continue to work with the state lottery to make sure that We're maximizing their sales and that we're refining the processes with Kino Which we've made some adjustments there and making it easier for customers to see the numbers and we're displaying them now on very large TVs so it's much easier to play much easier to see the results and We look forward to continuing that relationship and we've committed to a quarterly meeting with the lottery to review the numbers to see which machines are generating what profits and To make adjustments as necessary to continue to grow that business On the compliance side We've put in a lot of initiatives since opening designed to keep miners from entering the gaming floor And if they do manage to sneak in to prevent them from gaming and consuming alcohol For example since opening we've added stanchions So that our customers entering the gaming floor are required to go right past directly past a security guard And we've given all of our security guards hand-held devices which they can use to verify identification What we've discovered is the hand-held devices aren't Wonderful, they're not terribly efficient or accurate. They tend to result actually in more false negatives So what we're doing now is looking at whether we can hardwire The veradox or another company's machines that we can verify the identification right then and there Another initiative that we're we're looking at and implementing immediately is a number of our younger guests have more youthful-looking guests have complained that they've been carded in multiple locations and while we certainly want to encourage our cocktail servers and our Dealers to to card anyone who appears to be underage We did want to respect that these guests shouldn't be carded eight or nine times in an evening So what we've implemented now is a system where they can go to a central location and show their identification Get it verified get a hand stamp and that hand stamp will Demonstrate to whoever else comes into contact with them that they are permitted to be within the gaming floor Jackie can I ask you in terms of the miners intercepted gaming do you have a Shortest time period longest time period median in terms of the time that they were actually gaming Yeah, I mean we've been tracking all of that and we've been working very closely with the GU Most of them are very short term frankly. We're catching them fairly quickly It's obviously easier at the tables than it is at the slot machines So we're working on trying to get what we call the rovers We have rovers in every quadrant of the casino who are going through those slot machine areas to try to Intercept anyone who who may have got past our security at the do you know what the actual numbers are though? I don't but I can get that to you Out of that 41 you just talked about the breakdown between people you're catching at the table people you're catching a machine We would hope you know there's More that are sliding in somewhere on the slot machine floor and not actually facing a person Standing behind the table So out of that 41 you have a sense of folks that you caught at a machine and folks that you caught at a table We do have a full breakdown of all of that information which I will supplement this Filing with we'll get that to you this week Thank you You may not know the answer to this question either then I'm looking at the five miners that did consume alcohol Yeah, and if that was a fictitious ID or did they just not get carded? So on these ones these were people who did not get carded So what we've told our staff is what we're trying to encourage our employees to do is to look at an ID Try to verify it through our verodox machine To the extent that they do actually check the the identification We're trying to not penalize them if they do not check the identification Or if it's blatantly false then they are then they are subject to discipline But to your point on false Fake IDs it is an issue obviously and I know the nightclub deals with that as well There's they're probably the biggest target of that And something that with the right technology you're a bit better off So we are looking at different technology as well great So so going forward Joe Perhaps you can work with Jackie to make sure we have those Segmented metrics because that's an important part of the discussion. Thanks So on the operating spend Unfortunately, we owe you more information on this to we are we are short one procurement person. So Unfortunately, we weren't able to compile the data In the format that I know Joe and Jill have asked us to do So we are working very diligently on this We started with a number of companies that we already had contracts with in Las Vegas To maintain sort of the brand image to the brand consistency So we're looking at those contracts to see what we can pull out and do locally and what needs to have that The the wind branded Consistency So here's just a few examples of some of the local and minority and woman-owned businesses that we have been working with these were sourced locally through our procurement team here and We've entered into long-term contracts with each of these companies Jackie I had a chance I think to meet the folks from Dpv transportation and this is obviously a business relationship. That's really transforming their company and they were Extremely excited about the business opportunity, but at the same time Nervous, but at the same time. I know director Griffin actually worked with them in your Spending team to get some payment issues worked out So right and we're continuing to work with them to make sure that it's sustainable for them as well Like may I comment on Dpv real quick? These two young guys are fantastic Minority owners have really done a great job for us partner with us. Well, we didn't see ridership coming from certain locations They were quick to respond and we said let's let's go to Patriot Place and let's see what we can do there They've gone down there. Let's go to this other location and they've reassigned equipment Redone their operations They've really been a joy to work with and they're great partners So I'm glad you brought them up because they're two really in their young guys. Nothing wrong with being a young guy They're doing great and we look forward to a long-lasting partnership with them. They're great. That's great. Thank you So on the employment side we as of November 12th had 4,674 employees And we're continuing to hire so far this month We had over 50 new employees go through our two-day orientation including Eric So he can give a blow-by-blow of that orientation As of this morning we had 68 Open job postings in hotel food and beverage retail marketing customer service and sales So we're continuing to recruit and to hire. We also of course have our tenants in the building We've got big night entertainment that run mystique in memoir. We've got for telly and Dunkin Donuts And of course each of those have their own employees. So that's another few hundred employees from those tenants in terms of the Minority veteran and woman and local Breakdown We're very pleased to report on the minority side. We had a goal of 40% and we're actually at 54% On veterans. We're meeting our goal at 3% on woman We need to work a little bit harder and get up from 44% to 50% and that is something that we are focused on in In terms of local hires, which is defined as within 30 miles of the casino. We're at 87% compared to our goal of 75% I'm sorry Jackie. I lost track. Did you do did I hear you say that the goals because of what you are expecting? Did you just say them and I missed I missed that sure so on the minorities We had a goal of 40% 40. I couldn't hear that. I'm sorry Veteran was 3% 3 Woman was 50 and Local 75 Jackie may not be able to answer this because it's probably on the HR side of the house, but It's timely because as we think about workforce pilot training programs in the next round of community mitigation funds are there challenges that keep coming up in terms of Skills or training that you find good candidates So I think what's we do a lot of training in-house and we can we can train People who come from different industries from restaurants a lot of our a lot of our food and beverage are people who come from restaurants Not other hotels. I think the biggest challenge we're having is we're 24-hour operation and a Lot of people aren't used to working a night shift We are also pretty strict in terms of our work rules. So we have we expect people to show up We expect them to show up in a timely manner And if they don't we have a progressive disciplinary process and I think that given the unemployment rate in the current markets and a lot of these Employees have come from sort of more local restaurants. They weren't accustomed to the sort of rigid Process and so I think that's taken a lot of adjustment. We are starting to see that Level out and we're fairly pleased with our attrition rate right now So, you know, we're we're in the 20s to the high 20s attrition rate Which is what less frankly than where we thought we'd be And so our employees are definitely learning our system as well Yeah, you mentioned skillset. I would I would say we still Would love to have more dealers We are continuing with Cambridge College and our partnership and our dealer school So that is one of those at least for the near future. We'll continue to do that Until we feel like we're fully ramped up in the casino side You're aware we've added tables because of demand and so as we add tables times three shifts You need more staff and so and our our business is really peaking on weekends, obviously And evenings so it's it's more difficult to staff everybody on two days and then have a more level playing field The rest of the time so I think dealers will be one of those focuses We have for quite some time because there aren't a lot of Bostonians that have a tremendous a tremendous amount of experience in dealing so we're helping on that side and certainly Recruiting from everywhere and dealers need to be 21 We are acquiring And with respect to Cambridge College and Debra Jackson is lovely as president I am I'm wondering in terms of the pipeline are they getting attracting the students that they need is there any promotion advertising issues for them so and is it a Positive pipeline for you in other words. Are you able to hire a high percentage of their graduates? Yeah, it's still an effective Operation for us certainly we could always have more And I don't have visibility to exactly the recruiting methods So I can get back to you on that with more information. I'm just wondering want to make sure that The pipeline is healthy on both that pipeline has been very healthy In fact, we've had a waiting list of people so as we open up new programs We send out to those people and let them know that we're starting a new program And so we've been very very pleased with the participation and then in terms of the graduate Who you're able to hire Over 95% 95% and then in terms of Scholarships you're not finding a financial barrier so much in terms of the program We haven't we obviously gave out a lot of scholarships at the very beginning We haven't heard any Just but I'm turning to in terms of our community Mitigation to that you're not hearing that Financial barriers are keeping students out. I know that we are hearing that out in the Western region I'm not I'm not so much sure about the Eastern region. Okay. Thank you. That's really helpful And just one more thing to add so as we've sort of stabilized now that we've been open for a little bit We're able to we've been able to implement our leadership programs And so HR is rolling that out so now we're able to take the managers who've been running at a million miles every day and Actually give them the training that they need to be better managers and to grow in their positions too And I think one of the important things that we're focusing particularly on the diversity side is making sure that we get women and minorities through those leadership programs and into the Higher roles that are available. I suspect that my fellow commissioners will be asking for those numbers. So I Suspect as much. Yeah Along along those same lines Because you did such a such a Very good job with the construction phase and incorporating women Have you identified any barriers to your overall hiring or specific job? Jobs that women may need to be encouraged to you know, they can do those jobs or have you I mean, that's an important step I know you said you're working on that But identifying barriers is a critical piece. I just wondered if you had any any Statistics on on those things We have identified certain departments that have less women in those departments and what we're trying to do much like we did on the construction side For example What we call PAD which is our public area cleaning crew Anything outside of the rooms Correct So, you know housekeepers we have a large percentage of women But we're not seeing those same candidates apply for our PAD positions So what we're trying to do is if we don't have a housekeeping position available We're trying to talk the candidates through what we do have available in PAD Hoping to transition them into a role which they wouldn't traditionally think that they may be able to handle The other department that we're working very closely with to make sure that we get more women in is our security department which is a really large department and Rich Pryor our director of security has has done a really great job in the last few months of really identifying Woman that are are meet the criteria to work within the security department Or how we can adjust our criteria slightly so that we get people in who can be trained Thank you Jackie again kind of staying on this topic any update on the The daycare services. Yes, so very good Commissioner O'Brien through me Excellent news we actually got our certificate of occupancy on the daycare center last week We have moved in older furniture in fact My assistant to new chef has spent the last two weeks at the daycare center helping them move the furniture in So now they're going through their process of trying to get everything done on on ABC's ABC ABC on their end to make sure that they can get up and running first thing in the new year Moving on to marketing and entertainment Brian So we had July August September Quite a few different promotions and ramped them up Sequentially so July was really a launch of the red card program Which is our current program that will morph into something different the end of December launching on the 1st of January as I mentioned That went out with a lot of free credit and got everybody excited and brought people in and it's about trial and acquisition and Making sure that customers can come and players can come and try us out In August and September it started to become much more promotional and we had our first car giveaway It was a 2019 McLaren, which is a nice fancy car and a resident from Melrose Actually one you can see him in the bottom right corner very excited with his Fenway Winning a $220,000 sports car, so he was very excited. This is after he did a race back from Mike's roast beef This is hilarious. So you had to be present to win a Friend of his text him and says hey, they just called your name. You're the winner and he says nah and This is another friend called him. He's running down Broadway from Mike's roast beef to get there just in time To claim the prize, so we were very excited to hold the car for it Within the rules. Yeah, doesn't he have the sandwich in his hand right there? That would not be the sandwich That's the price How much time did he have to get back how fast can it run it was 15 minutes But that's that's quite a run yeah But I think it should be duly noted that he was taking advantage of a neighborhood enterprise to grab his sandwich One that's well known. That's a great job of the cottage industry. That's right Many different promotions, but the car promotion so successful that we did a second one in October Also very successful with a Porsche But we'll continue that on a regular cadence And we're really introducing quite a few additional promotions in different things that will report out next month or next quarter And you'll see this grow more and more to be more competitive in the market We also turn the page had a few concerts and we started doing special events to really drive incremental traffic and Introduce our facility to different customers Tony Bennett a true icon. He was phenomenal Really did a great show show was sold out. We had invited guests there. They all came in and then Scooted into the casino and had a great time. We changed the music that night in the casino. So it was a lot of fun We had Casey in the sunshine band. Yes Some of us still remember Casey in the sunshine band It was a great night for everyone and then we had earth wind and fire When we kicked off things we've had Paul, Anka. We've had some Asian concerts. We had a Vietnamese concert We had a Taiwanese concert Making sure that everybody has something to enjoy and bringing in different groups of people So it's been a lot of fun. We've learned that boxing is very popular here in Boston in the greater Boston area We've had two Friday night fights Championship pro boxing both with Murphy's boxing and both were very well attended and The evening went very smoothly We had extra security and we had extra police detail just in case because Everybody gets excited at a fight and there's a certain activity going on in the middle of the room that would Might inspire people we had no issues Everybody was very civil and it had a great time, but there was a lot of hooting and hollering. So it was a fun night The next page a little different than fight night. We had our first high tee this was really for the LGBTQ T plus community and the event was on a wonderful Saturday afternoon as you can see by the pictures it was Beautiful weather and everything was still green and glowing, but we had a great reception We had a couple thousand people show up Not all with batting community But with residents with customers that are just walking by here in the music and the DJs going and it was a lot of fun We all got to kind of go down. I hung out and it was a really enjoyable afternoon so much so That the LGBTQ T plus community here in Boston wants to have additional events with us And we're talking to them now about what we're gonna do next to up it even more and make sure that We're the right facility for all so it was a lot of fun And I did not know I have to tell you a quick quick story It's high tee and that's what we build it as and About a half hour before the gates open and before the opening. I saw six Ladies probably in their fifties or sixties and they were beautifully dressed with beautiful tee hats and their pumps waiting And I and I asked them if I could assist them and they said we're here for afternoon tea I explained now. Let me let me fit forward real quickly an hour later. They were on the floor They had the best afternoon tea and afternoon they've ever had and it was really something that was to be seen and enjoyed by all So it was a wonderful afternoon Mentioned briefly earlier that we've secured suites For all of our guests at Fenway Gillette TD garden the Wang and we're also very proud to announce Our partnership with the New England Patriots We are now the official hotel of the New England Patriots for several years to come What a great organization And have recently met with some of the other sporting associations and organizations here Really making sure that we have the right strategic partnerships here in the community and that we reach out to all But all of the venues have been very supportive and welcoming so it's been great and our guests are certainly enjoying all of our winning teams I think any questions Any of the promotions or any of the marketing that we're doing you will see us come out more strongly with Boston's hometown casino and again We want to be Boston's casino not a Las Vegas casino in Boston And we certainly welcome any input that you have as well We want to make sure that this is a partnership and we move forward and grow our business for the benefit of all so thank you on our community relations we We engaged in a few cleanups a cleanup of Jordan Boys and Girls Club of Boston and Stone Zoo and We also had about 110 participants in the 5k run that benefits disabled veterans In other community highlights we are proud to announce that we are the gold winner of the Massachusetts economic impact award Which we will be receiving on Monday. It was actually a pretty amazing competition We went in and had to pitch there were about five other businesses from eastern Massachusetts in that room And they were pharmaceutical companies that have developed drugs that are really saving lives There they were There was a company that can track every Social media post so in real time they track Twitter Facebook everything and they're able to give a company real-time information about what's trending right now and How to respond to it and there was sustainable farming projects so pretty diverse group of companies that that were participating in this and we were really surprised and shocked and pleased to be the winner To date this year. We've donated 2.5 million to local charitable organizations and our employees have Volunteered 4,200 hours our goal for this year is 5,000 and we're on track to getting there I wanted to turn it over to Eric just briefly to talk about community relations going forward and well We have the 10 year we have the four-year commitment of 10 million dollars for tracking Well with a quarter of that in year one I think what you're going to see from on core Boston Harbor going forward is No matter how much we're going to give it's never enough and we want to probably transition of trying to do a lot that then You don't give as much and you don't have the impact with a single Organization so I think we're going to go from a shotgun approach to much more of a strategic focus in Areas that are important not only in our host community and Everett, but in greater Boston as well So you'll see at least the commitment of our money remaining But where we channel that will probably change in some cases dramatically Employee volunteer hours we are committed to hitting the 5,000 threshold and Our employee base in all the companies that I have worked in is probably stronger here than anywhere on being in the community But we have ongoing meetings with Boston and the surrounding communities on what's important to them And we're going to continue to do that as you may know we partnered with the Connors family office and They have been terrific in identifying where we go We have implemented a new committee internally that the three of us sit on so any dollar going out needs our approval and Hey, we're four months into this and we're only going to refine it and get it better So any questions for us? Well, maybe just a comment. Hi. There's a lot of great signs and I'm Substance to the report today. Thank you. I would just I look forward to future updates, especially On the table game play it's it's good to hear that you're reacting quickly to what you perceive to be Higher demand that anticipated on table. I know that carries a number of logistics Not just additional hiring, but you know, in instances, there's slot moves and and perhaps camera coverage So it's really good to hear that that you responding quickly As everybody knows we do we will do research on patrons a patron survey and other things and We'll be I'll be interested in seeing how much of that market is being recapture money And you know that that's leaving the state How much of it might be just the market dynamics that you're in because you're competing with other Massachusetts licensees and how much is the overall market really a growing which is something that we're also interested in in ascertaining But thank you for the report Just on that, I'd like to say thank you to Bruce and Burke and Lewis because we've been doing these changes almost constantly And they have been unbelievable to work with they've been responsive. They've been helpful They've we couldn't we couldn't thank them enough for for being so prompted in their response Good to hear A couple of questions On employment, you know, thank you so much for the provision of both full-time and part-time. I know that you're going to get back to us on Really looking at the minority breakdown and the goals a little bit in further detail but as you know, this is a The measure of number of employees is an important one for the community Right now the combination of full-time and part-time is forty six hundred seventy four We know that you started it with a high number. I think it was maybe like fifty eight hundred for this one Really your opening Jackie you were here. I believe I was not When there was a submission for your application. Do you remember the number of? What you anticipated for employee number All off the top of my head and Joe said he's got it right there It was significantly lower in our application. I believe we were at thirty eight hundred Joey. You want to correct me the See if I can find it John just sent this out to me Yesterday, I think it was forty three hundred and change Was the number? I think it was thirty eight hundred yeah, and I and I think that's an important number to have on the record and then secondly I Believe that you are keeping track of local taxes. I've seen one article again I think that's a really important measure. We recognize our licensees as economic drivers So do you have off the top of your head any numbers that you want to share? Or could we at least plan on that coming in the future in terms of hotel and meal taxes? so we actually had a meeting with the city of Everett on Tuesday and We're working to get that information. They get it on a quarterly basis We obviously know how much we've paid in but we're trying also not just to see what we paid in but what? But what the impact on other businesses within the community they did have one they only have one other hotel In Everett, it's the Envision Hotel lovely hotel And so we're trying to try to break it down and see are we helping the Envision? Are we helping Mike's roast beef? Are we helping some of the other restaurants McDonald's down the street from us? And so we will be able to report on that and give you that information as soon as we can amalgamate it all from With the city of Everett that that that would be a really helpful metric. Thank you Yeah, I would I would echo that you know, certainly it's something we've had a Conversation with you know Mark Vanderlin and our research team about to look at some of those local trends and those local revenue sources Seeing what kind of impact we're having any other questions Thank you so much. Thank you again welcome We we knew you were already here in the Boston area, so we don't have to say welcome to the neighborhood, but thank you Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, so next up we have MGM Springfield We're joined by Mike Mathis president of MGM Springfield and Mike has quite a crew with him So I'll I'll step aside here and he can introduce the his folks for their quarterly report Don't go too far Joe How was your trip? I see or not so I see not too bad. Good. Do you want to introduce your team Mike? Good morning, madam chair commissioners morning Michael Mathis with MGM Springfield I think it might make sense to let them introduce themselves as they they report out on their respective sections And apologize for the delay and want to thank the on-court folks for switching up the order So and congratulations to them for for a great opening quarter It's interesting to hear some of their their growing pains They're growing pains that I'm sure are familiar to you because we've reported on the same items obviously we had the benefit of a long history of regional operations So we got ahead of some of those issues just by nature of those operations, but we're learning as well as you know, so So wish them all the luck So I think some of this we touched on last quarter because because the lag effect or always in or always in We've got new information even as we're reporting on prior quarters But just a refresher on our one-year anniversary I think for us especially in this third quarter the one-year anniversary is significant because we're laughing ourselves And as we lap ourselves we're able to really Take a look at the things that we saw in the market in that month and the kinds of changes We've made to track our progress against those prior months Still you get a little bit of that opening effect from those first two or three months So for us, I think the real the real year-over-year comparisons will become more meaningful the farther You get away from that that new that new shiny toy opening impact that both us and on-court enjoyed in those first two or three months But that said had a great one-year anniversary We talked about in the past celebrated not just the community But really our employees as well and just to remind you one of the one of the great experiences bottom-right photo is a Our floor supervisor Mike Davis and table games and he had worked the night before until about 4 a.m He was part of a pool of 200 employees We had made a commitment at our Grand opening with our employees that anybody who had perfect attendance at the Called the the supervisor and below level the hourly level would be entered into a pool to win a car and Incredibly, we had 200 individuals that qualified for the raffle and Mike Davis who had worked Until 4 a.m. The night before His boss asked him to come out to volunteer to support the grand opening event We're a little concerned he was gonna tell us a pound sand having worked till 4 a.m. Which would have been awkward, but he was a trooper. He came out and we're myself and Jimmer and our chairman awarded him a car He's a Springfield resident as well. So really really great story Just to highlight a few changes and you know, we continue to tweak and evolve our program The photo there is our stadium gaming which we opened about right around the anniversary And it's been a huge success. I think one of the things that we've learned About the market is that you've got to provide different products that for a high frequency customer and give them an opportunity to engage and With with the product in a different way what the stadium gaming does for us a few things One is it allows us to give them a lower table limit You heard the encore folks talking about dropping from 50 to 15 We had the same experience dropping from 50 and 25 down to 15. We're now getting requests for 10 and 5 and because of the stadium gaming which is staffed by two dealers who are able to basically serve a 24-seat table if you think about it We're able to provide a five dollar table limit because of the efficiencies on the labor and They're able to play multiple games as well. So been a great product very communal and We continue to expand that look at expanding those opportunities Mike how is the market, you know, your customers responding to that? Stadium gaming very well. It's it was tracking above, you know, we call it the house average on the machines and We've got one more game that we've added to the four screens that are available So, you know, it's always interesting about these machines as well as as we track average bed It's the perception of choice that people want they want a five minute the five dollar minimum But I think our average on those machines are somewhere in the fifteen dollar per per bet So it's it's it's working quite well It's been very profitable for us and the customers love it because they're really multi-tasking, right? They could switch between one game and another that's right rather quickly Yeah, exactly so yeah, you're able to play roulette and blackjack at the same time and there's a there's a customer that wants that opportunity This has been a really a great opportunity for us. We just this past weekend Opened our VIP lounge off the hotel lobby and in terms of lessons learned We thought we we could get away with not offering a VIP lounge and our customers told us that they really wanted one and We converted the old Starbucks space off the hotel, which was underperforming We're trying to understand a little bit more why we think a lot of his location But into this really beautiful space and it really gets gives a Chance for our VIP customers to get away from sort of this the stimuli of the casino floor And to get some quiet space, especially with their family their spouses In a nice beautiful space and you can see it's done as well as we've done the rest of the property And I think some of you have toward it and very excited about it. We had we had a grand opening Event for this this past weekend and had six hundred or so VIP customers In that space and then spilled out into the lobby But really great feedback about you know, most of it was directed at me and was it like about time you gave us this So but great space I had a chance to be in there the other day for your reception with Officials from the surrounding community, but they were impressed. I was impressed. It looked great. Thank you Looks great. What are what are those things that appear to be hanging on that third picture Mike from the ceiling? Yeah, they're they're in keeping with the theme that is throughout our property Especially in our hotel lobby there they're hardbound books that have been opened up and played open and the pages have been curled over and It's it's it's a very neat installation and gotten a lot of comments about that that particular chandelier Looks like MGM is having a direct impact on the brimfield flea market. That's right For sure we will try to track that And then you know some of the things that are under development we had our groundbreaking about a month ago for Walberters about a month and a half ago and Construction permitting is underway with the city. That is a June-July planned opening That was the last piece of our development, you know on the campus as you will recall That will bring between 25 and 50 jobs based on the estimates we've received from the Walberters family and it's going to be Their first Walberters and this side of the state and I think you know part of what we're trying to do is is Obviously bridge the gap between Western mass and Eastern mass I think bringing a brand and with the Walberters name out there. They want to be very active in promoting it It's an important location for them And I think they recently announced a Western location as well So clearly they're invested in trying to build build a brand across the Commonwealth They were excited to partner with them and then really this is we're on the heels I think about two weeks ago. Madam chair was out for an incredibly exciting announcement, which is we are bringing the Red Sox winter weekend to Springfield It's been in with a Connecticut competitor who also had the green monster branding opportunity When we took over the green monster as MGM part of that agreement was to also bring winter weekend to Springfield So Sam Kennedy the president of the Red Sox came out brought the trophies And it's gonna be the third week of January and this is part of a long-term relationship so Tickets went on sale. I get periodic counts on how that How that event is selling but they estimate to be as many as 10,000 a rabid Red Sox Fans coming to downtown Springfield in the third week of January Incredibly exciting. It's gonna be a game-changer for the region and if you talk about economic impact there You know that is more people than we can feed certainly more people than we can lodge and the The hotel blocks reach all the way out to Worcester The restaurants are gearing up. We've met with our CVB to get ready for this for this group of folks to come out It's a two three-day experience.  It's sponsored by the basketball Hall of Fame Dwayne Wade and LeBron James's sons are playing in that showcase So there's the opportunity potentially for those folks to be in town at the same time as the Red Sox So it's gonna be one of the bigger events that side of the state seen since probably our opening So we're very excited about it and all the opportunities that that will bring Is that a three-day weekend? Is that Martin Luther King? It is wonderful Yeah, so it's a it's a great weekend And we work we meet weekly with the Red Sox folks to make sure that the whole city is ready You know, we call this a city-wide and in Vegas you have city-wide This is gonna be more than a city-wide. This will be a region-wide because the impact That's a great opportunity to showcase Your facility to showcase Springfield and all the area So we we know that it's a very much a joint regional Effort and I think that if we were guessing when eight years ago when the expanded gaming act was put into place They were imagining exactly that for the region. So Good luck. Absolutely and in that sort of regard the In that vein we've we've got another really exciting opportunity later in the year. It's the Basketball Hall of Fame NBA enshrinement We hold it every year in at Symphony Hall and this particular year the class includes Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett This is gonna be a tremendous year probably the biggest year since the dream team went in So again imagine both of these events in downtown Springfield in the same year And it will be the same type of preparation and it'll be really more than a city-wide. It'll be a region-wide We're very excited about 2020 and Exposing a lot of new visitors customers to downtown Springfield the MGM resorts obviously product, but really Really the region so very excited about that I'm just gonna close on this section madam chair you You asked the encore folks about local tax impact. I know I mentioned the impact and and what was a great business development event that Commissioner Stebbins put on a week ago and Introducing all the licensees to different businesses, which I thought was great I'm getting a lot of emails from that and a lot of activity. So I appreciate the introductions But I did a deeper dive and at this point we can compare fiscal year 18 to fiscal year 19. So July of 2017 to June of 2018 what the city collected in meals and occupancy tax compared to the period of July of 18 to June of 19 and Very proud of the results. I think for many for many for the few naysayers that talked about The our licensees being cannibalistic of the local economy If they were right, then you would expect to see our MGM revenues Offset by declines in the other and those numbers will be flat, right? If that would if that were to prove their case, that's not the case We we said that you know a rising tide lifts off boats. We believe that we we size our campus such that Visitors would spill out of our four corners and go into the local restaurants and go into the local hotels So here are the numbers from fiscal year 18 the city tracked 2.9 million in combined occupancy and meals tax in fiscal year 19 that number jumped and only had 11 months of our impact by the way, right? Because that started in July 3.8 million is with that number. That is a 30% increased 887 thousand dollars of increased economic activity You hear anecdotes about our businesses is our you know our local business is feeling the impact of MGM. It's been great Our business is down. It's hard to hard to sort of siphon through some of that Anecdotal information to me the data speaks volumes We estimate we're probably 50% of that increase because we're obviously Pushing a lot of meals through we're pushing a lot of occupancy through at a higher ADR Which impacts that tax rate, but the other 50% is pure lift to the remaining businesses in the community And that's something we'll continue to track, but we're incredibly proud of that and as well as you should be that's great Thank you for that Mike Thanks for urging me to track it down. I know that was something that you reached out about At this point talk about revenue taxes and lottery and then we'll switch over to compliance So you can see our our quarterly gaming revenue, you know, we are Settling in we're not certainly not Not satisfied with it, but we're settling in in that low 20 million sort of Monthly gaming revenue for me I think what's meaningful about this is these are the first three months with on-court in the market. They're very formidable Competitor certainly and they've done a wonderful job and and in terms of a month over month comparison I don't have the Q2 numbers, but I know these these numbers represent flat or flat to up over the Q2 period and that and that substantiates for us that we have a very strong local market We have a market that appreciates the MGM product we certainly have some great Boston customers and we've seen them come back after trialing on-court and They've told us that it's a great experience, but it's a different experience and we like the MGM experience Just as much as we like the on-court experience before different reasons. So we're gonna share some of those great customers certainly some of the great Springfield customers in the Western Mass are gonna we're gonna share with on-court as well, but we've we've been able to absorb that the introduction of that that strong competitor and in fact as We're sitting here today. October numbers have been already been released. We're in the middle of November We're seeing a very strong fourth quarter. I think that speaks to us getting into our database making the improvements like the VIP lounge and some of our marketing changes so I think the future is bright and We can coexist in a really hopefully vibrant commonwealth market Mike just in general Same comment that I had for for the the people from Angkor as we move forward and I do we do more more of these research I'd be interested in just how much you think you're growing collectively the market and how much might be Your success in trying to recapture some of that play that was leading the state before you came in Sure, you know, we're we're always a little sensitive about some of the proprietary analytics that we do But I think you know one way just as you think about the size of the market is what we look at is If you define the market as as the commonwealth Licensees certainly the Connecticut the two Connecticut operators depending on how you feel about Upstate New York we sometimes include connectivity the rivers Folks in there and then you look at Rhode Island the Twin River and Tiverton operations All their numbers are public. So you you put that all into you put that all into a table and Whatever the increased revenue that you're seeing from the new operators you look at what the decline is in the other competitors and when we came on board certainly you saw a little bit of a Decline in some of our competitors, but our new revenue far outweighed the declines I think you're seeing with with the introduction of Angkor that we're not only not down But we're up so you can see what maybe the declines aren't some of the other competitors maybe outside of commonwealth, but The introduction of MGM the insurance introduction of Angkor is growing the market In a whole there's a little bit of cannibalization But there's new customers coming and they're spending and there's existing come customers are coming They're spending more time and more money in these facilities. So we believe that we believe we are growing the market significantly Thank you. Yeah the lottery Performance, I think You know these these looks in some way similar to what you saw in Angkor. Obviously, they had a very large August as did we I think You know, we're excited about the lottery opportunity part of it. It really goes to how we We had sent our customers with different promotions and some of our better promotions have been around lottery ticket giveaways So what these numbers don't speak to are the lottery tickets. We actually buy ourselves as a customer I think these are just the terminals But we we believe we've got a robust business We're going to continue to promote the lottery in our and our in our different customer promotions to drive a little bit Of more awareness to the terminals, but it's a pretty healthy business and I think it's performing quite well I For whatever's worth, you know, whether they do or don't I believe Playing which does include what up, you know in their lottery reports, whatever they might purchase for giveaway Okay, well, we'll look at that. I didn't believe we were but perhaps perhaps where we are tracking them in these numbers And I think that's why I asked Last at our last commission meeting whether or not it They had Kino because it There's a suggestion here that it's the lottery tickets. That's the I see Kino Is it just from the machines that you think or does this would this reflect Kino as well? It would it it would include Kino, which I think we generally Provide in the tap Sports part Okay, so this definitely is not just the past it's a Kino as well Yeah, I believe so, but I'll make sure between that question and then our own purchase and then your own purchases I'll verify for the next word and Joe if we could just make sure that all through, you know PPC and on court everyone's measuring the same way I mean to me it's a it's it's an impact, right? The positive impact if you're purchasing them to give away The lottery still sold that ticket. That's right. That's right Well, and then the good news is that the numbers show Great sales for the lottery Thank you At this point, I'm going to turn over to Daniel Miller our director of compliance to talk through our Q3 numbers for on the client side Thank you, Mike. Good morning lady chair and commissioners and as you said Daniel Miller I know we met briefly in the last quarterly meeting, but I'm the new compliance director took over from Karen McCrae And yeah, I'll happily walk you through our numbers regarding the underage You know participants fat sadly either on the casino floor gaming or Consuming the alcohol Like July even though the first number seems pretty high Again, it speaks to how we're detecting and quickly removing these people from the gaming floor and I know if you remember but from The last quarter's response as well June was pretty high July appears high August appears high We interpret those being directly related to school being out college being out and Opportunists as it were between probably the ages of 18 and 21 Trying to get onto the gaming floor and we're finding them But in the month of July we had no table games Gaming and we had no alcohol consumption by any minus either So that we thought that was some very good numbers there Regarding August and September there were a little bit of both on that front There was one table game player in August and then the three Consumptions of alcohol one of them was the table game player as well And then there were two and two in September in all but one of those cases They were to your point earlier commissioned a Cameron fake IDs were used in that case One particular situation in August was someone in the poker room They were questioned the ID was shown to GEU and even they couldn't tell at first whether it was or was not a fake ID To its degree, but are you using some of the technology the verification technology? Next as it as of September late September in this particular slide You can see the security officer standing behind that podium We have three brand new podiums at the main entrances to the gaming area and each one of them now has a verodox system Where they're scanning at the very least any one that they feel is under the age of 30 So it might be questionable and then when we go into our checkpoint Program where we shut down to just one entrance night. They're checking everybody for ID at that point And what I I either cannot cannot give because it's actually cute for is as of October We've managed to prevent six people from getting on the casino floor Because of going through that checkpoint and their IDs running as being fake or bad Which were then turned over GEU and they confiscated those those fake IDs So it sometimes difficult to see through the numbers themselves, but I think we're doing pretty good overall So I'm gonna ask you the same question that I asked you on court earlier, which is do you have Either a shortest and longest period of time before interception on the floor and or a median before you said you quickly remove them But I'm just curious what the timing is. I don't have specifically with me now But what we're seeing when it comes to say someone that sneaks between two slot machines and gets into a slot machine type Area is is arranged somewhere between three and ten minutes is the average that they're found picked up and removed from the gaming floor Do you know what the longest was? Anybody who managed to evade for an extended period of time I think there might have been one in there from memory. There was maybe like 35 40 minutes something like that That's about all I can think of that didn't have fake IDs, you know So some of them were managed were able to stay out a bit longer because they offered these up and people checked them Think they were good Because they were already on the floor, but yeah, I think that's probably one of the numbers that sticks sticks out in my memory We could get that for you Yeah, Commissioner Ryan, I look at the same number because you know, we have such a porous floor as you know and on the slot machine side It's there's gonna be incidents, but it's how long were they able to stay there? And I'm always I marvel we'll get to the numbers, but I marvel at how many of them are four minutes three minutes five minutes You do once a while see a 30 minute and you try to figure out what corner was that that abated our rovers But the one thing I'll say about these numbers is they come as a result of an incredible focus by our team And I want to recognize the 130 security officers that Second to making the place safe. This is their 1a priority We have we have really focused on this the one the one table game incident and we're shooting for zero tolerance We had one in this quarter Was unfortunately a parent who bought in on our big wheel and allowed their daughter to bet I mean, it's it's really unfortunate the kind of The kind of behavior we're seeing from parents and we're seeing that to even on the slot machines So just know that the one is unacceptable at that But that was the circumstances around the one otherwise we would have a flawless Quarter in terms of the table game piece Mike some of the changes that you've made the floor the the new bar of the stadium gaming kind of was in that back corner where It might have been a better place to hide. That's right. Do you think Clearing out that space making it more visible is kind of maybe try some of these numbers down a little bit I Think it has and the other point there is it that's one of the areas that we've installed one of these podiums So we now have dedicated security on the entrance from the salon area that's there on Main Street There's one as you come in from the hotel lobby 24 hours a day and then ultimately the one from the valley, which is where we get most of our Entrance and exit foot traffic Thank you, and it's a redesign of the podium which we introduced to you at prior quarter I think it's made a big difference that no one can walk by and not recognize that this is a perimeter And it it's it's made a big difference and we continue to try to tweak it The verodox is another great addition to those podiums That's everything I have for you unless you have any other questions commissioners Thank you very much for your time At this point we're going to hand over to Ryan Geary our director of financial operations to talk about our spend Thanks Mike. Good morning, madam chair and commissioners. Nice to see you again I'll briefly go over our diversity spend for q3, and then I'll get into local Couple of highlights this quarter Bittable spend is is up 3.1 million quarter over quarter You can see we have 12.5 million in biddable spend for the quarter and We're beginning to kind of climb that ladder For the WBE spend where we have a slight uptick quarter over quarter As well as with NBE, which has been one of our You know areas that have been a challenge historically so far. So we have a slight uptick there as well with an increase of Just about seventy five thousand dollars quarter over quarter in that category VBE slight down tick although That down tick is is really in terms of spend very insignificant. It's about thousand dollars There's really only two vendors in that category right now again. We're trying to grow that But the main supplier in that category is is supplying all of our disposable for food and beverage for inventory So that kind of ebbs and flows with with that business Any questions on diversity spend before I move forward? I Mean, I would just know and I think you hit on it and I'm happy to see that You're focused on it. I'm aware of it, but you know the NBE numbers. They're pretty disappointing right whatever we can do to Reengage our stakeholders to see how we can help you out most definitely we continue to sponsor the GNEM STC We hosted their their expo this quarter, which I'm going to cover in a later slide At MGM Springfield. It was a great event. I think you guys attended We we actually ended up meeting some NBE suppliers there that we're we're now doing business with So it's an area we can continue to focus on We were really, you know, continuing to do outreach every quarter and you know, we're just It's challenging to find, you know suppliers that are in the pipeline That are that are registered right now. So as we find them, you know, we're certainly giving them opportunities And we're just we're partnering with with our certification partners to really try and build that pipeline If you haven't met them, Nader Acevedos you're from the Hispanic American Institute You might want to introduce yourself before you leave. Definitely, you know on that now do we This is a part that, you know shifting between Licensees would be a positive. Do we have a List gel of everybody that is licensed or have done business with any of the licensees That is also a certified NBWB To share with others that, you know, if they're doing businesses in any side of the state They could potentially do it elsewhere Maybe we can put open that. Thank you. So I'm not. Thank you. Thank you All right, moving on to local spend. So a couple of highlights this quarter We did have an increase of $3.2 million quarter over quarter for For our total spend and we continue to maintain Our commitment to to local spend in More than 50% so that's a 1 1.25% increase quarter over quarter of spend with Massachusetts suppliers So that's that 9.4 million you see at the bottom and and Which I'm even more excited about is the next number, which is the Western mass spend so 7.7 million dollars in payments to Western mass, which is a major uptake of 9.6% quarter over quarter in Western mass and that is largely driven by Springfield spend and largely driven by Suppliers that we are doing business with for capital improvements across the property So as you hear and Mike talked about the new VIP lounge, I think we've already talked about The new casino bar on those are projects that we're leveraging and continuing to leverage local suppliers to execute on All right, I have a special guest speaker with me today to talk a little bit more about the supplier diversity program with MGM International and also with MGM Springfield Her name is Rebecca Merigian she is the owner and president of Park Cleaners one of the oldest full-service dry cleaning companies in the state and She currently supports our our dry cleaning at the property and she's been with us since pre-opening I believe and she is one of the suppliers enrolled in our Corporates supplier mentorship program. So she's been working with some people Not only in Canada Louis's office and our supplier diversity office but With some of the partners that we have through that program. So I brought here today to talk a little bit about her experience Give it some history on her company and and kind of how it's going with MGM Springfield Good morning to the committee My name is Rebecca and I'm from Park Cleaners in Springfield, Massachusetts We've been around since 1935. It's been in the my the Taquarian family, which is my family the entire time So the more recent history of my company it has been a struggle and Basically it was just a dream to be sitting here right now today about four years ago So we're very proud to be part of this project Could you just tell us a little bit how business isn't improved with this? With working with MGM our sales have doubled doubled. Yeah, I've been able to hire 10 employees from our Forest Park neighborhood Which has been great. I think that's my favorite part actually is when working with the community The mentorship program that I have been introduced to has been an incredible help in for the process of growing the company We've always been you know, just kind of sustaining so now to be growing is a kind of a new thing for me so to have the support of MGM is Well, I think will ensure the success of my company hopefully for another 84 years Great Can you say the total number of your employees? I have 14 So you went from four to 14? Yeah, I can't do that math that quickly So that's excellent and are you a Wve I am Registering I'm in the process right now of the certification for this state That's what I'm gonna ask. I am on a federal level. I think I did it accidentally in the beginning and I registered On a federal level which in turn gave me a Department of Defense contract, which is also very helpful to the company So the accident actually helped worked in my favor, which was good So maybe this is actually really helpful because one of our questions often is is how does they a company? Become certified. So you're going through the process with OSD right now. Is that right in the state the state the WBE to the state WBE and you're just starting so you I finished the application process. It was actually Easier the second time around So I was I was able to complete the process in about 30 days. So right now. I'm just waiting for the response So the good news is that? You've gone to the process. It's a little bit easier than you may have expected and you're waiting. Well good. Yeah There are partners in the state. We want to make sure that there's not Too much friction there so that we don't ever discourage actually. I was very impressed with the process. Yeah Excellent. That's good to know. I know that there's been a lot of work done on it So you're finding it to be not overwhelming not at all I was very nervous about it in the beginning because it took me a long time to get certified in the in the beginning You know running the business and trying to to meet the requirements was was a challenge for me It took me almost a year to get certified So the federal for the federal. Yeah. Yeah, and then It it when I started the process, I was amazed and how quickly it took me it was very very simple Rebecca can you can you just talk a little bit more or or the people are from MGM about the mentorship program that you Quickly mentioned the mentorship program is wonderful. It provides me a pathway to get questions answered You know for the growth of my business You know, I don't want to make the wrong decisions. I could easily, you know go out of business by buying, you know the wrong equipment or Making a bad decision. So to have the support of of this company is Is assuring to me to to be able to make the proper steps So it's MGM who provides that yeah, sir. Yeah, so so Rebecca and and part have Have been in the program. I think since January of this year. I started so I think the first step we Connected them with a cycle of success Institute and they did a full SWAT analysis, right? and Through that process they did stay mapped out business processes. They identified I believe is up to 50 items and categorize them and and did a An analysis on that to really prioritize What did he want to focus on to to grow the business? I think one of the things was like SOPs and what else did you guys focus on? the training for the people really because it's It's such an employee-based industry that I have so getting everyone to work to the proper standards every single day seven days a week was my biggest challenge and we were able to get that under control with The cycle of success in this Institute, so it impressed me And since then we've got her partner with an executive sponsor in Anthony Carrizolo our VP of hospitality, so you guys have been you've met once I think you're meeting again soon So anytime there's any questions or continued support that's needed Rebecca has a point of contact on our executive committee that she can go directly to And then there's I think you said you mentioned some online courses too. Yes. I'm taking a class right now. Thanks to MGM Fundamentals of business management and what that's doing is Teaching me kind of how to structure my business, you know more of an executive level, which is important because You know I'm gonna be meeting help in that area So it's hard for me to make all the decisions all the time right now I'm the president and I'm the vice president and the treasurer and the secretary, so how do I split that up and this is Leading me very well, so that's it very good. I'm excited about it So you're you're not only Much larger than you were before but you're also more efficient more effective. It sounds like much more. Yeah Great All right, any other questions for Thank you for coming in and talking to you for having me All right last but not least just a recap of our outreach for q3 As I mentioned earlier we hosted the GNEM SDC annual expo at MGM Springfield. There's a two-day event We had a great event great turnouts there was a Luncheon supplier expo there was a bears den competition, which is a little bit like a Shark tank that they did live which was which was very interesting. We had to hear from some Some dynamic companies that they all made pitches and at the end one of them received the bears den award and Kenyatta Lewis was also on hand to to host a Speaking engagement about how to implement a supplier diversity program and also sustainability At your company. So a lot of the attendees went to that and listen to her speak on that point And then while she was in town Also visited with Rebecca at Park Cleaners We'll check in and I got to see all the the great things that she's doing and Things that she's implemented and her operation And then finally the local team went to an art craft vendor fair in Hadley mass belief was a matchmaking event. So met some new suppliers in the region and Really, you know Tried to continue to build our pipeline out here So I have for today any questions No, thank you missioners. Thank you So at this time, we'll move on to our employment readout with Jason Randall our director of human resources Good morning, madam chair and commissioners. Good morning. It's great to see you again Jump into our numbers with our progress on our hiring hiring goals We continue to exceed our goals for Springfield residents minorities and veterans and our staffing numbers With continued focus on growing the number of women in our workplace as well as discussed with With the folks Moncourt earlier, you know, we identify similarities as as they are seen now in the security realm Where we could see increased participation We've been able to focus some of our recruiting efforts by attending focused job fairs particularly with criminal justice students most recently at Westfield Westfield State University where they hosted a criminal justice job fair and we are able to meet their students and share our story with them On our next slide here, we have our quarter over quarter numbers. So our total employment number as the end of q3 is 2040 73.3 percent of which were full-time and and the total number of Employees of vendors that we saw on property. We saw 108 in q3 In large part of an increased quarter over quarter due to the programming that we were able to put on our plaza To to just support the events that were going on in there But just see the the changes quarter over quarter on this slide Are you Jason are those vendors? You know the food trucks and others the what you have in the armory I'm just just just yeah a little bit of food trucks But more so supporting the concerts that are on the plaza the yoga that we're able to bring in these sort of vendors that would We'd have on a weekly basis on on the plaza Commissioner I think the Landscapers and some of the outdoor cleaning and security are included in that. Yeah Our q3 recruitment efforts We we love hosting students on on our our facility and showing them kind of really what it what it looks like to work in an environment like ours We're fortunate to have about 45 students from the University of Massachusetts They're hospitality and tourism program come and tour the campus as well as students in HCC's culinary English as a second language program Where they got to see front of house operations back of house operations with the culinary students to really see what our kitchens look like and and meet some of our our cooks and chefs and Hear their story a little bit about what they could anticipate in workplace like ours We've been able to translate that into interest in positions You know immediately following tours or following the the programs as they graduate or complete interest in joining our team We we supported HCC's East soil culinary program with mock interviews providing those candidates with feedback It was a great opportunity to give them exposure to how our company conducts interviews and giving them feedback on their resumes And you know in a in a true fashion and letting them know We know what if they wouldn't have ordinarily gone past the first stage of interviewing with us what they could Do to improve so those students were able to embrace it And in one who actually came back and was hired by our company, you know following the program So so it was good to kind of see her journey and give her the feedback that she needed when she was in front of the hiring manager to get the position that she wanted and a Bunch of initiatives that we did in q3 and I want to highlight to you that our team is really proud of we hosted a veterans resource fair In July on our campus. We partnered with veterans Inc. And brought in a variety of resources We saw just about 50 Veterans that came on campus to either explore career opportunities with MGM or to gain Support through resources that are available in the region to them So we saw positive comments from members who who are veterans who who left the event Really with no interest in in maybe joining MGM Springfield But did get the connections that they needed to perhaps support some medical needs that they had through That they would get and found resources available to them that they otherwise weren't aware of so so positive impact by hosting this event Internally we launched a launched a English as a second language Program for our employees. We partnered with the Springfield Public Schools who provided us with a teacher and in our students we made it available to all of our our employees to come in and is a Really an interactive program where the the the students could kind of learn at their own pace And engage with the instructor to to meet the the needs that they were experienced in the workplace to be able to support our guests Very positive feedback and great partnership with the with the public schools on that program and we'll be Launching our next session with that group following the new year again partnering with Springfield Public Schools and our workforce development initiatives and Many of these kind of bleed into the and Q4 for us, but I do want to highlight a couple that we've found great Positive reaction to we've re-engaged with Westfield Technical Academy to the high school school in Westfield, Massachusetts Focusing with their their culinary program We'll they'll be on campus with us for a student tour to see our facilities shortly, but our team our food and beverage team made a donation of Hardware to the to their culinary training program that the the students were very appreciative for their their school put a Facebook post up that got a lot of traction a lot of their alumni to the school that like that are Like seeing that MGM was interested in their students knowing that quality students are coming out of that program to either enter the workforce or transition into Continuing education. So it's a great partnership that we are able to to re-engage and reinvigorate and We've already had our executive chef on campus with the students since our initial kind of re kickoff with the school to Talk to the students. So it's exciting to relaunch that internally We we we are our we launched an employee network group called inspiring leaders for our employees who are Interested in networking and the growing themselves They wanted a one of their meetings focused solely on resume review and interviewing skills So a few of our leaders came in and we did just that where we could help our employees where they can improve their resume But coach them and how they could interview for that next position In the brand with us So it's a great way for for them to hear from the hiring managers themselves of what they look for and how they could best approach an interview That they may be nervous for or or may think they're not as well prepared for So great feedback for for our existing employees to hear that Are you tracking those internal promotions? We do track our internal promotions this group. So they understand that they have opportunities Absolutely. Absolutely. It's great stories that we could share with them of you know individuals that were reviewing their resume and how they came along through our company and have promoted in various Various instances along their journey that they could share the message that you know You're in at at the level that you're in now and to prepare yourself for that next opportunity It it could it could come around the corner tomorrow and in having your resume and your skill set Prepared for you to take that journey. It was a great story for them to to hear We we did this resume view last month So we know a couple of them that are very eager to Explore their next step with the company and kind of watching them through their application process in that journey now Thanks That's right We did want to spotlight a couple of employees that we had we we hosted three interns in our Hospitality internship program, which is a corporate MGM internship program Primarily housed in Las Vegas, but we wanted to house our own interns here in Springfield So we had three students that That we accepted into the program and hosted this summer one student from Cornell one from Westfield State and one from UMass Amher's all three completed and graduated the program and they were Situated in disciplines like food and beverage finance and casino marketing in The the feedback we received from them with their experience was fantastic We have one who has already applied to our management associate program. So she may be Heading to Las Vegas upon her graduation from college to do a year-long rotational program To expand her her career with with MGM and lastly just want to leave Share the opportunities that still exists at MGM Springfield if you went to our careers page today We have 50 active postings listed on there in total They would equate to about a hundred and fifty total heads that we're looking to fill Like encore shared we do we do see continued need of table game dealers as well So that that's probably our heavier Single posting position that has a lot of headcount that we're still looking to fill and for those roles Chasing the same question. I asked your your counterparts at encore Tight labor market, you know, we hear a lot of the kind of conditions out there that make hiring a challenge But as we think about uses of our workforce pilot grants in the next round on community mitigation funds What kind of obstacles are you hearing from potential candidates? Or what are some of the hurdles to get over and trying to find the right people? Certainly? And I think as was mentioned before I'm the tuition for the gaming school is an obstacle in our region I'm certainly MCCTI is aware of the of that they do have scholarship programs that That are very focused right now And I believe they're looking to you know expand the scope of Whom would be scholarship eligible so we could see increased attendance into the program and I think over over all with with the gaming school and There's a lot of marketing and awareness of the school But I don't think our region has quite grasped on onto the career opportunities that exist within that pipeline of Of work of being a table games dealer and kind of where where your career can go from there and we MCCTI has Recently launched an initiative with with SDCC and HCC And other community partners to to share that message further So we joined them earlier this month We're able to kind of share the journey of a table games dealer career wise to about 80 Participants that they've that they brought in through various community partner programs to hear the message and then be able to See what training opportunities would be available to them Great. Well, thank you Jason. I know we're running a little long So I'll breeze through some of the other sections Because you've seen some of this material before On the marketing side you can see our quarter was heavy car driven same sort of model that Encore has seen as well But I think it's important in to keep the these promotions Fresh and unique so we're doing a a cash vault Promotion where you get to punch in a code and potentially open open a door for a million dollars Which has been wildly successful? So we continue to mix it up We're starting to make sure that to the extent that there's a perception That there's not enough winners on the floor I can guarantee you there are many winners on the floor and for customers that won't let us promote them We're we're getting more active about making sure that people recognize that there's this big jackpots one on the casino floor So just a little bit of our our marketing effort there with largely locals and then on the entertainment side, you know Unfortunately with the with the onset of winter. We had to close down our wonderful outdoor Plaza Music venue. We did 40 shows as part of the MGM live the good news is that's an annual series So we're gonna bring it back again next spring summer The the tent is now the covering is now off the the armory and is now open Getting prepared for our skating rink. So with one season Going out. There's another fun activation out there and we'll be opening that up I think this weekend soft opening of the skating rink But continue to program entertainment now looking into the 2020 calendar, but a very successful outdoor summer series Mike are you gonna be able to activate the pause up for the winter weekend somehow? Are you are you am I asking for no, no? Yeah, we're literally in those conversations with our team and with the Red Sox So I think we're gonna leave the skating rink open Longer than we normally would have for that very reason because we expect to see a lot of families that that winter weekend So yeah, so we are we're in active discussions internally about that great. Thank you. You're welcome And then and then just a little bit more the Plaza activation. We did our first outdoor boxing It sort of reminds me of the old Caesar Palace days that predates me But when when outdoor boxing was very active and we try to return that to To downtown Springfield so we had outdoor boxing in our Plaza the food trucks have been successful We had the food truck Fridays our first three Fridays got rained out Which was incredibly depressing, but we persevered and it was really wonderful and I think it's becoming We're getting a nice little following and then our company show and some of the outdoor activation You can see in the photos and then on the entertainment side just more the same We've got obviously the the wonderful Aerosmith shows you can see the photo of what the NBA basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement looks like on the top left And then really tapping into our relationships in Vegas. We had boys to men come out boys to men are part of our residency out in Vegas The Aerosmith is part of our residency out in Las Vegas. So we leverage those relationships and then a really fun Then we had was Steve Martin Martin short and that spoke to a whole different group of people And people that you know, we we sort of pulled where we're new to the resort Really wonderful night showcasing Symphony Hall and just trying to keep diverse fresh entertainment going through the different venues And then just give you a sense of the up the upcoming calendar through the end of the year very robust and what this doesn't show are the Are all the Thunderbird hockey games that are that are kicked off across the street and Mass Mutual Center And those are some of our biggest Friday night Saturday nights that the team is doing wonderfully which has increased Attendance and we are working with the red with the Thunderbirds We've now got their jerseys for game nights on Friday where we put I try to put a lot of our employees in the jerseys to really create an experience so thunder You know really branding the whole facility Thunderbirds on their big game nights and then going into the first quarter and more more acts to come but Red certainly red sauce when a weekend will dominate the month of January for sure and Then I think close it out with community engagement with Jose Delgado who is our director of government affairs Hey, good morning commissioners morning So as Mike said, I'm Jose Delgado the director of government affairs at MGM Springfield I'm also a lifelong Springfield resident and I'll probably be working with with the company One of the things I wanted to mention is that MGM resorts strongly believes that the success of any business Starts with the community that we operate in and for us from the beginning We've tried to integrate ourselves into the Springfield region Western Mass and throughout the whole state I think we've done a good job of doing that to date And so one of the things I'm privileged to highlight today is some of that community involvement in Q3 It starts with the employees Without the employees their energy their excitement their their willingness to get involved We don't have as much of a robust impact in the community So I wanted to highlight some of the opportunities that we had in Q3 The first picture you see on the left is some of our folks volunteering in the Springfield Jazz and Roots Festival It's an annual event that happens right in downtown Springfield right in the historic court square Great event a lot of folks coming from around the region So we were happy to have some of our employees get involved in that The middle picture you see is some of our employees including myself I'm the person in the right with the hat on and glasses Although the picture makes me look a little bit more buff than I think I am But we were happy to partake and kind of celebrate the heritage of the Puerto Rican community in Springfield and that parade Which was a great event And then the third picture you see on the right is a picture of our of our folks Volunteering the Connecticut River as many of you know the resort is located Just just don't throw away from the Connecticut River which the city was founded on back in 1636 So we're super excited to support the Connecticut River Conservancy and their efforts to continually keep the River clean and hopefully Keep it nice for future generations to come The last photo you see on the bottom is the biggie We're happy to support the biggie that the annual big New England fair that happens every September We actually offered a free shuttle service from the property to the biggie that folks were able to take a part of and Actually park in our garage as you know parking is free So we were able to kind of hopefully help some of the load of traffic going through West Springfield during those few weeks at the biggies on Jose or Mike Are you satisfied with that sort of volume? Do you think you saw increased volume out of that biggie shuttle in terms of patronage of the casino The short answer is no we we saw good volume But we just believe with a million and a half people coming through there that there's more opportunities across markets So this was a great first step and we and we tracked the Participation of these free shuttle riders and if you had a stroller you were peeling off and going to the garage Which obviously makes a ton of sense, but if you were if you're an adult you went into the food market You went into the the casino So we want to up our shuttle runs, but really just figure out how to how to engage those customers in a different way The challenge I think in September is it's sort of the last days of summer And I don't blame folks. I want to spend it outdoors versus indoors But that's you know those that's You know, that's really the mission is try to figure out how to how to create a little bit more activation out that group And the last piece I wanted to highlight on the volunteer side of things is I've been to several of these Volunteer events and the one thing I do like about it is that every time I go we're able to identify Some of our team members are employees who actually are showing leadership skills by you know Stepping up and actually wanting to be the point person for each one of these volunteer events And so we're seeing a number of our folks Really just showing their leadership skills through these volunteer events. So which was which is great to see Any more questions on on that piece? So this next slide here we're super excited to support The thank an artist event. This was put on by the spring field cultural Project that it's a mixture of the city of spring field spring field cultural council mass cultural council And the spring field central cultural district and this event We hosted it right on our plaza and it was able to highlight and celebrate many of the local artists in the spring field region And the creative community in spring field and and as you guys know Our CEO Jim Murray is a huge fan of of the arts. He's actually an art history major himself And that's evident through our whole property in terms of some of the collections that we have on display from the spring field museum So we were happy to continue that kind of theme there with this event And some of the pictures that you'll see you have students from the community music school kind of showing off You know the skills that they've learned at the community school right across the street So again another great event that we had Back in september right on the plaza. We were able to kind of Engage that community. So super proud to support that And the last slide here, I might be getting a little ahead of ourselves This technically didn't happen in q3 actually happened a few weeks ago But since we're kind of coming into the holiday season, I thought I'd throw it in there and get everybody some holiday cheer Um, we hosted the bright nights ball a couple weeks back And for many of you guys that know the bright nights ball This is kind of like the premiere event for the city of spring field or in the city of spring field This goes to support the spirit of spring field that Has their annual calendar of events that they do throughout the year which includes bright nights through forest park Includes the big uh, big balloon of parade Big excuse me parade of big balloons and the world's largest pancake just to name a few and so this event was chaired By congressman richard neal who's the chair of ways it means and uh, CEO of mass mutual roger krandall So they were able to raise funds that night to support a lot of those events that many folks in the region get to enjoy So another event that we were proud to to host on property is actually the second year that we hosted in them So I just wanted to throw that out there I know my kids have been begging me to put up the christ mystery and I try to at least wait to let Thanksgiving get done and over so uh, so super excited about this and getting into the holiday season And hosea i'll just point out if you go like that bottom right photo You see the two neon lions Those are those are now relocated to forest park But they'll be part of a new mgm installation on the bright nights tour through forest park where you know tens of thousands of people Annually come through as part of the bus tour So it's a great leaping line installation that we are going to present It'll be it'll be one of the in my humble opinion one of the cooler installations out at the park But great great branding and talking to a great audience Thank you. That's all I have Thanks hosea and then just to close it out. Go ahead if you click it for me click it for me hosea Just on development update 31 elm which obviously has taken some time to continue to progress along Uh, I was with the the folks from mass housing in the last couple of weeks We've been distributing a master agreement between a bunch of parties who are involved in this agreement And uh, I think there's a a call scheduled for the next week or two to confirm that we're all done And start coordinating signing the document. So hoping i'm not jinxing it because it's been a work in progress But it feel very good about um progress along those lines. I know Uh, that the city has done some work to keep the building Spend some money in the building given the winners coming to make sure that we're ready to to move forward with um with The construction so short of a formal announcement, but we're getting very very close So, um, that's the update wall burgers. We're in the middle permitting with the city again We expect a summer of 2020 opening of that facility Armory we're pretty happy right now given the different developments going on to keep it as that flex space We've got weddings booked in there. We've got the comedy series It continues to be a great space To to show off to the community Solar panels are being erected up on the top floor of the garage I think we are going to be ready to turn those on in the next 30 days In fact, we're looking at a potential event around that. So that project is well underway If right now if you went to our garage, you would see a ton of activity in the valley area because we are expanding free valet and and and Um, we're expanding paid valet and free valet for certain of our customers up to our second floor So it involves putting in some infrastructure with swing arm gates, etc So a lot of activity in the garage and then sports wagering. I can say we've had some uh, Continue to have good meetings with the legislature. I know your staff has been in some of those conversations And we feel we feel like it hopefully it's a matter of when and not if Legislation is passed to allow us to move forward with sports betting There's a consensus with the with the leagues and with Some of the fantasies fantasy sport operators as well So some of this has been consensus building But I was in a meeting where we're all represented And we're able to say that we've got alignment on 90 95 percent of what we believe are the issues. So We're we're continuing to push forward, but we think there's good progress and momentum there as well And with that that concludes our q3 report, but thank you for all your support And um, it's been a wonderful year. We're looking forward to delivering yet another wonderful year great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Thank you joe and thank you mgm Good job rebecca. Thank you And yes Safe travels back I think at this time it might Would everyone like a five minute break? And what i'm anticipating for the agenda now would be We'll take a five minute break for my fellow commissioners and me And then we will look at Trying to get through items Five six and seven before we break for lunch at approximately 1 p.m While i'm hoping that we could get through seven as well Before lunch, uh, it's legal. It's the regulations and then it's great Okay, we'll we'll see if we have five minutes. Thank you. Mr. Mathis. Thank you so much We'll see thank you Okay, we're reconvening today's meeting And we'll start now with item number five director wells, please Good afternoon madam chair and commissioners um the uh item before you now It came about because uh, we just got an inquiry from investigators This is not something where we'd had a case or there was a particular A specific instance we were asking for but um given that we've done a lot of investigations now One of the questions that came up was from investigators Well, what are we supposed to do if we get information about conduct? Uh that uh resulted in a criminal conviction that was sealed Um, are we supposed to disregard the conduct or information about the conduct whether it's from open source or Media articles or any kind of law enforcement connections law enforcement databases? Their question is uh, are we supposed to disregard that and because the record had been sealed or is there a way to to use that and there was uh No particular position in the inquiry So uh given that I was asked that question it seemed appropriate to get guidance from the commission on uh the interpretation of regulation 205 cm r 134.09 Subsection one, uh, I do want to point out this whole issue would not apply To exempt positions. So we have uh, I think it's something like 2700 uh employees right now. So those uh positions if they turn over if there's additional registration requirements Or licensing requirements. Oh pardon me. It would only be registration requirements That would not be an issue for those employees because if they're exempt, they don't go through our uh background process But for the uh positions that are non-exempt registrate registrants and for licensees these are the gel Uh key standard or key executive level. The question was What is the commission's policy directive to investigators with respect to information about conduct? So we have presented You know some hypotheticals. We don't necessarily need Specific answers as to the hypotheticals. We just put them out there because it helps with the thought process Uh and make sure that the investigators are following the direction of the commission the um You know one thing we are um Suggesting is that we just sort of lay the the issue out for the commissioners at this meeting Just so you're aware of the issue. We've been in contact um with not only the legal department, but also Jill griffin because she has contacts in the community the issue of getting people to work who may have Some criminal history was a a big issue Earlier in the commission's history and a lot of those community groups had a lot of interest in what the commission's position was on that So one of our recommendations is that We give it some time after this meeting for For jill to contact those groups to let them know what the issue is and see if there's any feedback There may be Information that i'm not aware of or the commission may not be aware of that we may want to consider So for right now, I just wanted to alert the commission that we had this question Just want to make sure that investigators are following the uh directive and Just to clarify what the intent was behind the regulation. So that's where we are right now Before we start comments Loretta, are you going to be addressing this in any more detailed? I had not Planned to offer anything, but certainly i'm here. Uh if questions come up from any commissioners and I would try to be helpful Okay Well, is this the uh Are you asking that we talk about each of these scenarios now? Are you asking for our thoughts on? Risk and the analysis of risk or i'm just not sure The timing of this if that's We did intentionally did not put it on for a vote today So it's not as if we need an answer to these hypotheticals we and we put the hypotheticals in the memo because it it Without understanding the scenarios it's hard to to speak about it in the abstract So, um, I think generally What the IEB is looking for more than anything is clear direction that we can apply during Investigations both fairly and consistently because we want to make sure that similarly situated individuals are treated the same during the process You know ultimately it could be an answer of We as the commission Our intent is that anything that's sealed should be out similar to a motion to suppress even the conduct itself Don't consider it or you could say Hypothetically that on the other extreme that while the records are out if there's information other information about the conduct that may potentially be used Although I will point out Without the record of the conviction If it was what would have been an automatic disqualifier Because the record was sealed it would no longer be an automatic disqualifier because we're not entering that Information into the evidence at a at a hearing So it would be discretionary whether it would potentially tip the scales in uh, you know But it's in that discretion Wouldn't that be considering that information? Correct. So that's what I want to make sure Well, the it's it's a it's a tricky distinction You would not enter information about the conviction so hypothetically Someone stole something you wouldn't enter into the fact enter into the record at a hearing the criminal conviction for stealing But you might have information through an open source or the individual might have made a statement Or there could be an information that there's an admission Yes, I stole and I stole from my prior employer and this is what happened and then I got fired which you So it's a tricky distinction. I just want to make sure that The investigators are following What the commission's directive is because you have the discretion to tell us how you want us to handle that to just and just to extend that The if the employee said during an interview I I stole something I was then terminated But then doesn't go on to say and I was actually convicted of theft Then you're saying that there would possibly be an option to consider that That but it would not be a disc could no longer be a disqualify correct So we want to know do you want us to consider that or do you want us To put that information to the to the side To and and use whatever other information we had to make a licensing or a registration determination And then one one other really just to clarify on sealing records If you could just explain the process about Sealed records, I know many people believe it's in the context of juvenile records only Could you explain sealed records generally? Generally, there are statutory provisions that allow individuals who have been charged And or convicted of criminal offenses To have their records sealed Convictions may be sealed in an administrative process that does not go to a court And there are time Uh constraints and measures set out within the administrative sealing statute. So for instance misdemeanors That occur occurred in a three-year Lookback window felonies that occurred in a seven-year Lookback window without any open cases at the time of the sealing requests or intervening cases With certain Exceptions for certain crimes that the legislature Determined should not be subject to the sealing statute If the individual satisfies those time Eligibility requirements the individual is entitled to this administrative sealing There is another provision of the sealing statute That relates to court ordered sealing and that allows individuals In non-conviction cases who have had their cases for instance dismissed Or no prost or no billed with a grand jury voting not to indict Allows the individual to go to court To have try to have those cases sealed And in those instances a court must make specific findings on the record that sealing is necessary to effectuate a compelling government interest We this commission is not involved in actual sealing efforts that falls to other state agencies Sealed records are not destroyed. They do remain available to law enforcement agencies And also for instance courts Can and do look at sealed records in sentencing instances In for subsequent cases So that is a very general overview of the sealing statutes just And that's helpful. It's helpful for for me to understand. Can you just give a rundown or Any kind of list you would think of as to why a person would make an application to have their records Well, I think one of the if not the main purpose behind promulgating the Sealing statute was the notion of second second chances So I do think that individuals go through that process for employment purposes for employers also the sealing statutes themselves address licensing agencies and Direct that licensing agencies like ours May not consider the sealed records themselves and that individuals who have sealed records Can answer no on applications for licensing purposes As to whether they have a criminal history. They may lawfully answer no if their record is sealed Housing may be another Type of situation where an individual might see it might seek to have a record Sealed so you're talking about in the context of a second chance if I was an individual I went and got a record sealed If I continued to be a bad actor or continued to Have some incidents pop up It's not let do you get second third fourth chances to kind of keep going back and resealing Additional information or is at some point those administrative bodies say? Yeah That's enough. I think you can keep going back and on that administrative sealing You know they look at the they take off the years and they have to look at whether they were intervening intervening crimes And you can keep going back and they do it almost like a mathematical equation is my understanding You know I um If I if I may just start a little bit I'd like to hone in on the regulation on two key words that I see here And that is the considered Um and they shall not Everything else is really good background for the purposes etc And um and the scenarios are pretty helpful that you put in but I think they speak to other things they speak to means of investigation And requirements of disclosure if we wanted if we had wanted to to write something to the effect in which Applicants shall not be required to disclose and then you come up with That information some other way Then I would believe that there is There's room for that, you know to consider that that information Because you didn't they weren't required, but you are able to consider it um there's also I would argue In this regulation I think there's an assumption that you actually may come into these records Um You may but you shall not consider them. Well, we're trying to differentiate between the court records So the records of criminal appearances and criminal dispositions would but for lack of a better understanding The documents at the courthouse Versus other information about what happened that led to That incident for example Because of our world it would be if something came up on social media, right? If it was documented in a newspaper article Or it's all these open source information that Will address a conviction That really is not sealed off The documents at the court are sealed that information is out there We all know there's a lot of information out there And what could happen as I understand it is that inadvertently or purposefully in a in a licensed review Information could come out about a sealed case that we didn't anticipate And what you're looking for is guidance as to Because I think as I understand that the word information Seems to be connected to the delinquency But not necessarily with respect to the records of criminal appearances of criminal depositions Is that right? Right, right. So we're just looking for clarity on that. That just that just feels to me And I know this could be written in many different ways And I know there could be We could have put any at the very beginning of this And I know the qualifier but but but as I as I read the regulation The at the very here really is shall not be considered When making the suitability determinations I think it's the noun that we're struggling with It's the noun The records is it records of criminal appearances? criminal dispositions and information concerning Accident delinquency, I think what and maybe you I don't want to be preaching to you But I think that the issue is if there is it doesn't say information In front of records of delinquency. So if one of our Researchers or investigators find some information outside of the record the sealed record. What do they do with that? Is that cool? And you know, I don't think we need to you know be too particular on to the reg Because right you have the authority to change the way you tell us what you want to do So this is more just a sort of a policy understanding What do you want us to do under the circumstances that that we have presented where there might be information? That's not part of the court record That is not technically sealed as part of this sealing process What do you want us to do with that information? We can disregard it We can how do you know how do you know that it's tied to the record? So the investigators will know that a record sealed so we may so hypothetically you may have something where there's a news article about an individual was involved in a series of break-ins and houses and that Individual may have been Actually convicted of that and then but if the investigator looks at the media article It may take a little digging to figure out. Oh, wait a minute. This is tied to the record that sealed So then what does that investigator do with that information about the break-ins? Does the investigator Disregard it because it's been sealed and that's the policy of the commission Or is there you know if they make a statement about it? Is that part of the analysis? So that's all we're asking Yeah, and and my position if i'm not already making it clear I think that as it says here, it should not be considered It's it's not a may it's a shall. There's a strength in the shall if if I could just It doesn't say that and it say it has to do with the records of the court not the facts surrounding it And this comes up not infrequently in investigations and prosecutions Where even in the motion to suppress example that director wells gave the information that underlies the motion to suppress That it's allowed isn't gone forever and is not usable in any circumstance someone testifies And basically testifies in contradiction to those facts I could as prosecutor cross examine that individual with that suppressed Statement there are other vehicles in which that that information and evidence and facts is in fact allowable and proper So when I look at this first of all, I disagree that it's that it's written as you're interpreting it But moving on to the fact that they're we're moving toward guidance to them There is another layer to the purpose of what they're doing in terms of background checks and in terms of patterns of conduct so in the scenario of Yeah, I stole I get terminated in it whatever that may in fact help someone Talk about what happened in terms of their employment history that gets them to suitability So there are reasons that it may come in and there are reasons that we may direct them These are the narrow circumstances in which I want you to be able to use this or not But there is a distinction as a matter of law in fact Sealing is court records. It is not expunging where it never happened So we are in a circumstance where the facts are out there Whether you get it from news source facebook the person themselves It would then be in the possession of the investigators And it is not simply because it's sealed you you shall not it's that is not what is happening here. So right But with that said for right now you're looking for guidance because One how to interpret what is written right and then the policy correct because the We didn't bring up this scenario when the regulation was Developed because we hadn't been doing these investigations and nobody flagged the issue So you have the discreet, you know regardless of how you interpret this particular Language You may have a policy matter on how you'd like to do this and we just would like that to be clarified for us So we're following the direction of the commission Because to be fair to commissioners Zunika obviously if we're not all seeing it the same way Then that points out that the regulation needs clarification at least as to the what we want the underlying policy to be Yeah, and I would love to speak to the policy And how I see this issue So, you know, obviously the the to me the The the type of license matters if we're talking about a registrant You know without a lot of ability to control And and and much less risk You know, I see this issue differently and If there is just what I am always concerned about are the patterns, right? So if we have one sealed record even though we find information about that sealed record You know, I I I would certainly Tend to say okay, that's sealed so we learned about it this other way But the whole purpose is to give people employment opportunities I I I don't see A risk I see okay, this person is going to to move forward They did what they had to do so I you know, but when I see a pattern which is very different meaning They have one sealed record and we found out the we found out the the circumstances through another source But then there are several other issues involved maybe misdemeanors You know just a number of other that's their record is is Is something that we really do feel like wow There's some risk here with this individual through this investigation. So that's where I see You know a pattern and And using all of that information in the appropriate way Commissioner in that in that scenario shouldn't All the other misdemeanors Establish a pattern by themselves Well without you know without this record couldn't we I mean the suitability standard is high Um, and so if you have even a couple of Feeling the blank you could establish the pattern in your scenario without even needing to consider the the sealed record I I am or are you talking about only one more? To establish a pattern. No, I don't it's not that simple when you're an investigator. It is nuanced. It is Um It is this I don't think it's a good idea and you know that you say, okay, you have one you're good If you have two you're not I I don't agree with those. I think when you're looking at some an individual You need to look at the whole which is what I believe they do and I know that's not answering your question exactly But I what I don't like to do is take a tool away from someone when it does lead to something else But I don't want the one thing to be used. Okay, so we found out a different way It's almost like, you know, you live in a you live in a Big city and so they're not going to publicize the burglary But you're in a small town and guess what everybody reads about the burglary So I don't want that to be a case where we're treating people differently based on based on One incidence so but I do think if You know, you get something that's sealed but you find out about it. It got a lot of But then there's a whole history of other things I believe they should be able to consider the totality Of the situation and assessing risk and I think that is possible without the seal record if you are at looking at other things It's not the seal record we're talking about. Well, I understand that. No, it's just it just I think that that that's a really key point is that what I think is before us is this consideration of there is Information that comes and and I don't think it happens frequently No, and I would like to emphasize that when we're talking about the universe of investigations th