A Joliet-based casino operation Tuesday said it will contribute $450,000 over the next five years to a $5 million business and community development program for Will County.
Officials of Empress Casino Joliet announced the donation and said the firm will establish its own office of community involvement to handle all future requests for money.
The gift is to the Competitive Edge program of the Joliet/Will County Center for Economic Development and comes after a recommendation by the Illinois Gaming Board that all gambling licensees in the state become more active in community development.
Officials with the Center for Economic Development said Competitive Edge is a $5 million, five-year plan to recruit and retain businesses in the area.
According to center President Ruth Fitzgerald Kennedy, the gift means the program has commitments for more than 98 percent of its fundraising goal.
Peter Ferro, the casino’s chief executive, announced the formation of the community involvement office and its five divisions: community donations, employee volunteering, charity gifts, disaster aid, and diversity.
Each division will be headed by a member of the casino’s executive board, whose members will be aided by an advisory board of community leaders.
Empress officials said that the casino previously contributed as much as $75,000 to local groups, but this commitment would be its first over a longer period.
For the last five years, Joliet city revenues have been boosted by nearly $90 million in riverboat gambling revenue. Mayor Art Schultz noted, “We could not do what we have done (to renovate the city’s infrastructure) without riverboats.”
State gaming board spokeswoman Marianne Floriano acknowledged that the board “asked the Empress to take a more active part in Joliet and Will County” economic affairs when the casino’s license was renewed in 1996.
“This was a recommendation to licensees at renewal,” she said. “We want them to be a little more aggressive.”
Harrah’s Joliet Casino does not have an umbrella organization to handle donations, but its chief financial officer, Andrew Duggan, said his company “is proud of its aggressive stance.” He referred to $285,000 in gifts to the Center for Economic Development over the last four years.
Duggan said that Harrah’s 1996 cash grants to local agencies were $250,000 and that employees have donated 70,000 hours of volunteer work in the area.
The Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin last year set up a foundation and promised gifts of $36 million over the next two years for economic development, education and environment in the Elgin and Kane County area.
