Why casinos are bad for state’s economy

As many readers may be aware, L.L. Bean recently announced its opposition to the casino gambling referendum. Approval of this ballot question in November would give the go ahead to a large scale, Las Vegas-style gambling casino proposed for southern Maine. I would like to address the important economic implications this question poses for Maine particularly in light of the casino proponents’ recent response to L.L.Bean’s position.

Erin Lehane, spokesperson for the casino campaign, expressed that she has been “amazed in this campaign that the elite in Maine are putting money toward preventing economic development and job creation”. I must say we were equally amazed at the irony of this statement about a 91-year-old Maine company that employs thousands of Mainers and directly spends more than $400 million in the Maine economy each year. And we found special irony given the source, the spokesperson for a Las Vegas casino development company offering itself as an expert on Maine’s economy.

Underneath the campaign spin, however, there may be one thing we and the proponents can agree on. This referendum will be about Maine’s economy and the outcome will have far reaching consequences.

A concern for Maine’s economic health is nothing new for Bean. Our company was founded here and has grown and prospered here. Under the leadership of our current chairman and grandson of the founder, Leon Gorman, over the last four decades L.L. Bean has grown from under $3 million in annual revenue to over $1 billion. Our workforce has grown from 60 employees to 3,500 high quality Maine jobs – a number that more than doubles during peak season. And in addition to our direct payroll of $250 million, Bean pays more than $150 million annually to Maine-based vendors and suppliers.

As the company has grown, we have stayed anchored to Maine. Our shareholders and top executives live here, raise their families here and care deeply about Maine. And our commitment to Maine goes well beyond our direct job impact. L.L. Bean has long believed that a healthy economy with quality jobs is essential to maintaining the health of our environment and quality of life. Company leadership has a long record of community and civic participation including significant involvement in our state’s business and economic development efforts.

We know from this involvement that Maine’s economic development challenges are all-too-real, but we also know the priority attention state level leaders are giving these issues with some encouraging signs of progress. Governor Baldacci has proposed and aggressively promoted a sound blueprint for action including reducing Maine’s overall tax burden, creating a community college system, increasing investments in research and development, and establishing economic opportunity zones to help Maine’s most economically disadvantaged areas.

The governor has made remarkable progress in his first 100 days in office with bi-partisan support from the legislature and the support of business leaders. A billion-dollar spending gap has been closed without a tax increase and a bond initiative for economic development has been approved and fast-tracked for approval by Maine voters in June.

This is the real work that will produce the type of climate Maine needs for quality job creation. Mainers have never been known to shy away from hard work and challenges. They also know to look at easy money solutions with healthy skepticism. And after examining the issues, they will realize the casino proposal does nothing to support economic development efforts but rather offers much that will undermine them. This proposal does nothing to address the decline in manufacturing jobs in Maine or the challenges experienced by Maine’s papermaking towns. It does not create jobs in Millinocket or on the Indian reservations. Instead, it promises jobs in York County where an already low unemployment rate has driven businesses in the hospitality industry to recruit workers from abroad to fill seasonal jobs.

Additionally, a casino is not the solution to the real economic challenges for southern Maine towns like Sanford. This is why neighboring communities and area businesses are actively organizing to defeat the gambling proposal. The social and community impacts that this development will bring to the area will stop, dead in its tracks, the kinds of job development that will provide real opportunity and economic value to individuals and these communities.

L.L. Bean did not come to its position of opposition to this referendum question with a cavalier disregard for its economic consequences for Maine, as the proponents would seem to imply. Rather, we came to our position because of its economic consequences. There is no doubt that Maine cannot maintain its quality of life without good jobs and a healthy economy. However, we believe with equal conviction that if we sacrifice Maine’s quality of life we also compromise our state’s ability to improve the economy.

In the final analysis, Maine voters will listen carefully to the claims and counter claims over the coming months and will, as always, make the right decision for our state. Maine voters have shown an uncanny ability to cut through the campaign spin offered by various “elites” whether they are of the Maine or Las Vegas variety. In this case, we are confident that the voters will recognize that the easy money promises of the casino developers are nothing but a mirage, and the harmful effects for our economy are all too real.

Chris McCormick is president and chief executive officer of L.L. Bean Inc.