Vol. 4 No. 12, December 2007
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CANJ Online
The CANJ’s new website will be an industry clearinghouse
The Casino Association of New Jersey has launched a new website (www.casinoassociationofnewjersey.org) to give all interested parties—those who benefit from our industry and those who establish policies that impact our thriving industry—information about developments affecting gaming in New Jersey.
As you know, the Casino Association of New Jersey serves as the collective voice of the Atlantic City casino industry, and facilitates the exchange of information and ideas between our industry and all of its stakeholders, including casino employees, policymakers, business leaders, the public and other interested parties. Given this role, I believe that the number-one priority is to communicate the successes and achievements of our industry to state policy-makers who have the ability to impact the business conditions in which we operate.
The CANJ website is our most recent method of facilitating this necessary communication. The site includes everything from the “Casino News Service,” which will address current topical issues impacting our industry, to links to individual casinos, regulatory agencies and other places of interest. It fully allows visitors to the website to understand the contributions casino gaming has made to the state and to appreciate the urgent need to keep the industry flourishing.
The site also provides a central location where consumers can connect to the casino of their choice and to get a broad view of the entertainment options that are available to them in Atlantic City.
CANJ expects the new website to be a valuable tool to disseminate information to anyone who wants to know about the billions of dollars of expansions slated for the state’s number-one resort area, or for anyone concerned about keeping the industry healthy and its economic and other benefits flowing to the millions of people who have come to rely on us.
The website highlights these facts about New Jersey’s casino industry:
• Approximately 35 million people visit Atlantic City annually.
• Atlantic City is the fourth most visited destination in the United States.
• Atlantic City’s 11 casinos generate as much gaming revenue each year as the largest 24 casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.
• New Jersey casinos have made approximately $11 billion of capital investment since inception.
• Approximately $3 billion of the $11 billion in capital invest- ment has been made since 2003, and billions more are planned or expected over the next five to 10 years. • Our industry employs approximately 42,000 individuals directly and another 20,000 indirectly, for a total job creation of 62,000 jobs.
• In 2006, the Atlantic City casino industry paid $417 million in gross gaming revenue taxes that support programs for seniors and the disabled.
• In nearly 30 years, the Atlantic City casino industry has generat- ed over $17 billion in taxes and fees for New Jersey.
• $1.1 billion in tax revenues are generated each year from the casino taxes, luxury tax and other taxes related to casino operations.
• Atlantic City casinos purchase $2.2 billion of goods and services from thousands of vendors each year who are located in every county of New Jersey.
The Casino Control Act was the enabling legislation that in the late 1970s permitted casinos to be established in Atlantic City, and among other things, was designed to spur economic development.
This vision has been realized, as the casino industry is in fact a vital economic generator not only for Atlantic City but also for the entire state of New Jersey, and the website highlights these successes.
CANJ has a tremendous story to tell, and communicating the success of our industry—particularly the positive developments of the past several years and planned future development—is important in order to gain understanding of the business conditions that are critical for our industry to grow for the benefit of all its stakeholders.
It is also important for us to communicate those issues that might act as an impediment to future growth. As you will see when you visit it, the CANJ website focuses on exciting new developments and issues affecting our casinos while giving us an opportunity to voice our message with the click of a mouse. Find CANJ on the web at www.casinoassociationofnewjersey.org.
