Where I Stand — Guest columnist Terry Lanni: Sustain the good life

Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2005 | 8:51 a.m.

Editor's note: In August the Where I Stand column is turned over to guest writers. Today's columnist is Terry Lanni, chairman and CEO of MGM Mirage.

AS CHAIRMAN of the largest company in our community, I often consider the role MGM Mirage should take in our growing community as we seek to create meaningful outcomes for our shareholders, employees and the general public.

Las Vegas is at a turning point in our history. The state's primary industry has achieved a new level of acceptance in the larger business world. After years struggling against a decades-old stigma of a nostalgic, 1950s image of Las Vegas, we have now firmly and successfully established a new representation of a fully modernized entertainment capital.

In order for us all to enjoy the continued prosperity of the past decade, we must turn our attention inward toward our own community, directing some of the tremendous innovation that transformed our industry toward creating a sustainable means to make our community a better place for our friends, families and neighbors.

A sustainable community seeks to maintain and improve the economic, environmental and social characteristics of an area so its members -- present and future -- can lead healthy, productive, enjoyable lives. Sustainability should be a central element in every new development in our city's future. Sustainability will be a central element in any development we undertake.

When our corporation announced Project CityCenter, our master plan to create an urban metropolis on the Las Vegas Strip, we made sustainability a central objective in the initial planning process. As such, we will search out and foster the development of new technologies to make available the most responsible use of valuable water, electricity and natural gas.

As our community continues to grow, I challenge our colleagues and competitors -- as our company challenged our own architects and designers -- to seek out and create new paths on the road to sustainability. But the path does not lie solely in new buildings and developments. Part of making life in Las Vegas sustainable also lies in the role corporations play as good corporate citizens. I believe the leadership of every company in our community should place a priority on that responsibility and take seriously their role to ensure that both the community of employees within their company and the community at large within the city are well served by their companies.

We should be concerned about those less fortunate. Forward-thinking companies can organize efforts to support and encourage employees to donate time or money to community organizations. Through our company scheduling practices we have a great deal of control over our employees' abilities to volunteer their time, be it to serve at a local church or homeless shelter or to coach a child's soccer team. For employees new to our community, we may be their closest tie to their community and should therefore offer information and opportunities to allow those so inclined to serve their new neighbors.

We should be concerned about those who serve to protect our way of life. The companies in our community have seen a number of full-time employees called to military service in Iraq. While we hope and pray for their safe return, we also have a legal obligation related to their employment. But our company chooses to go far beyond that which is required by maintaining our troops' salaries and positions, paying their full wages and benefits the entire time they are away from home serving our country. It's time for other companies to do the same.

We are also sensitive to the ever-changing diversity of our community. In 2000, MGM Mirage became the first gaming company to prioritize diversity as a business goal. Our efforts extend not only to hiring, but also to the vendors and contractors we use in an effort to assist minority small businesses.

I believe our community is making headway in many of these areas, and I am proud to say that our company has played a part. The rewards will manifest themselves in many ways, but the best reward is knowing that we will have made Las Vegas a better, more sustainable community in which each of us can work, live and raise our families.