Economic Impact Studies

As all developers of casinos have discovered, there is often a small and vocal minority within every community that is opposed to gaming development. These may be local residents who fear the negative impact on area roadways, the local environment or a possible reduction in property values. There are others who are opposed to casino development purely on moral grounds and wish to impose their beliefs on the greater community. Regardless, casino developers must recognize that casino projects, by their nature, are placed under greater scrutiny than other forms of development. Therefore, developers must be prepared to demonstrate, in economically quantifiable and qualitative terms, the economic and social benefits that such projects will have on the surrounding community and weigh those benefits against the economic and social costs that those projects will generate.

The Economic Impact Study is an independent study that quantifies the economic benefits that a proposed casino project will have on the surrounding community. This analysis will include, at the very least, the number of jobs that the project will create (both during construction and after completion), estimates of increased retail spending caused by the creation of those new jobs, additional employment to suppliers of goods and services to the Project and spending generated by those employees, as well as increases in tax revenue that would be generated by this increased spending. The four primary outputs include Total Output, Jobs, Wages, and Taxes.

GMA associate Tadayuki Hara PhD focused his dissertation at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration on the concept of Socio-Economic Impact Studies for hospitality and tourism. His socio-economic impact model is widely recognized among hospitality academicians and professionals as an accurate and effective measurement tool to measure the true impact of a casino development on a community

Presentation of the Economic Impact Study early in the development process, when the project is first made public, allows the development team to mitigate the complaints that will invariably come from various constituents in the community. By being proactive, the development team can quickly dispel the myths associated with casino development, address the concerns of the community and develop a project that is in harmony with its social and physical environment.