Station Casinos agrees to new goals for women, minorities

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Station Casinos Inc. of Las Vegas and a Kansas City Port Authority committee reached a new agreement Thursday spelling out how minority and women business owners and investors are to be given a bigger slice of the economic pie.

"We are holding their feet to the fire more than in past years," Port Authority Chairman Bill Johnson said Thursday.

Since it opened in January 1997, Station Kansas City has met Port Authority goals for hiring women and minorities. But the casino has fallen far short of purchasing goals for minority- and women-owned businesses.

The casino's agreement in 1996 to draw minorities into its local ownership mix was put on hold by the Port Authority last year when no investors were found. That situation has changed dramatically in the past year with the casino's financial success, Johnson said.

The new agreement will be presented to the Port Authority's board today for a decision.

Board members also are expected to vote on whether to endorse Station's $22.5 million purchase bid for the Flamingo Hilton Casino, which leases public land through the city agency.

The Missouri Gaming Commission is scheduled to meet Wednesday and could call for a final vote on the purchase, which Station executives have said they hope to complete by Dec. 1.

The Gaming Commission is not likely to approve the purchase without the local agency's endorsement.

The Flamingo sale issue this fall gave critics a public forum to air grievances about both casinos' dismal record in doing business with minority- and women-owned business.

"We've had nice warm fuzzy talks" with Station in recent weeks, said Marie Young, executive director of the Black Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. "It's great that we're having this dialogue."

And the Black Chamber is willing to work with Station to reach compliance with the new goals, she said.

But Young made it clear her organization, which represents about 500 businesses, expected results -- and fast.

"All the paper in the world doesn't mean a thing," she said, waving a copy of the new agreement. "They're going to have to perform."

The original agreement called for Station to commit 35 percent of its purchasing dollars to disadvantaged firms and 45 percent for the Flamingo.

According to the Port Authority's latest audit by G&H Consulting LLC, for the third quarter of 1999, Station was at 8.3 percent and Flamingo was at 20.7 percent.

In earlier audits that also took significant construction spending into account, Station achieved averages of about 30 percent.

The new agreement equalizes goals for both casinos and lowers them slightly.

But it also requires greater outreach efforts by Station to identify and aid in the development of more minority- and women-owned business partners.

The new minority-firm purchasing goals are set at 23.9 percent, down from 25 percent for Station and 35 percent for the Flamingo in the old agreement, and 9.9 percent from women-owned firms, down from 10 percent.

Port Authority officials said the new figures were based in part on the formula used by City Hall in its purchasing decisions. They also reflect unique casino needs -- such as slot machines or dice -- that are not commonly available from most vendors.

"These numbers are very difficult to reach," said Troy A. Stremming, Station's counsel for Midwest operations. "We are doing everything we can to get there."

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