MGC Open Meeting - November 13, 2025

We're all here, so we don't have to do the roll call, which is kind of strange for us. Good morning, everyone. >> Um, this is a special time. We love being here in Springfield. And I want to thank Mayor Sarno before we begin for letting us letting us use this space. We've been talking about it for a while, and it's such a gorgeous, beautiful space. Um, today is Thursday, November 13th. Uh, it's approximately 11:05 a.m. This is a convening of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission public meeting number 573. Uh, we're all together and not virtual, so we don't have to call roll call, which is nice. Everyone's here. Um, and with that, we're going to go to item number two, which are some welcome remarks um, from the mayor. >> [snorts] >> up. Okay. Thank you, Steve. half my old half back here too to again the chairman Maynard Jordan and the commission members. Thank you for what you do day in and day out and thank you for coming back here to the uh the city of Springfield to host your meeting. I'm here with my chief development officer uh Tim Sheen and also my uh uh CFO Kathy Bono will be here, my city solicitor Steve Bonakani also. Joe, I want to talk about two um subjects. First, uh uh while I am very appreciative on some of the things that uh MGM has done, um I am still uh a little uh uh disappointed uh that the corner property of 101 State Street uh still is uh with uh jersey barriers and blockage in that area. It's going on seven years. uh MGM, the scaffolding, that's their MGM is worldrenowned. They have deep pockets. Uh the city of Springfield does not have those deep pockets, but in turn, my administration has purchased the building across the street and now we're moving forward with development or Macaffies out of Chicago. And in turn, my administration has purchased the building adjacent to MGM and soon that'll be redeveloped. So where I'm pleased with some of the things MGM has done, there has been no such movement and this is on the host community agreement that 101 State Street was to be developed. And yet what people see there all the time is Jersey Barriers and Scaffolding. Uh that has to be resolved ASAP. Also uh when you look across the street, great partner with the state. You see what we've been able to do with Court Square, the new garage, espanad area that started with former Governor Charlie Baker and Karen Pledo, continued with now Governor Healey and Kim Driscoll. South entrance uh with the convention center will be going in on on uh Main Street and State Street. So, the only corner that is not going to be done or any movement occurring whatsoever is 101 State Street. And I want that scaffolding down. I want the jersey barriers gone. And I want to see development as was such agreed upon on the host community agreement. And again, I'm appreciative and I'll commend MGM on some of the things they're doing. Uh but this is going on seven years and they are a world-renowned company with deep pockets. That has to be resolved ASAP. The other thing I'd like to speak about is the mitigation fund. And I understand with the lawmakers that they decided to shift and change the playing field, which was part of the deal. And I don't understand why money is being taken away from direct host communities. We've used that money for police, fire, uh court square, economic development projects, uh on it. So I would hope that the uh legislative uh leaders and leadership would relook at that especially for the direct uh communities on that. So again I deeply appreciate you being here but those are the uh the two uh subjects that I wanted to speak about 101 State Street. It's been way too long and we need to see movement ASAP. Again it's part of the host community agreement. Uh and I move as a city who does not have deep pockets to take care of all the surrounding areas. MGM who has deep pockets has neglected that property. And for a worldrenowned company to still have scaffolding and jersey barriers up is unacceptable. Unacceptable. And they need to step up their game on that. They've done some good things and I'll be the first one to uh commend them. But with partnerships with the state, we're moving on the convention center. We got the parking garage done. Court Square is done. My administration bought the buildings across the street. McCaffrey now the redevelopment. We bought the building adjacent to them, parallel to them, and that's going to be redeveloped. I need MGM to do their part as they signed on the dotted line. And that's with all due respect and I would hope the mitigation fund is relooked at again especially for the direct host communities uh because it's that is a lifeline for us and it's been very uh proactive. Thank you for uh listening uh to me and again I deeply appreciate you what you do day in day out and coming here to the uh city of Springfield. I wish you good health, continued success. The holiday season's coming up. Happy Thanksgiving and Mr. Chairman Jordan. Good to see you again and Rep. Hill, good to see you again. Thank you very, very much. >> So, thank you, mayor, and thank you for being a great partner with the MGC and we've known each other for many years. And uh the good thing I can say about the first piece that you addressed is that I see Gus and Daniel and Beth in the room and so they heard you directly. Uh that's uh that's one thing I can say about that. And then on the CMF funds, um it is a great program and um as we've stated at the commission over and over again, uh as long as those funds exist, uh we're going to make sure they get out and get used to the best and highest use they can be used for. So, um thank you. I will note, um we do have other distinguished guests. Was it was there anyone else who wanted to to follow up from your office, mayor, or anyone wanted to say anything? Okay. >> All right. Well, I mayor, I would say uh your fantastic advocacy for your city. We that's what we heard. So, thank you. Um with that, we are going to move um to item number three and we will go to the chief of community affairs and that's Joe Delaney. Good morning, Chief. >> Uh good morning, chair and commissioners. Uh thank you. Uh we have a few items up for you today. Uh the first one will be a presentation by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. Uh we have Kim Robinson who's the executive director uh of the planning commission here. Um this is she's going to be talking about excuse me [clears throat] the uh regional business ecosystem network which is a community mitigation fund project that was started in 2023. uh to try to help local small businesses develop uh additional capacity. Uh in this project, we we kind of bifurcated it a little bit and said, why don't you take the first look at at a piece of this and then because we felt that, you know, the the focus might change a little bit, which is what indeed happened. So, uh I think with that, I'll turn it over to Kim Robinson from PVPC for her presentation. Thank you. Oh, good morning and thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity to present to you today um and share some of the really great work we've been able to do with uh the CMF funds. We've actually gotten three different grants and this is our first one. So, part of what I wanted to do today is set just a little context and Joe did a wonderful job of that so I can spend a little less time on that. So when we originally um applied for the 2023 uh fund, we uh were looking at that regional ecosystem business hub. Um and as Joe mentioned, we did do a split. The first part is a gap analysis. I'm going to ask Vanessa Otero to step up and talk about this. She com she completed this work for the PVPC and then I'll talk to you a little bit about we found some things and we decided maybe we needed to do a little pivot. We didn't always know what we didn't know until we actually did the analysis. So, let's start with Vanessa. >> Good morning. My name is Vanessa. I am a senior fellow of economic development at PVPC. Uh, next slide, please. So, I need you to bear with me a little bit. Um, I I have to give you information that you already know uh to put our work into uh the context that it deserves. When MGM Springfield opened in August 2018, it ushered in a potential for numerous benefits for the region regional economy uh including job creation, increased tourism, and high local revenues. In order to ensure that regional businesses participated in these opportunities, one of the metrics included in the host agreement between MGM and the city of Springfield identified 50 million uh $50 million as the annual minimum for local and regional procurement for goods and services. [snorts] even allowing for allowing for the impacts of CO 19 pandem COVID 19 pandemic during 2020 and 2021. The the overall metric has to date not been realized within the agreement. There was also requirements for how the $50 million in local procurement would benefit specific communities. 2% on veteranowned businesses, 15% on womenowned businesses, and 10% on minority owned. While the targets for veteranowned businesses have been consistently achieved since 2022, targets for women and minority owned businesses continue to have fallen short each year of operation. Yet, MGM Springfield's inability to meet its diversity procurement quotas may be related to a broader economic to the broader economic conditions of the region. As we're learning about some of the impacts of the casino, other efforts were in 2021, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission received a two-year grant from the Economic Development Administration, the EDA, through the CARES Act to evaluate the economic impacts of CO 19 on Hampton and Hampshire counties. It was also to be used to identify potential resiliency and mitigation based economic opportunities. A multi-pronged work plan was developed to gain a deeper understanding of the obstacles thor thwarting regional economic recovery and to define potential solutions. Woven into these conversations were aspirations of developing an ecosystem as Kim has mentioned designed to help micro and small business growth and participate in procurement needs of local institutions. By the end of year two, PVPC concluded that a gap analysis was necessary was a necessary first step to address the micro and small business landscape and its effect on various institutions including MGM Springfield procurement goals. Based on the findings of the car's act work, PVPC applied for funding through the community mitigation fund as Kim has mentioned and in August of 2023, we received over 485,000 through the FY 2023 program. The purpose of the grant was to review MGM Springfield in achieving its contractual obligations with respect to diversity procurement under the host agreement with the city of Springfield. The analysis encompassed direct outreach to minority and underserved communities, research data collection analysis, and the completion of a final report report. It pro the report provided a 360 look at discrepancies between current business services and the actual needs of of minority and womenowned business, small and micro businesses in greater Springfield. What we found was that despite the plethora of available services, there were critical gaps particularly in areas that require minority and womenowned entrepreneur, excuse me, required specialized knowledge and resources. For example, women minority and women entrepreneurs may struggle to find support for advancement, advanced financial planning, planning, technology adaptation, and navigating complex regulatory environments. These gaps can leave entrepreneurs without the crucial tools they need to succeed. Community connectors were used to connect with various members of the small uh business community. And we define community connectors um folks who are in the business of helping small businesses, but also who are are have constituents like local um elected officials and uh state officials. Each community community connector and small business owner interviewed reported the need for capital and other forms of investment as the greatest need. This is particularly true for business owners with aspirations of part partnering with anchor institutions like MGM Springfield. The second need um is the need for technical assistance. Their definition of technical assistance varied greatly. And so at this point, this is the point where we pivoted because the information that we found um was that it wasn't so much that there weren't people out there working on small businesses, but that the uh gaps in capital um uh provision were too great for small and micro businesses to actually re achieve a point in their uh trajectory where they could scale. And so for to that end um Kim will provide a little bit more context and what we thought would be a solution or at least one of the solutions towards um capital and tra uh technical assistance for small and micro businesses. Thank you. >> Thanks Vanessa. Um okay so part of the timing in terms of the grant that we received uh is we had other items that were other things that were happening um in the state. So, as a result of the work and the analysis that we did with the EDA funding that um Vanessa mentioned and the 2023 community mitigation fund grant, we were able to bring other resources into the effort. So, in 2023, PVPC won one of only eight national grants, the only one in New England from the EDA. It was technical assistance um provided by the new growth innovation network, a coalition from the US EDA and private foundations all focused on developing resources that would increase economic growth and post-pandemic recovery. In 2024, PVPC was also awarded an inclusive economies initiative grant from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. This initiative aims to support distressed post-industrial communities by connecting communities with capital for inclusive local economic development. Perfect. The slide work is right on track. So, thank you. Um, so and in addition to that, there was other work in the Commonwealth as I mentioned previously. So, both Mass Inc. and the Coalition for an Equitable Economy released their own analysis that they did jointly of business development inequities and barriers faced by minority and womenowned businesses. This was titled The Color of Capital. Their conclusions echoed the findings of PVPC's research. Access to capital is the most significant barrier preventing businesses from starting up and from growing, really being able to get to the place of being able to provide the services to these larger institutions such as MGM. As we've been talking about, in November of 2024, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which is an organization that is based out in Roxbury, analyzed the success rates of minority and womenowned businesses in obtaining business capital from conventional lenders. This report was called the racial wealth gap, and their findings corroborated our work, engines, the coalition for an equitable economy. conventional lenders systemically declined investing in minority and womenowned businesses deeming them to be too risky. So what are maybe some collaborative long-term solutions? Well, we found that one of the um one of the tools that is used across the country are what are called equity funds. Okay. So, equity funds play a critical role in addressing these systemic disparities that are faced by minority entrepreneurs, particularly those operating micro and small businesses. These businesses often encounter significant barriers, as we've talked about, in accessing traditional financial services, merely hindering their ability to grow and contribute more to economic development. They are three times more likely to be denied loans than non- minority firms. They receive on average smaller loans and 1.4% higher interest rates than their non-minority counterparts. So despite this rapid growth of minority businesses, access to capital and favorable terms on that capital is a great challenge. So we then we then posed the question, would creating a Pioneer Valley fund that is focused around equity be a successful tactic in the Springfield area that could stimulate more minority and womenowned businesses and assist NGM in meeting their contractual obligations. All of our economic research points to yes, right? PVPC believes that this original proposal that we talked about in terms of the regional business ecosystem network um is not actually aligned with the needs that we found through the gap analysis. Hence the need to pivot knowing that access to working capital is so significant. Um PVPC believes that you know the greatest public benefit for phase 2 is focusing on the creation of an community-based fund um that will focus on increasing access to capital. So, what does that look like? At this point, we're talking about the creation of a $10 million 10-year closed fund that would specifically serve minority and womenowned businesses. This is an idea whose time has come. Um, there are many different examples across the country. The Fund for Our Economic Future in Northeast Ohio is frequently held up as a national model. The Real People's Fund in Oakland has been undertaking similar work and has been for over 10 years. Closer to home, we have the Boston impact initiative, the Eugima project, and PV grows in Franklin County focuses on agricultural work. Um, so these examples of specialized funds help to support these types of businesses. Uh, the confluence of research and activity on this topic has resulted in some initial steps being taken in the greater Springfield area. So, as I mentioned, that inclusive economies initiative award from the federal bank uh Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, uh we've been able to start to use those funds to lay the groundwork for a community-based fund here in Springfield. Throughout this, the Federal Reserve Bank has been an active partner and supporter, providing connections to potential foundations whose missions are aligned with this objective. We are in active and productive discussions with uh local foundations. There are pending discussions with other potential funders to provide seed funding and future operational support. One thing I want to make sure that I identify here is no gaming commission funds, community mitigation funds will be used to seed the fund itself. We are talking about building the infrastructure to create this but the raising of that capital not to be included as part of this grant. So um where are we now? PVPC is undertaking a capital absorption study. It just kicked off. We're assessing the feasibility of creating this fund. Really, we want to make sure that if we have the money, will they come? We think the answer is yes, but it's always good to do this type of work. Um, it would build on the economic research that we've already talked to you about today. We're committed to a significant community outreach and engagement for this work. We're contemplating hosting a minimum of eight focus groups and community meetings with key stakeholders, various um business owners in the community, practitioners, business associations, community- based organizations, and of course our potential end users so that we make sure we get our offerings for the fund correct. We need to understand what those products need to look like. We anticipate that through the capital absorption study and the community-based engagement, additional information is going to be identified that's going to be necessary for the success, excuse me, successful creation of the fund. So, we're also aware that this could encompass information that isn't currently captured anywhere. One outcome of this project that um we have been considering and also talking with the local foundations about is the development of new lines of data around local economic development and also the ability to continue to update those lines or those lines of data so that we have more information. And with that that is the end of our presentation. We're certainly happy to take questions. Thank you. >> Thank you Kim. Commissioners, questions for Kim or Vanessa? Hi. >> Hi. >> Question goal being very much try to do it all again. >> Oh god. It's not what I was expecting, Mr. Mayor. God bless you. [clears throat] Um I'll try to keep it a little bit tighter. Uh so there's been legislation um over the years. Quite frankly, it seems to have been getting a little bit of momentum over the past couple of sessions uh around this idea of a Commonwealth Bank, which would um in very rough form uh would be analogous to essentially a statewide comealth equity fund. Uh have you all looked into that at all? Is that something that uh you are tracking? I know it can be very frustrating sometimes as a former member to know that waiting for the legislature to act is not always um a great plan. >> Sure. >> Right. So if you have any thoughts on that, I'd love to hear. >> I do and thank you so much for the question. Um so one of the things that we've definitely identified is that these financial needs are on a spectrum, right? And so sometimes we talk about um Common Capital, which is the CDFI here in Western Massachusetts. KMA Capital is great. We we love working with Raymond and they meet needs kind of at this level of the spectrum. We're talking about trying to target um those capital needs at maybe this level of the spectrum. And so when we talk about a Commonwealth Bank, I anticipate two things. One, I think it's going to pop in the capital absorption study as a potential um solution and where things are in terms of the conversation at the legislature. And you've brought this up. I will make sure I will go back and talk to our consultant to make sure that we do that. I think the second piece is because it's a spectrum there's there's room for everybody. >> Yeah. >> The other I'm not surprised by the results in terms of access to capital. >> Uh but I'm wondering if and this might be part of the the the scope of the entrepreneurship uh here in the area. uh workforce development is that um something you see as a priority need understanding that without capital none of it matters right you can't you can't grow but if you could tell me a little bit about workforce development which the the commission has tried to support uh in the past through community community mitigation funds um just wondering where we're at with that >> yeah I'd love to talk about that so I'm going to go a little off track PVPC is also the economic development district for uh Hampton and Hampshire County So we completed our comprehensive economic development strategy last year and workforce development is one of the pillars that we've identified um that needs some work in the region. It needs work in every region. Let's be honest, we always need to be working towards that. Um so I I guess I would split this a little bit in in two ways. When we think about the fund itself, we've also talked about technical assistance, right? That there are skills that are needed. And while maybe that's not the traditional workforce development that we're we're kind of talking about, I do think it's a necessary step. This is we definitely found this in all of our studies, uh a necessary step to help uh companies not only start up but really be able to grow effectively. On the workforce development side, PVPC has actually just stepped into that workforce development space last year. I'm going to brag a little bit on the fact that we have the first quantum training academy in the entire Commonwealth. Um, we had our first cohort um, graduate in June. The second cohort we're having our celebration for that in I'm sorry, a week from yesterday. So, a week next week we're doing that. And today, Vanessa just shared with me that we have the first graduate who has actually been hired um at a quantum adjacent uh organization for $24 an hour. Um, so we're seeing definite growth there. Now, when it comes to additional workforce development, we have been um meeting and working with the Hampton County Workforce Board to discuss more about what we can do and really prioritize in quite frankly what is a time of limited federal funding to be able to try and address some of the issues that we can prioritize. Now, I also want to make sure to call out Vanessa. Vanessa was the brain behind the Quantum Training Academy. She she she always gets embarrassed when I do this, but it's true. And so, thank you so much, Vanessa. >> Now, that that is all great stuff. And I' one thing I want to highlight about all the work you've done is that um you're listening, right? You're you're you're going out into the community and Sarah, we there's a ton of research, right, of every bucket of economic development. Um but it doesn't work unless you go out into the community and say, "All right, what are the needs? How can we help you? help yourselves and that's clearly reflected in your work. So very nice show. >> Thank you so much. >> Oh, my mic was on. So, thank you, Commissioner. Commissioners, any further questions or comments? >> I I will um I guess I'll ask this question. Um, we put, and you'll probably hear it when we do our quarterly report, we put a lot of pressure on MGM Springfield, um, to make sure that they are hiring, uh, diverse, uh, uh, diversely and that they are also, um, contracting. So, in the entire commission, it's been a priority for all of us. Um, you know, is this a natural place for for that to be a link and a work together? >> I think so. And again, part of what we discovered, right, is if the companies, the local companies don't have the ability to grow to do the production that MGM needs, then obviously there's some other pieces that need to work there. And that's again what we think in terms of the the fund itself. So, I do think it's a natural partnership. >> I do too. That was a question with a statement attached. Well, thank you so much, Kim, and thank you, Vanessa. >> Thank you very much. and thank you for trusting us with gaming commission funds. We're very excited to be working with you. Thanks. >> Exciting work. All right, Chief Delaney. Try to get back. >> Thank you. So, uh, next up we have MGM Springfield to do their third quarter report. Uh, we're joined by Gus Kim and Dan Miller as usual along with Beth Ward. And I'm I didn't see Arland. Is Arreland here today? Harland Carbalo. Uh but with that I will turn it over to Gus uh for the third quarter presentation. >> Thank you Joe. Good morning chair. Good morning commissioners. Welcome to Springfield. It is great to see you in person and for us to be able to present our Q3 report to you live. Uh it's been a couple of years since you've been to Springfield. So we welcome you. We look forward to uh speaking with you and hopefully we get a chance to interact after this uh meeting is over. Uh, as you know, my name is Gus Kim, vice president legal counsel. And with me today, I have Dan Miller, our director of compliance, and Beth Ward, our director of public relations. There is a new face that you are going to see today. Um, some of you may know that Arlan Carbalo, our our head of uh, finance, uh, has left MGM. She is now pursuing her a degree in business administration at a school out on the West Coast. So unfortunately we have lost Arllin, a great uh team member, but we wish her all of the best in her future endeavors. So with me today is Winter Hawkins, our director of finance. She is uh leading our team as we look for a permanent replacement for Win for Arland. And so you will hear Winter Hawkins speak today. So with that, I I turn this over to uh Winter to go with uh some financial information. Thank you. Uh good morning everyone. >> Good morning. >> We can next slide. Our first slide. >> So third quarter our gaming revenue we generated 71 million in revenue which equated to $18 million in taxes. Next slide. Our year-to- date gaming revenue is 212 million with about 53,000 in taxes. Uh next slide please. uh sports wagering. MGM generated 14 almost 18,000 in sports wagering tax. Sorry, 15,000 in sports wagering taxes and bet MGM generated 2.6 million. Next slide. Our Q3 lottery sales were 557,000 which is a 36% increase from our prior year. And on next slide, our year to date currently sits at about 1.4 4 million which is a 19% increase over a prior year. Next slide please. So of our biddable spend for the third quarter we generated about a million dollars in diversity spend of which 3% went to an MB went to MBEs 3% to veterans and 10% to womenowned businesses. And next slide. Um, local spend, our local biddable spend. Um, we generated 2.8 million, which is 39% to local vendors and 46% to Massachusetts vendors, which was 3.1 million. And then our next slide, this uh on this slide, we're showing our events, our procurement events and efforts that we've done over the quarter. So, our team attended three events. uh two I love this saying this acronym GNE J G N S M SDC um their quarterly roundt and in a virtual matchmaker and then they also attended a NEPAM event so Nepum is one of our diverse vendors that we've used since opening and we continue to work with them so they did a trade show that our team enjoyed attending um one thing to note that is actually not on this slide and is not necessarily third quarter related But we thought this was important. Our team currently, as we speak right now, they're in Rhode Island at a GN MSDC event. And we took home so far two awards today. So, our warehouse manager, procurement manager, he's kind of two titles. He won an award for buyer of the year and I was actually awarded an award for advocate of the year. So, those were taking place today. Um, next slide. I'm going to jump into employment before I kick it back over to Dan. Uh, next slide. Thank you. So, for our employment for the quarter, we had 54% minority minority workforce, 5% veterans, and 40% women. Um, of which 40% are Springfield. 40% of our entire workforce is Springfield residents. And then next slide, please. uh continuing in some of our efforts in the community for workforce and hiring initiatives. We've continued our property tours and career fairs. Uh we did a few workforce development events with Dress for Success, which we are very proud of. We facilitated the resume workshop and the job search workshop, which a few of our employees went over and provided guidance to the women in attendance to those events. Um, next slide. I'm going to turn this over now to Dan Miller to talk about some compliance stuff. >> Thank you so much. >> Wait till the end for questions. >> I I'm I'm fine with questions right now. Is it if if it's on your mind right now, let's let's get it out there. I think to page. >> Correct. Yes. We do have some es and flows of our spend throughout the year. So middle of the year we do see some a little lowers as we do some bulk spending usually first quarter and into fourth quarter. So we will we do anticipate a pickup in fourth quarter. Um we do have I mean in some of the categories veterans we meet um and we are we've been fine with that category but women and minority we do struggle as there are not a lot in the area that meet all of our needs. Um so we do the best that we can and and try to to work towards those goals as best as we can. >> Continue to do so >> and we'll Yes. And continue to do so. >> All right. Thank you, Commissioner. >> Um, any other questions since we have break since you've had us take that break? >> All right. >> All right. All right. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Miller. >> Good morning, commissioners. Thank you for coming to Springfield. Lovely to see you here. Um before I get into my compliance slide, um seeing as it is two days after Veterans Day and uh Beth and I were here just two days ago, uh you know, honoring our veterans, it's a very special uh event to me. A lot of veterans in my family. Um I back in the day uh did did attempt to join the Royal Air Force and then moved to the United States. So that that changed ever so slightly. But uh just wanted to give a shout out to to the veterans and thank them for all their service u in in this public environment. Um but if we can move to the next side for compliance, I feel um I've actually got good news uh to obviously provide on this slide. Um I I see the smile from you, Commissioner O'Brien. And of course, usually speaking, uh I speak to, you know, the the direction that this is going. I think what I will point out is the number of zeros uh that that are on this slide, which is great. Um, if you would like to know about the uh the lengthiest um intrusion of an underage being only 18 minutes this time um you know past iterations have seen an hour or two hours or something like that. Um that was on July 4th. It was an 18year-old who slipped by security um when security was actually serving another guest at the time. Um and you know with it being a busier uh event and day I think it just took a little longer for them to then find them within the gaming area. Um but as you can see we only had one well we had no instances of gaming and no instances um of uh actual uh alcohol consumption. Uh it was just the the actual access that that happened in these occasions. So um we continue to strive in the same direction and hopefully we can just keep keep zeros coming. So >> So beat me to it. I was going to lodge you for the the drop in the numbers. Is it in part because of cordoning off the space that you've been keep the numbers down? Yes. Yes. I I think you know the the the continued uh growth of the the handrail that we we placed around the perimeter, the security presence at the you know the four main entrances now to the gaming area that has made a huge difference, you know, and so the numbers speak for themselves in the way that they've continued to decrease and where they are now. So, >> and were any of them false IDs? I know you said the one in the July 4th slipped by. What were the other three, if you know? >> Uh off the top of my head, I I I don't I sort of focused on that one being the lengthiest of them. Um, but I can always get that information for you. So, [clears throat] >> and thank you for I I I'm always interested in the is the minor under the age of 18. >> And in this case, they all are over 18. Yes. Yeah. I I think what I will I guess allude to here being July and August. In years prior, we've seen increases in those months because of colleges and schools uh being out of session. Um but the fact that we haven't not only do we not see increases but in fact continue to decrease uh I think is you know obviously exception to the fact the security are very much paying attention as best as they can. So >> yeah I'm glad to see the numbers go in the direction they're going. >> Thank you. Yes, me too. And I'll hand it over to Beth. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you Dan and good morning everyone. Great to see you in person. Welcome back to Springfield. Uh, as you know, I get the fun part of our presentation. Um, community outreach and special events. And, um, as I say each and every time, I'm going to say it again. It was a very busy quarter three as it always is. Um, Winter touched on this uh earlier, ROA and Dress for Success event. Um, this was a workforce development partnership that we uh have been working on. Many of our colleagues are, including myself, are very involved with Dress for Success and with ROA. But along with that workforce development aspect of that event, we uh also presented each group with a check for $5,000 to help with their workforce initi in initiatives and education at both of those. Going to the right there, ROA check presentation. This was part of our grant program, which I'll touch on a little bit later. Um, but we uh went to ROA to present them with a $30,000 grant, which was so exciting for us, again, a longtime partner. And we went to surprise them and they surprised us with a day of appreciation um for our partnership. So, we're very proud of that. Um, a great day for everybody. A lot of us uh were there to celebrate. Um, ARJM event at MGM uh responsible gaming education month. Uh, a great event. also kicked off the uh football season. So, we took that opportunity to have that event in our sports book or just outside of our sports book. So, lots of uh games and a lot of really great interaction with our guests. So, it was very successful. I did throw in a gratuitous shot of a picture of Dan Miller and myself. Um one of our local media uh came to cover the event. Got some great coverage of that. Um, but uh, a photojournalist came, did not bring a reporter, so I got to put on my repor reporter hat and interviewed Dan Miller. So, just had to throw that in. If we could go to the next slide, please. Um, part of our events, the uh, Mass Mutual Center Plaza ribbon cutting for the landing, a great event in August, one that has been much anticipated in the grand opening of the um, garage as well. So that was a great event which kicked off a season, a great inaugural season of that space um to host events um game day events for the Thunderbirds and also um for other activities and performers who are coming to the Mass Mutual Center. So we look forward to that coming up in the spring and in the summer once again. Um on the bottom left you see the Springfield Puerto Rican parade which we are very happy to support again this year. Uh we had a lot of team members marching in that and we also once again hosted salsa salafera and that was an event that we hosted on our plaza in collaboration with that group. Um it is a festival a celebration after the Puerto Rican parade uh which had thousands of people really great turnout. So very proud to be part of that. Once again on the right you can see in August we at the end of August we did celebrate our seventh anniversary which is very hard to believe but we really focused on our uh staff and our team. We had a great party all day long. So just wanted to give a shout out. Um and a happy birthday to us as well. If we could go to the next slide please. Continuing with some of our outreach in Q3. The food bank of Western Mass. Um this is something that we pride ourselves in working with the food bank um on a monthly basis and again we continued that sorting out um thousands of pounds of food to be distributed to local families in need. On the right you see United Way grocery distribution. Again we work very closely with the United Way and have for some time now um since pre-opening. Um this was a distribution that we did. We uh had our team members come in and pack boxes of food for again local families in need. Going to the Springfield Rescue Mission, we um donated pallets of supplies for uh local homeless individuals, hygiene, um things of that nature. And again, one of the other partners that we've had for a very long time. And and we work with them um on a monthly basis and we're very proud to do that. Same goes for loaves and fishes. we uh are there um just about weekly um and provide uh food prep and serving um for and they're located just up the street. So, we're again proud to continue with that. Very excited too for stuff a bus with United Way. We worked with uh our local media partner, Western Mass News, um to uh collect school supplies and then we also donated and purchased $1,000 worth of school supplies um that we then gave to the United Way just before the start of the school season. And then we spent the next day stuffing all the backpacks uh to give to local families in need. So a great way for us to unite as a team and to help our community. If we could go to the next slide, please. So, just to recap, um Q3 serving over 1,800 meals, hundreds of grocery bags distributed, and again, at a time when this is so important with what's happening, um throughout the country, we're we're so proud. I I've said the word proud so many times today, but proud and excited to be able to continue to help in that way um when the need has never been greater. So, uh, going on to grants totaling over 160,000, which, um, you can see some of our community partners, 14 of them that were recipients of that. So, um, that continues and stay tuned for quarter 4 and next year. We have a lot of fun things planned for that. If we could go to the next slide, please. On to entertainment, which I also get to present to you. If we could go to the next one. So, at the Mass Mutual Center, Counting Crows, Lamb of God, The Black Keys, um all uh really great performances that drove a lot of traffic to downtown. Um sold out, uh opening night for the Springfield Thunderbirds. So, uh that was great. I'm kind of leaving um WWE Monday Night Raw for the last that was in September. A historic day for the city of Springfield and for the Mass Mutual Center and MGM. If we could go to the next slide, please. So, for the first time, this this was a big first. John Cena, who has ties to um Springfield, went to Springfield College, he chose Springfield and working with our team at the Mass Mutual Center to come as part of his final tour. Um Springfield has never seen so many people downtown. And for the Mass Mutual Center, um this was televised internationally on Netflix. This was a record-breaking event not only for MMC but also for Springfield. Highest gross revenue for ticket sales, food and beverage merchandise in the history of the Mass Mutual Center. 1.1 million that's uh economic impact for a single day event. So that I see you smiling, Commissioner Hill. Uh so this was really a great great day for the city for MGM and for the Mass Mutual Center. You can see on the bottom left, we have never had more people at the Mass Mutual Center in the history of the MMC than we had uh for the uh WWE event. So, exciting time and wanted to share a little bit go down into some of the granulars about what a what a fabulous day that was. >> Can we give Commissioner Hill an opportunity here? I know what he's going to say. >> I I think I know what he's going to say, too. >> So, as you know, he's from West Newberry, which is a hop, skip, and a jump from Ipsswitch. And he was at the garden. I believe Monday night and he went and ate at the Clam Box, home home of the Ipsswitch clam uh the next day. So, we were all so excited that he ate at the clam box. [laughter] >> I knew that's what you were going to say. >> One of the greatest and I know people may know this Make a Wish Foundation part of >> he has given the most wishes of anybody I think in the history of Make a Wish. This guy is great and I'm not surprised that he filled this place. The mayor was saying the same thing you were saying at the exact same time back there. >> Some young people that heached out and met with him was number one make the wish make wish and total gentleman I think. Thank you rep for bringing that up because that's lost wrestling. Wrestling he does a lot. Now, just to rehash that for the the mic people, the mayor pointed out that he does number one on Make a Wish and and including in these communities here in New England. So, we uh we appreciate the work that John Cena does do uh on that and uh we're proud that I'll use the word proud, Beth, uh the native son of Massachusetts. >> Just for the record, uh Commissioner Broer and I did try to get the meeting for that particular day so that we could go that night, but that didn't happen. I hope it's tickets went fast. >> We were hoping to be here that day. >> And can I add he's just a lovely person. I think Mayor Serno can attest to that too. And I know he did a lot of things um with our our guests um that evening, but also um did some private things that didn't get much media attention in the Springfield area, which I know you're aware of as well. So just a a fabulous person and really took the time to u make the most of his visit here. So, if we could go to the next slide, please. Upcoming entertainment at the Mass Mutual Center. Um, upcoming the Harvest Festival that has happened, but if we're talking Q3, um, that was what was upcoming at that point. We do have the Festival of Trees, also Hoopal Classic, the 100-year tour of the Harlem Glow Trotters. Here's a first one for um the Springfield Thunderbirds and the Mass Mutual Center hosting Dropkick Murphy's uh postgame concert that's going to be I I'm sure sold out. Um, so very very excited about that. Uh, Mercy Me also coming to the Mass Mutual Center and a few other things that are in the works that um, we'll be announcing that I'm not privy to announce at this moment. Uh, if we could go to the next slide, please. So, at MGM Springfield and Symphony Hall, we had uh, One Night of Queen um, which was a great event. So many people came to that um, which is always fabulous. Um, Matt Frasier always sells out, does very well. Ryan Adams also here at the Springfield Symphony Hall. Want to point out our free music Friday and this is something that I've talked to you about um over the years, but Free Music Friday was the most successful that we have ever seen. I feel like I say this every year after the end of the season, but outdoor concerts on our plaza, thousands of people coming enjoying a night out for free um under the stars and it could not have gone better uh this year. So stay tuned for some more announcements um as we look towards the next year. If we could go to the next slide, please. Coming up, entertainment at MGM Springfield. We have Chelsea Handler coming back. She always does really well here. Aaron Lewis again, um, native here, so he always sells out. We have comedian Brad Williams coming. Crochi plays Crochi. Um, and Air Supply, uh, this weekend, I believe. So, lots ahead um and a lot for the holidays, which I will discuss next time, but very much looking forward to kicking off Q4. And that does it for us at MGM Springfield. So, thank you so much for having us. I >> I have a question, Beth. Um I know that Commissioner Hill and myself made it out to the Big E West Springfield this year. Um does that get drive an uptick there at the casino when that that period comes? Are there more people to visit? Yes. Um, yes and no. It's all, you know, we very much welcome those who are leaving the fair, spent the day and want to come. Um, we do have people that park uh at because parking is free and um there's a shuttle service that goes to the Biggie run um not by us, but yeah, we do. We do, which is great. It's not huge, but you know, we're we're great partners with them. We also have a presence at the Biggie as well, >> so it's a really good partnership. Yeah, I noticed that. That's why I brought it up. >> Yep. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. [snorts] >> Any questions, commissioners? >> All right. >> All right. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, DMGM. >> All right. I'm going to kick it back to you, Chief Delaney. >> Uh, thank you, chair and commissioners. So, the last item we have up today, um, we have Tim Sheien here from the city of Springfield. He's the chief development officer and we asked him to come here today to talk about some of the things that are going on in downtown Springfield. Um there are a lot of exciting things that are happening in downtown Springfield. Some which have to do with the community mitigation funds, some which do not. Um we like to think that um hopefully the community mitigation funds may have helped the city leverage some of these other projects to get them done. Uh but with that, I'll turn it over to Tim to give you an update on what's happening here in Springfield. Good to see you again, Tim. >> Commissioners, it's always great to have you in the city of Springfield. Uh, and I my message to you today is that you have been an extraordinary partner with the city in terms of the redevelopment efforts that we've been advancing uh for the Main Street Convention Center District in the city. Um, what does that mean? Let's go back and take a look at where we've been. 2019 non-transportation planning grant $50,000. 2020 specific mitigation grant $250,000 and a specific mitigation grant for of $100,000. 2021 a specific mitigation grant of $400,000. 2022, a transportation construction grant of $1.5 million and a specific mitigation grant of $300,000. 2023, a $ 1.5 million transportation construction grant. FY2025, a $1.5 million transportation construction grant. 2026, a uh $320,000 regional planning grant and a community planning grant of $225,000. [cough] [clears throat] and a a community planning grant of $250,000, a transportation construction grant of $600,000, and a transportation construction grant of $1.5 million totaling just shy of $9 million. So, what have we done with those efforts? This is the geography of our investment. It includes the Main Street corridor, the Court Square public realm. I encourage you after the meeting's done to go out and take a look at how beautiful Court Square looks. It is simply fantastic. And I at previous meetings that you've held in the city, the commissioners have responded to how beautiful Court Square looks with First Church uh and that it is so typical New England in terms of public uh amenity, common space. Um and we have taken uh the development of the blocks across from the casino all the way back to Willow Street. Uh and we are advancing projects there. Most specifically, uh, we are advancing with, uh, Maccaffrey, uh, construction group, uh, a development group out of, uh, Chicago on a 112 unit, uh, uh, residential, uh, mixeduse project with activated groundf flooror commercial. Uh, they are already out uh, uh, uh, solisting for tenants. In terms of that activated ground floor, uh they are certainly looking at uh having tenants that are activating and creating pedestrian activity between the Mass Mutual Center and MGM as the two anchors for the corridor. Next slide, please. Again, this is giving you some three-dimensional sense of what the district is with Court Square right at the center, Mass Mutual, and then looking uh further south, you've got the MGM campus. Next slide, please. So, the public realm first phase is was really focused on all of Court Square. Uh again, it's just amazing in terms of the overall transformation. Uh many of you may remember the walkway between uh MGM uh and Court Square and Symphony Hall. Uh that was not a a pleasant uh pedestrian experience. Uh now it is safe. It is well lit. is really making the connection between MGM and Symphony Hall and making it a vibrant place that uh visitors to MGM uh would certainly want to traverse back into the uh Court Square area and to uh uh our uh beautiful Symphony Hall. Next slide, please. Again, these are just some of the planning documents. Uh next slide. This is the result. It's amazing. Um, and it represents a $10 million transformation of what was a a dated and uh somewhat rundown uh uh you know central common area for the entire city. Next slide. So then we turned our attention uh obviously to the clock tower and the colonial block. Uh, and you know, those are the buildings that are right across the street from the the casino. Many of you have looked at them and they they have uh appeared empty for uh what seems like uh over a decade now plus uh uh the the development is active. Macaffrey is actually in the buildings now doing uh demolition uh and uh uh advancing the redevelopment of those buildings. Uh, interestingly enough, we had a a clock on top of the clock tower that told the right time two times a day. Uh, McAffrey has looked at that as, you know, a significant component of their development. Uh, they took on the repair and relighting of that clock uh, as one of the first efforts that they they wanted to advance because it recognized the historic significance of the buildings. Uh and also it was an icon uh that you can see pretty much from uh probably about 3/4 of all of Main Street. Uh it looking either north or south. Uh so it was pretty amazing to see that clock be restored. It hadn't been working in well over 30 years. Uh I think it was closer to 50 years. So it it it was an amazing addition back to the the uh public space in downtown. Next slide, please. Uh again uh we we are advancing a parking garage uh with uh uh funding that was provided uh through the mitigation fund. Uh it's roughly a 400 400 space garage. Uh it would be it's intended to serve the whole district going all the way down uh from state to union. Uh there's a whole series of uh surface parking lots and it's taking those surface parking lots better managing the uh the parking needs of the area through a structured parking facility so that those surface lots can then become development lots in the future. This is the design of the garage. It's absolutely beautiful. Um it it's in keeping with the uh industrial sense of the the neighborhood uh that's back there. uh and the character of the whole area. Um and it it's going to be integrated into the the neighborhood well. Um again, it's a very modern facility. Um and uh I call your attention to all of the glass that's there and the uh public art. Um it it's really opening up that whole area. And in front of it uh there is an additional open space um that would be utilized by the community as well. Next slide. These are some of the wayfinding uh concepts that we are advancing right now. We're really moving forward uh this year with the state and main district to brand the district uh uh so that the community has a sense of uh what's going on and how uh what area of the city they're they're actually in. Uh and those are the concepts that we're advancing right now. Um next slide. And this is kind of the placement of where the the um wayfinding would go. As you can see, that is the clock tower on the the U Masonic building. Next slide. These are the concepts in terms of where we're putting the state and main district logo. These are some of the um the lighting uh design work that was done as part of the park restoration. Um and it's amazing when you look at it at night. it it uh really activates the whole area and it gets you a sense that this is a really safe pedestrian environment. Next slide. And again, this is the district. I want to come back to the garage because it's very important to understand where we're at in that. And we've certainly gone way beyond drawings with the garage. Um it it really is into design development at this point. um uh getting into we've hired Desmond uh as the uh designer uh that will take it into construction design uh and then we intend to go out uh and solicit for um GC uh and we are anticipating that uh early next year and I'm happy to take any questions you have. I also wanted to to highlight the fact that it may be $9 million that the fund has invested just in economic development and redevelopment efforts in the city. That does not represent your total investment. Your total investment has been on an annual basis roughly $3 million a year, which is absolutely fantastic. And that has covered uh projects that have uh been advanced for infrastructure, for health and human services, for the fire department, and for the police department. You've been a fantastic partner, and as you can tell, we are exceedingly disappointed that the funding has been uh moved. Thank you. I'm happy to take any questions you might have. >> Thank you, Tim. Um uh Commissioner Bro and Commissioner O'Brien, and we'll move to this side. Um, thank you. Um, I I have to say that I, you know, was here in a past life in the AG's office and I would come out here and I remember what the MGM spot looked like before the construction and was here for the ribbon cutting. It's a phenomenal transformation. Um, I did want to circle back to First Church. Um, Joe and I were actually talking about it on the way in, the sort of the quintessential look and the anchor in that park. Um, and I don't know if you're at liberty to say plans, status, anything in regards to kind of taking that piece right in the middle and and what the plan is for that. >> So, right now, First Church has got roughly, excuse me, $5 million worth of deferred maintenance. Uh we are advancing right now an effort uh to do uh roof work and uh uh uh drainage issues uh relative to the building so that we stop any water issues from further damaging the building. That investment is uh approximately $2.5 million. Uh and that work is happening right now. Uh we are intending on looking at uh uh funding the remainder of that uh over time. Uh we did apply for community preservation funding. Uh unfortunately we're denied by the CPA for that. Um but uh we are scouring sources uh to come up with additional funding. The mayor and I have had this conversation uh multiple times that we have to find the investment for First Church because we have gotten what nobody thought we were going to get done, which it was 31 Elm in that condition. We've taken care of the park at this point. We've made the connections. The church is the next focus for us going forward >> for sure. >> Yeah, it's a phenomenal accomplishment. It is it is sort of the missing piece to have it all to have the puzzle be complete looking out on the square but it it's very impressive the work that you and and the mayor and the city have done also. >> Thank you. >> Uh amazing stuff. It's a former rep and a former mayor and I know how hard it is to sell a long-term vision, right? A lot of these kinds of investments are you kind of have to have a dream and recognize that you make these investments with the hope that it will lead to that it will be a catalyst right and that it will lead to further opportunities further growth and uh kudos to you guys for embracing that because I sometimes it's hard to sell when there are so many needs in a community. So, an interesting stat, uh, 31 Elm in terms of that particular redevelopment. Um, they've done the first turnover of their leases. They are 100% occupied. They have a waiting list and the rent went up. >> Good news almost all the way around. Right. [laughter] Get down. Excuse me. Can you bring up the the that one of those first master plan slides that has kind of the the biggest scope >> with the threedimensional one >> if you could? Yeah. >> Let me see if I can get that. >> That'll work. That's true. So, what I'm trying to tease out, I I heard um Mayor Sarno liiden loud and clear about some of the concerns about particular properties uh that are not performing well, that are not fitting into the vision. Do those appear on this kind of on this development >> 101 state? >> Yes. You see where the Mass is? >> Sure enough. >> So going south. >> Oh, on the logo. Sure. >> Yeah. >> It's a sign it's a significant property. Uh and quite frankly, the development is really looking at you've got the anchor as the Mass Mutual Center. You have McCaffry's development taking the other corner. The mayor referenced a property that we took by eminent domain. Uh that's on one corner that's going into redevelopment right now. And then this property is on the fourth corner. And as has been indicated, it's been lagging with scaffolding on it for since the casino's been open. >> And so given that you um what you presented and what we've discussed, this is not like a finishing piece. This is a critical part of the vision for this for this development opportunities downtown. >> It is it's it's a critical corner for the whole redevelopment effort. >> And in particular as you as you do so much of this other terrific work. It actually makes this building or this property kind of stick out. >> It makes it harder to attract additional investment because that whole corner is essentially dark. So, I hope we can make more. You all can make more progress on that. That's a quick piece. >> Commissioner Skinner. >> Okay. Going to try to utilize this so I don't have the mic man come my way. Um, [laughter] almost $10 million. And to quote my colleague, that's real money. Um, we can't take credit for the CMF fund being written into the statute. I think maybe two of our colleagues can. Um but but what we I can take credit for is recognizing worthy projects and the city of Springfield through you, Tim, have demonstrated um that these are very worthy projects and um so pleased to have my time here on this commission um be filled with enabling those projects. And so congrats to you all and I hope you continue to find funding. Look forward to being invited back um once you're ready to cut the ribbon on that garage. It looks like a beautiful building. >> Thank you. And that point is very well taken with us. I mean you you have been judicious in terms of your funding awards for worthy projects as you said. um you know we haven't won all of our submissions uh but you know you the team has does a very very good job in terms of reviewing and making recommendations to you and uh again the the whole uh commission has just been fantastic to work with. >> I want to thank Commissioner Hill and uh Commissioner Broers's legislative aids. I know they knew they did the CMF fund. Uh, did you have anything to add, Commissioner Hill? >> I don't have anything to add uh to the presentation. It was excellent, and we're so grateful that you were able to come here and share this with us. Uh, back in Boston, we asked questions about these projects all day long. And for us to be able to come here today and hear it firsthand from you was fabulous. The only um thing I would add, Mr. chairman. It has nothing to do with the presentation, but that young gentleman who's running around with the microphone stuff, uh, he's moving and grooving here. He's better than any rodeo ever saw for a reason [laughter] or Paul McCartney. So, kudos to for making our AV stuff work. I think they still call it AV. At least back in my day, they did. So, a little shout out to uh him. >> There was a moment where Tim was handed a mic and he looked like Bob Barker. >> [laughter] >> That's pretty good. >> Um, any other questions, commissioners, comments? >> Um, all right. >> Thank you. I believe that ends. Um, Chief Delaney, your your piece. Um, I'll just note that we love being in Springfield and I love seeing familiar faces from I think all of us do, our time in in state government. And I I'm reminded of Vanessa serving Governor Baker when I was up in the chief secretary's office. Thank you for doing that. And um I will say that uh this is a lovely building, beautiful building. So thanks for welcoming us here. Um commissioners, do we have any commissioner updates? Any other business we didn't anticipate? Do we have a motion to adjurnn? >> Move to adjurnn. >> We have a tie. So who seconds that >> second? There we go. All right. Um, Commissioner, do we have to do a We just We're all done. >> We can just say I all together. >> I All in favor? I >> No nays on that one ever. All right. Thank you all.