By RondaWiggers, Chairman
Gaming Research and Education Fund
With Rich Miller's upcoming departure as chairman, the "office" for the Montana Gaming Research and Education Fund has a new home in the corner of my Great Falls office.
I was elected the Fund's new chairperson at it's last meeting January 28. In order to clear some space, all of the Montana Gaming Group information (another organization I had been serving as secretary-treasurer) was sent to it's new digs in Butte.
As I was sorting through the Gaming Group information to pass along to Cole Boehler, its new chairman, a visitor to my office asked, "What exactly is a Research and Education Fund anyway?" It took awhile to formulate a logical answer and that got me to thinking maybe we all needed a refresher on exactly what it is we do at the Research and Education Fund or "R & E" as it is commonly known among industry types.
Both R & E--a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation--and the Montana Gaming Group--a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation--were formed in response to the once persistent negative public image of gambling in Montana, most notably highlighted by a proposed year-2000 ballot initiative to outlaw this activity.
Both R & E and the Montana Gaming Group are made up of representatives from Montana Tavern Association (MTA), Gaming industry Association of Montana (GIA) and the Montana Coin Machine Operators Association (MCMOA) as well as representatives of Town Pump (a major contributor). A number of gaming machine manufacturers also contribute and participate.
R & E is responsible for exactly what its name implies: to develop credible research on gaming's economic and social impacts, then disseminate that information publicly, as well as support and promote programs that deal with compulsive gambling. The Montana Gaming Group is limited to doing work that may be interpreted as political advocacy, so its role has been relatively minimal since the failed initiative proposal.
We identified areas of concern to the aggregate industry where the different gaming associations and members would benefit by working together rather than separately.
Our first item of business was the problem gambling issue. We created the posters with the 24-hour toll-free hotline phone number (888-552-9076) and distributed them through the associations and the route operators to all of the taverns and casinos in Montana (we are currently considering renewing this effort).
We paid for the creation and air time of commercials advertising the hotline and we found a reputable organization with trained counselors to staff the hotline on our behalf. We also used print and have used billboards. Although we have limited our advertising at this time due to limited budgets, we are still funding the hotline and Yellow Pages ads.
R & E has also functioned as the communication and funding conduit between the different associations and the Montana Council on Problem Gambling. Although each association donates separately to the Council, R & E allows them a single location to report their progress and needs directly to the industry.
Second on our agenda was to cooperate with the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana to provide good business data for an economic impact study BBER was conducting on licensed businesses. The results produced valuable information on which to base good public policy decisions at the Legislature, results such as: nearly 25,000 employees (many of them part-time workers), a $250 million payroll, nearly $1 billion in spending on goods, services and taxes, well over $70 million in annual taxes paid and so on.
Next we focused on the gaming business' public image.
During several rounds of scientific polling we learned that there was a lot of misunderstanding about the tavern and gaming business in general. But we also learned the public was well aware of problem gambling and wanted the business to do something about it, which has led to our work with the Montana Council on Problem Gambling in creating effective group therapy treatment programs which are expanding every year since its launch, due largely to our group's advertising and promotion.
In 2007, the MCPG had 34 licensed gambling addiction counselors conducting 792 group therapy sessions across the state with 3,705 participants and 236 new members.
Our work on problem gambling solutions along with the economic impact data from the BBER study has helped change the public face on your businesses. And R & E has worked hard to spread the good news, culminating in a hard-hitting newspaper insert that ran in all the major newspapers in the state. It did a great job of providing the facts which helped change the way people think about the tavern and gaming business in Montana.
We continue this work with our web-sites which can be found at
and .
With the great working relationship between the business associations and their leaders, to some it may seem that there is no need for these two groups to exist. That couldn't be further from the truth.
First, these groups really cost nothing "extra." The functions and work product of the groups would still need to be funded "one way or another" and this way is far superior to "the other." And it is best to do so with a co-ordinated effort rather than three or four separate entities each with different help hot-lines, therapy programs, marketing and promotion, a hodge-podge of web sites and so on.
The second reason for maintaining the basic structure of the groups is one that I hope we never have to use. However, it is not uncommon for this industry to be attacked by those who either do not fully understand our businesses and the related issues or those who simply do not approve of the business in general.
Having in place the basic legal and organizational structures to work together to protect your businesses saves time and money in the event of political attacks. Collecting and disseminating the economic and social data and pro-actively educating the public may prevent these attacks from occurring or could at least minimize the frequency with which they occur and the damage they could do.
Your business association representatives to these groups have, or will be, coming to ask for your approval to continue funding both R & E and the Gaming Group. It is my hope that you will recognize the good work that these organizations have accomplished and pledge to fully support them in the future.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, April, 2008, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.