Hiring a range of diverse employees and businesses in the state’s emerging casino industry will help the economy and the casinos, members of a supplier diversity panel said at a public forum Wednesday.
“This is about access and opportunity,” said Megan Cleghorn, a legal expert from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. “This is about equity. It’s the right thing to do. These are irrefutable arguments, but I’m here today to actually present the business case.”
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission held the meeting to discuss diversity and inclusion for job opportunities as Massachusetts moves toward expanded gaming in the Commonwealth.
Each of the Commonwealth’s three casinos, which were legalized in 2011, would bring an average of 4,377 direct jobs, according to a 2008 analysis prepared for Massachusetts by the Spectrum Gaming Group.
Cleghorn presented statistics about the diversity of the Commonwealth’s workforce.
About 25 percent of Massachusetts residents are non-white, non-hispanic, Cleghorn said, and 51 percent are women.
It is necessary to understand that ignoring such a large portion of the workforce in the U.S. is nonsensical, she said.
Other members on the supplier diversity panel highlighted the importance of hiring a diverse workforce for the state’s upcoming three casinos, including casino employees and contracted-out vendors.
“There are tremendous opportunities that this development is making available to the business community at all phases of the project,” said Fred McKinney, president and CEO of the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council.
McKinney said there were many job opportunities in the gaming industry, including security, construction, public relations, marketing and operation.
McKinney said it was important for businesses to seek certification by agencies like the GNEMSDC, which works with companies to contract out services to businesses that are 51-percent owned and controlled by an ethnic minority.
McKinney said it was important for the executives of supplier companies to personally value diversity.
“To be successful, it is going to require top-down support. This has to start at the CEO level, at the operators who are going to have these contracts,” he said. “They have to believe it.”
Jodie Baier, program manager of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, said including women is simply necessary in today’s economy.
“Women-owned businesses are a strong player in the economy, and by getting more business to the women-owned businesses we are increasing our economic strength,” she said.
Baier said she strongly encouraged companies to engage in hiring and sourcing women-owned businesses in their business ventures.
These businesses generate $1 trillion in revenue, she said, which accounts for 4 percent of U.S. revenue.
Female-owned businesses account for 8 million employees — about 6 percent of all employees, she said.
Baier said hiring women was the right thing to do from a public relations and social responsibility standpoint.
Reggie Nunnaley, executive director of the Massachusetts Supplier Diversity Office and the moderator of the panel, said the Massachusetts Gaming Commission should make diversity a priority when hiring.
“You have an awesome responsibility for the development of the economic impact on the state of Massachusetts,” he said. “We encourage that you take the time to dot all your i’s and cross all your t’s to make sure you get it right the first time.”
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