Guest MINDSETTERS™: Quonset Casino a Bad Bet for Rhode Island
Friday, February 24, 2012
Here’s something to think about for Quonset Business Park: 8,800 good jobs; $168 million in private investment; more than $650 million in state and federal investment; and tremendous growth potential.
This is not from some preposterous casino scheme. Rather, these numbers represent what currently exists at Quonset, where 168 companies have created 2,750 jobs just since 2005. These are good jobs in high-tech manufacturing, the marine trades, and global trade-related fields. These are precisely the kind of high-paying blue collar jobs that our state needs as it transitions to a 21st century economy.
What is equally exciting is the tremendous potential for growth. An additional $126 million in private investment, which would create even more jobs, is already in the pipeline. As members of the Joint Legislative Port Development Commission, which on February 14 made recommendations for how to foster business and job growth at Rhode Island’s working waterfronts, we know the potential for Rhode Island’s ports to be great. The Commission’s final report shows a potential for 1,000 new jobs and $70 million in additional wages at Rhode Island’s ports. These are good quality jobs Rhode Island needs.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTA casino would create jobs, one might argue. That’s true enough, but at what cost? The median income of a casino dealer is $18,090 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics – a far cry from the quality jobs being created right now at Quonset.
The prospect of a casino as a neighbor is one that Quonset businesses could understandably find unsettling. It sends the wrong message about what kind of business park is in place at Quonset. Facing uncertainty such as whether they will lose the property on which they operate might find them looking to expand their businesses elsewhere. Talk of a casino at Quonset could allow competing business parks and ports to attempt to lure away companies operating at Quonset as well as existing and potential customers.
In addition to serving on the Port Commission, we both also serve on the Lottery Commission, which oversees Twin River and Newport Grand. Our existing gaming facilities are vital sources of state revenue, and we support providing them with every possible protection, including installation of table games at both facilities.
Putting aside the threat to existing facilities, one must wonder if proponents of a casino at Quonset have truly thought through the ramifications of such a proposal on the success story that is already unfolding there. For instance, the port was the eighth-largest auto importer in North America in 2010, and the second fastest growing auto importer on the continent.
In fact there is very little available land at Quonset. The land referred to in Representative Joseph Trillo’s “casino plan” is actually under long-term leases for automotive import delivery, value added manufacturing and distribution. The three largest undeveloped parcels there are 62, 56 and 54 acres. They are not contiguous, and they are not near the water. Assuming cruise ships, which typically have on-board casinos, would even want to bring their passengers to a port of call with the sole attraction of a competing land-based casino, the ship channel is only capable of allowing one such vessel in at a time. This would hinder Electric Boat – poised for further growth with the US Navy’s shift to increased submarine power – Senesco, and the business park’s other marine tenants.
The companies that would be impacted are some of Rhode Island’s best employers. They have been creating thousands of good jobs, and they are poised for continued growth. The voters of Rhode Island recognize this, which is why they have chosen to support significant public investment here. Rhode Island’s leaders also recognize the existing strength and tremendous potential at Quonset, and they have made consistent policy decisions to maximize their potential.
In bi-partisan unison, Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio, and Minority Leader Dennis Algiere have spoken out against the Quonset “casino plan.” We write in that same bipartisan spirit today.
The discussion of a casino that has no practical prospects of coming to fruition creates a climate of uncertainty that seriously undermines the time, effort and money spent to create the Quonset success story in our state. In short, the business park and port are thriving. It makes little sense to gamble away a bright and prosperous future at Quonset with an ill-advised casino fantasy. A casino at Quonset is a bad bet.
Maryellen Goodwin (D-Dist. 1, Providence) is the Senate Majority Whip. David E. Bates (R-Dist. 32, Barrington, Bristol) is Senate Minority Whip. Both are members of the Joint Legislative Port Commission.
