Company pledges speedy rebuilding of Beau Rivage

By Liz Benston

Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005 | 11:14 a.m.

The day after viewing their hurricane-damaged resort along the Mississippi's Gulf Coast, MGM Mirage executives said Wednesday they plan to "quickly" rebuild the Beau Rivage and will use displaced workers to help in the effort.

"The gaming industry completely turned around the Gulf Coast economy over the past decade," Chief Executive Terry Lanni said in a statement. "This region will continue to look to our industry to create economic activity. We plan to uphold our commitment to these communities in this extraordinary time of need."

Also Wednesday, company officials said they intended to pay wages and benefits to all of their estimated 3,400 workers for 90 days with the commitment to rehire them when the resort reopens. MGM Mirage also has made a $1 million seed donation to its Voice Foundation and will match, dollar-for-dollar, donations made by its 70,000 employees through the end of the year.

The benefits include vacation time including vacation earned during the next 90 days. The company had previously waived co-payments on medical claims and is allowing workers to seek treatment from doctors of their choice. MGM Mirage also is continuing to make contributions to workers' 401(k) plans.

MGM Mirage joins other Las Vegas operators with hurricane-damaged casinos that have pledged to pay workers in the interim and have made donations to hurricane relief efforts.

MGM Mirage officials had previously been reluctant to give details on their future plans for the Beau Rivage, saying they hadn't yet assessed the property damage first-hand.

"While we will take the time necessary to carefully assess the situation, we are also dedicated to identifying the fastest way to rebuild and restart the Gulf Coast economy and the lives of our employees and their community," Bobby Baldwin, president and chief executive of the company's Mirage Resorts division, said in a statement.

Officials said workers have already cleared most of the mud and debris from the property. More than 70 workers have been tapped for initial restoration work. About 300 such positions are available and will be filled by Beau Rivage employees "wherever possible," Baldwin said.

The company has already begun the difficult task of distributing payroll checks to workers. It set up a recovery center at the Beau Rivage site Tuesday and is using overnight mail to send checks to workers who have evacuated the region. MGM Mirage is also setting up a job center to match workers with open positions at other company-owned properties.

MGM Mirage said it has invested about $800 million in Beau Rivage, the Gulf region's most opulent property, and expects to have invested more than $1 billion in the region once the hotel reopens. The company didn't give a timeline for when that would happen.