Commission to review research study assessing the economic and social impacts of  Plainridge Park Casino on the Host and Surrounding Communities

WHO:                   Members of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission including Chairman Steve Crosby, Commissioner Gayle Cameron, Commissioner Eileen O’Brien, Commissioner Bruce Stebbins and Commissioner Enrique Zuniga  

WHAT:                The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) will hold its 246^th open public meeting on TUESDAY, June 26, 2018.

Community members are invited and encouraged to attend MGC’s open meeting in Plainville, Mass. The meeting will include an in-depth report about the overall economic and social impacts of Plainridge Park Casino (PPC) on the host and surrounding communities. The data consists of a comprehensive review of PPC’s first two years of operations and covers topics such as employment levels, public safety impacts, and problem gambling rates. This week marks the third anniversary of PPC’s opening.

PPC representatives will begin the meeting with a presentation of its most recent quarterly report.

Chairman Crosby will then present research findings based on a five-year study of the economic and social impacts of Plainridge Park in Plainville, Attleborough, Foxborough, Mansfield, North Attleborough, and Wrentham. This study, funded and overseen by the MGC, is part of a larger legislatively mandated research agenda to study the effects of expanded gaming in Massachusetts. In 2013, the Commission engaged a team at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to conduct a comprehensive, multi-year study of the Social and Economic Impacts of Gambling in Massachusetts (SEIGMA) to understand the impacts of expanded gaming in the state. The study established baselines for all social and economic variables that may be affected by expanded gaming. The research team continues to collect, analyze and report each year so that lawmakers, regulators and business leaders will be able to use the SEIGMA findings to help develop state policies for the casino gambling industry.

Earlier in the day, members of the Commission will tour the construction site for Plainville’s new $34 million municipal complex including a town hall and public safety building; this new development is funded by the town’s capital improvement fund with significant monies provided by Plainridge Park Casino. The Commission will then proceed to Plainridge Park to watch several harness races and visit with MGC racing staff.

View the official Meeting Notification and Agenda.

A link to the LIVE STREAM of the meeting will be available on MassGaming.com.

Also, community members are invited to follow along with live meeting updates via Twitter, @MassGamingComm.

WHERE:            Council on Aging/Senior Center, 9 School Street, Plainville, MA

WHEN:              TUESDAY, June 26, 2018, at 5:30 p.m.