Park Place citizenship promoted by official

David Strow

Thursday, Sept. 6, 2001 | 11:21 a.m.

When philanthropic or government issues are discussed in the gaming industry, one company that usually doesn't spring to mind as a leader is Park Place Entertainment Corp. of Las Vegas.

But that doesn't mean Park Place has been sitting silently on the sidelines, Lorenzo Creighton insists.

"I don't think we blow our own horn enough," Creighton said. "It's a misconception we don't do enough. Part of my job is to tell that story of what we're doing around the country and in Las Vegas.

"We need to be more pro-active as an industry. We need to tell what's being done, and not wait until there's a crisis to do it. People need to know it's O.K. to support gaming, that it's an industry like any other in their community."

Creighton, the long-time general manager of Bally's Casino New Orleans and former top gaming regulator in the state of Mississippi, has been named Park Place's corporate vice president of government and community affairs -- a new position for the casino industry's largest company.

Park Place has had government and community affairs executives, Creighton said, but these efforts were spread among a number of different executives. And historically, it's been largely silent about those efforts.

Now, Creighton said he is building a team that will ensure Park Place's voice is heard in the communities where it operates casinos, both among residents and politicians.

"(Park Place Chief Executive) Tom Gallagher has a different approach ... a very organized approach to community and government affairs," Creighton said. "The position I hold will make sure information flows down in an (organized) way."

Park Place is an active donor, Creighton said, but much of that activity goes on at individual properties with different standards.

"(Park Place's total charitable activity) is phenomenal. It's staggering," Creighton said. "We do a lot of in-kind (contributions). A lot of those intangibles don't get put into hard dollars."

The new strategy has two facets -- one, gathering all the company's philanthropic information into a single report; and two, forming a charitable giving committee that will take applications from non-profits, make giving decisions and decide where Park Place wants to focus its charitable efforts.

But all those efforts can't be focused on Las Vegas, even though this city is home to Park Place corporate headquarters and five big Park Place resorts: Caesars Palace, Paris, Bally's, the Flamingo and the Las Vegas Hilton.

"We're clearly a local company, but we're also international," Creighton said. "We have to look at all the communities we do business in, not just Las Vegas."

A key community issue that's emerged in Las Vegas in the past year is diversity in the casino industry.

Under Steven Bell, Park Place's senior vice president of human resources, Park Place is focusing on developing a companywide diversity strategy that deals both with minority hiring and contracts awarded to minority-owned companies.

At his former property in New Orleans, Creighton noted, 28 percent of contracts were awarded to minority-owned firms, while another 10 percent were given to companies owned by women.

"We can put parallel programs in place elsewhere," Creighton said. "These are the kind of things we'll work on at Park Place, because it's the right thing to do.

"I don't think we're satisfied (with Park Place's diversity efforts). Are we at the top? No. Are we at the bottom? No. We're somewhere in the middle."

But diversity programs must meet the needs of an individual community, rather than focusing on any single minority group, Creighton added. For example, about one-quarter of Las Vegas-area residents are Hispanic, Creighton said.

"We don't want to lose sight of that," Creighton said. "We should reflect the communities we're in."

Another key community issue is problem gambling.

"We're the major contributor to the National Center for Responsible Gaming (a casino industry-backed problem gambling research center in Kansas City, Mo.)," Creighton said. "That we're the biggest contributor to that center tells you this company's commitment to the issue."

But Creighton also believes Park Place properties need a coordinated approach toward problem gambling. Toward that end, Creighton said the company is developing a "baseline plan" each property will follow, a strategy focused on educating employees, customers and the community on issue of problem gambling.

"It is a critical issue for us," Creighton said.

On the political front, Creighton sees two issues of priority -- the fight over Internet gambling, and continuing efforts by the NCAA and its political allies to ban betting on collegiate sporting events.

Creighton made it clear Park Place remains unconvinced that Internet gambling is a good idea at this time, citing concerns about security, prevention of underage and problem gambling, and the ability to screen users by location. As a result, the company is not currently supporting efforts to legalize Internet gaming, Creighton said.

"We are invited by local governments (where Park Place operates casinos)," Creighton said. "With Internet gambling, we haven't been invited into your living room. We want to do what's in the best interests of our shareholders, but we don't want to move aggressively toward Internet gambling."

Park Place, like other casino companies, will soon face a political decision. Earlier this year, Nevada passed a bill that gives the Nevada Gaming Commission the power to authorize Internet casinos operating out of the state. In response, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., is expected to soon introduce a bill that would make Internet gambling illegal under federal law.

Similar bills in the past were supported by Nevada casino interests and the American Gaming Association. But the AGA has yet to take a position on the expected Goodlatte bill, and Park Place is also withholding judgment.

"We haven't really dealt with that issue yet," Creighton said. "We haven't made a decision whether we'll support it or fight it."

Park Place's position is much clearer on the sports betting issue.

"Clearly, we want to make sure sports betting is not banned," Creighton said.

It is feared Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., plans to tack on a provision that would ban college sports betting onto a relatively innocuous appropriations bill in an effort to revive the betting ban push. MGM MIRAGE and Harrah's Entertainment Inc. have been two of the most aggressive companies in fighting previous efforts -- and this time, Park Place will be along side both, Creighton said.

"We will be involved. To what level remains to be seen," Creighton said. "We're still trying to feel our way around in government affairs."