As previously reported, the state of Maryland is to have its sixth casino established by MGM National Harbor, a subsidiary of MGM Resorts International. The building procedure is already in progress but local businesses accused MGM officials of having failed their expectations to be engaged in the casino construction.
In order to put an end to any speculations, MGM released a special statement on the matter. It was said in the statement that as many as one third of the agreements for the construction of the casino have been distributed among local businesses. The entire project was estimated to cost MGM $1.2 billion.
Lorenzo Creighton, MGM President and CEO, answered different questions, most of which were intended to cast light on the efforts MGM puts into hiring minority-owned businesses. He explained that during 2014, almost half of the local firms were arranged in the casino construction.
Apart from local firms, MGM promised to hire Maryland residents and yesterday, they announced that 19% out of the total 96,000 working hours have been performed by locals.
In point of fact, the aforementioned 19% exceed MGM’s promise to hire local people. Upon receiving approval for completing the casino project, MGM signed a community benefits agreement and took the responsibility of hiring particular number of local residents.
MGM CEO went on to say that the casino establishment is beneficial to the economic growth of Prince George’s County and defined MGM as a “pioneer in diversity”. He also added that as the project advances, more job positions will be available and more local firms are to be engaged in the construction.
However, the fact that MGM CEO presented certain data did not content his opponents and they insisted a list of the companies included in the construction to be released. Maryland residents and lawmakers expressed their doubts about the transparency of the hiring process and required MGM executives to increase the number of firms and residents they hire.
Meanwhile, local business owners filed a lawsuit and accused MGM of failing to comply with the contracting standards for minority business, despite the promise they made and the state funds they received.
According to the allegations, MGM signed contracts with certain firms, while some other qualified contractors were not included in the construction. A representative of MGM denied all claims and said that the allegations were completely groundless. For that reason the company was preparing for defending itself.
