The proposed Harrah’s Entertainment and Narragansett Indian Casino has been assailed for years because of the impact local businesses fear it would have on the local economy.
But on Tuesday, a group of more than 50 Rhode Island businesses came together to show support for the project, which they said will draw tourists into Rhode Island and spur construction within the state.
Calling itself CompeteRI, the group touted the proposed project at a morning press conference as one that would add tax revenue to the state’s coffers and add value to Rhode Island’s tourism economy.
CompeteRI spokesman Rick Simone said a destination casino would help Rhode Island compete with southeastern Connecticut, an area that he said has benefited from the presence of Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Simone, a partner in two restaurants – Renaissance Restaurant and Catering in Providence and Il Primo in Newport – breaks from the opinion of many of his colleagues in the hospitality industry. While restaurateurs across Rhode Island have said the Harrah’s casino would draw money away from their businesses, Simone said that Connecticut has seen restaurants and retail stores pop up around the two casinos.
In Rhode Island, the Harrah’s casino would likely have the same effect, he said.
“Tourism is our second-largest industry,” Simone said in an interview. “I’d like to think we’d want to keep it that way.”
Simone and his two restaurants joined businesses ranging from retail stores to construction companies. Glenn Ahlborg, president of TPG Construction, said that his industry is thrilled about the prospect of the casino.
Harrah’s has said that the capital investment for the project could equal $1 billion. In addition to the 140,000-square-foot casino, Ahlborg said, there would be 50,000 square feet of meeting space, a parking garage and a 500-room hotel – all requiring construction services.
Also, the new restaurants that he thinks will come in the area around the casino would provide work for his industry, he said.
“There will be more work from this project than any one construction company can handle,” said Ahlborg, whose family owns construction company O. Ahlborg & Sons Inc. – also a member of the CompeteRI coalition.
Robert Vincent, vice president of communications for GTECH Holdings Corp., also attended the event. GTECH, the gaming technology giant based in Rhode Island, entered into a strategic alliance last year with Harrah’s that provides for GTECH to supply the terminals for Harrah’s properties in exchange for support of the casino in West Warwick.
Touting GTECH’s investment in Rhode Island, Vincent said that his company would not support a project that would adversely affect Rhode Island’s economy. Instead, he said, the Harrah’s casino could spur economic development as much as GTECH, Amgen and Fidelity Investments – firms that Vincent said are aiding growth in the state.
Vincent also said that putting the casino issue before voters in November would settle an issue that has consumed the energy of elected officials in recent years.
“It’s clogged up our state government and state Legislature when there are numerous other issues that need to be decided on,” Vincent said.
But despite this week’s announcement that the businesses were joining to support the casino, R.I. Hospitality and Tourism Association President and CEO Dale J. Venturini said in an interview Tuesday that her group remains staunchly opposed to the casino.
Looking over the list of members of CompeteRI, Venturini said she found very few restaurants. While she said she expects construction companies to endorse the project, restaurants and hotels are by and large against the project.
The whole idea of a casino, she said, is to keep visitors within the facility’s walls. She anticipates a destination casino would “decimate” the hospitality industry rather than uplift it.
The association has been loosely discussing what actions would be taken should the issue make its way to a November ballot, she said. However, with the R.I. House of Representatives having approved a resolution to put the question to voters (the Senate must still follow suit), Venturini said that the association is hosting a formal strategy session this week.
“We are not going to compete” with the spending capabilities of Harrah’s, Venturini said. “We need to do it more strategically.”
