Casinos, suppliers form tourism group to protect gaming interests

Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004 | 11:05 a.m.

An organization that will attempt to unify the gaming industry and its suppliers on public policy matters is hoping to pick up members and identify issues prior to the opening of the 2005 legislative session.

Former Gov. Bob Miller and Larry Ruvo, senior managing director of Southern Nevada Wine & Spirits, are co-chairing the Nevada Tourism Alliance, which has four charter members and will meet by January to develop strategy to improve communication between the gaming industry and its suppliers and develop a mission for the new organization.

Leaders of the group on Tuesday announced the formation of the organization to the media.

The organization plans to operate statewide and will have regional bodies in the north and south, each meeting at least twice a year.

Lorenzo Fertitta, chairman of the Nevada Resort Association, which is assisting in the formation of the new group, said a lack of communication and coordination between resort industry businesses led to the creation of the NTA, which is asking for a $5,000 membership fee of charter members to get the group started.

Fertitta, Miller and Ruvo said they found a need for an organization representative of the numerous vendors that work with the gaming industry and decided to form the new group after the 2003 legislative session's contentious debate on new taxes.

"During last year's bitter and divisive debate over state taxation policy, Larry and I grew increasingly concerned the policy decisions being reached in Carson City could indeed hamper the gaming industry's future ability to contribute to Nevada's overall long-term economic health," Miller said in a statement announcing the formation of the group. "Quite simply, we felt that if governmental policies hinder the gaming industry from performing at top levels, businesses like ours would be similarly hampered."

Miller stopped short of saying the NTA would become a new lobbying organization on behalf of the gaming industry, noting that decisions on how the group would proceed would come after January meetings.

But it's clear that organizers intend to have a role in influencing policy.

"The inescapable reality is that without a new voice of reason, gaming-related businesses are vulnerable to attacks on the No. 1 industry," Ruvo said. "As we witnessed during the last legislative cycle, these assaults can come from anyone outside as well as within Nevada."

Asked if the new organization would duplicate some of the efforts of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Miller said there would be some overlap in the proposed mission of the group, but the NTA would be more focused on matters of interest to the gaming industry and its suppliers.

The founding members of the NTA are Southern Nevada Wine & Spirits, gaming industry laundry giant Mission Industries, Young Electric Sign Co. Outdoor Media and Brady Industries Inc., a janitorial supply company.

The divisiveness Ruvo alluded to in the 2003 legislative session led to several companies severing their ties or reducing their support for the Las Vegas Chamber.

The chamber's opposition to a broad-based business tax on gross receipts aggravated members of the gaming industry who saw the alternative to that proposal as higher taxes focuses squarely on casinos. In early 2003, MGM Mirage, Mission Industries and Station Casinos, which Fertitta is president of, canceled their memberships in the Las Vegas Chamber. They all cited the tax position as a factor in their decisions.

But Kara Kelley, president and chief executive of the Las Vegas Chamber, said there's room for additional voices in the political debate and that associations often have different views from the chamber.

"In every political system, there's a need for an association voice on behalf of those industries," Kelley said Tuesday.

Kelley said she didn't think the formation of the NTA would have a detrimental effect on the chamber's membership, since businesses hold multiple roles in associations and organizations.

"I guess theoretically, it could," Kelley said. "But we have (chamber) retail members who belong to the (Nevada) Retail Association and home-builders have their own association."

The 7,000-member chamber, she said, also offers other services, including educational opportunities, networking events and discounts on insurance, office supplies and business e-mail services.