John Locher / AP
In this Wednesday, July 7, 2021, file photo, people wait in line for COVID-19 vaccinations at an event at La Bonita market, a Hispanic grocery store, in Las Vegas.
Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021 | 2 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
Editor’s note: As he traditionally does every August, Brian Greenspun is turning over his Where I Stand column to others this month. In presenting this year’s series of columns from community leaders, we feel it is important that our readers, trying to emerge from the ravages of the pandemic, hear from some of the people who can help guide us to better tomorrows. Today’s guest is Keith Smith, president and CEO of Boyd Gaming.
While we may be best known as the Entertainment Capital of the World, it is Las Vegas’ heart that will always stand out to me.
Since arriving in Southern Nevada more than 35 years ago, I have consistently been impressed by the caring nature of our community: our commitment to looking out for our neighbors and our propensity to come together in times of crisis. This commitment has been a part of the Las Vegas culture since our company’s co-founder, Sam Boyd, first brought his family here in 1941, and it is a commitment that has continued throughout the unprecedented challenges of the last 18 months.
When our economy shut down in March 2020, businesses and residents across the Las Vegas Valley poured their support and their donations into organizations like Three Square Food Bank, ensuring that hundreds of thousands of local residents had access to food throughout the closures and into the aftermath.
When first responders ran short of personal protective equipment, our community stepped up to donate the gloves and masks that helped keep them safe.
When health officials needed sites to host testing and vaccination efforts, businesses and nonprofits alike stepped up.
When the resorts of Las Vegas closed, numerous gaming companies — including Boyd Gaming — continued to extend pay and benefits to their employees.
And when many struggled to regain their financial footing as the economy reopened, help continued to arrive. Boyd Gaming donated nearly $1 million to Southern Nevada nonprofits like Three Square, the Boys & Girls Club and US Vets to provide direct support to their relief efforts – and I am proud to say that our counterparts in the resort industry have been equally generous in their support for those in need.
That commitment to community helped us weather the worst of the pandemic and recover more quickly than we had ever thought possible.
Think back to last March, when every casino, school and restaurant closed, and almost every retail business and office shut its doors. It was a near-total shutdown unlike anything we had ever experienced.
Back then, could you have possibly imagined where we would be today?
Our city welcomed almost 3 million visitors in both May and June, nearly matching pre-COVID levels.
As gaming revenues recover, tax payments from the state’s largest industry — contributor of more than a third of Nevada’s total tax revenues — have rebounded as well, restoring much-needed funding for schools, infrastructure and social services across Nevada.
And the job market is healing as well. After experiencing a 30% unemployment rate during the shutdown, today our community is seeing one of the most competitive job markets in memory. Not everyone is comfortable or able to return to the workforce yet, but we are making outstanding progress.
This recovery is a tribute to the residents of our city, and the employees of our hospitality industry. Faced with a web of challenging restrictions — masks, social distancing and comprehensive cleaning requirements — they continued to provide the exceptional guest service that makes Las Vegas truly special and kept visitors coming back to our community.
Our recovery is also a tribute to the miracle of vaccines.
In less than a year, scientists developed vaccines that are more than 90% effective in preventing illness, and close to 100% effective in preventing hospitalization and death.
It is no coincidence that Las Vegas visitation increased sharply as these vaccines became widely available across the country. As shots went into arms, more and more Americans grew comfortable traveling again. We saw this increased visitation this spring at Boyd Gaming properties across the United States, with the strongest gains coming at our nine properties across the Las Vegas Valley.
It was an exciting and exhilarating spring. But regrettably, recent weeks have not been as encouraging. After reaching a low point in June, COVID positivity rates have risen back above 16% in the Las Vegas Valley, and we are approaching case levels we haven’t seen since the winter surge.
Today we stand at a pivotal moment in this pandemic. Will we choose the path of repeated uncertainty and restrictions? Overwhelmed hospitals and overwhelmed health professionals? Canceled conventions and reduced visitation? Masks without end?
Or will we come together as a community once again and do what we must do to end this pandemic?
Today, 50% of Clark County’s residents have yet to start the vaccination process, leaving the fire of COVID with ample fuel to continue burning through our community. We must do better.
The current surge will inevitably fade, but so long as COVID has so many targets, the virus will return again and again. The vaccine is how it ends, once and for all.
If there is anything we have proven over the decades, it is how we are always ready to unite for the good of our community.
If you have not done so already, please join me and the Boyd Gaming team in getting the vaccine — for yourself, your family and our community.
If we do that, there is nothing we cannot achieve together in the years ahead.
