Daily Business Report — Aug. 8, 2012
Daily Business Report
Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012
Study: Tribal Gaming Contributes $7.5 Billion a Year to California Economy
Tribal government gaming in California — including the casinos operated by 10 gaming tribes in San Diego County — has a $7.5 billion annual impact and supports more than 52,000 jobs for residents, according to a new study commissioned by the California Nations Indian Gaming Association. The study was done by Beacon Economics, an independent economic research firm, which gave these key findings:
• Tribal gaming generates $7.5 billion for California’s economy. More than half of that amount ($3.9 billion), was generated outside of direct spending from the gaming operations. That means that businesses throughout California’s economy — the vast majority of which are non-tribal — are being buoyed by tribal gaming.
• California tribal gaming creates more than 52,000 jobs and $2.7 billion in income for Californians. The Beacon study estimates that upwards of 80 percent of casino employees are non-tribal members, and finds that many tribal gaming jobs are filled by lower-skilled workers, those hurt most by the economic downturn.
• Tribal government gaming operations generate $467 million in state and local revenues, and non-gaming operations provide an additional $47 million in state and local revenues.
• Revenue generated by tribal gaming provides essential support to non-gaming tribes, funding a range of services including education, health care and housing. Non-gaming tribes receive up to $1.1 million annually from the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund. To date, the analysis shows that $818 million has been distributed to help reduce the reliance of non-gaming tribes on state and local governments.
“California tribes made a promise to California voters: we promised we would provide for our people and land as governments, we would provide jobs for our people and our neighbors, we would be good neighbors sharing responsibility for services like fire and police and environmental protection, as well as supporting nonprofits and public entities that contribute to the quality of life in our regions,” said Daniel Tucker, chairman of CNIGA and chairman of the Sycuan tribe in El Cajon.
Two New Grants Enable S.D. Air & Space Museum
to Continue Digitization of its Research Material
The San Diego Air & Space Museum, which houses the third largest collection of aviation-related research material in the United States, will use two recently awarded grants to continue its digitization of its extensive collection. The museum received $124,500 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and $25,000 from Goodrich Aerostructures. The initial digitization project originated two years ago with the help of the Legler Benbough Foundation, whose funding enabled the museum to upload more than 135,000 digitized images to Flickr.com as well as more than 400 rare films to YouTube. The museum’s online image and film collection is thought to be the largest of its type in the world.
Silvergate Bank Receives Approval
To Issue Ginnie Mae-Backed Securities
Silvergate Bank has received approval from the Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”) to issue Ginnie Mae Home Equity Conversion Mortgage-backed securities. The bank plans to complete its first Ginnie Mae HMBS securitization in September. “Obtaining Ginnie Mae HMBS Issuer approval has been an important objective for us since entering the reverse mortgage lending business late last year to take advantage of market opportunities and to provide further diversification for Silvergate Bank beyond our core business banking activities,” said Alan J. Lane, the bank’s president and chief executive officer.
PERSONNEL
San Diego — Brunson Howard has joined Cushman & Wakefield as a director of the capital markets group, focusing exclusively on investment sales for office, industrial and R&D property in Southern California and Las Vegas. Howard previously worked at Cushman & Wakefield from 2007-2011. Prior to his career in real estate, he served for 11 years in the U.S. Marine Corps where he flew AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters in Afghanistan and later F/A-18D Strike Fighters.
Small Business Workshops
• Aug. 9 – Build Your Business Through Search Engine Optimization – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at National University – Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door).
• Aug. 10 – Start-Up Essentials – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at National University – Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door).
For more information, call SCORE San Diego at (619) 557-7272.
The Daily Business Report is produced by SD METRO. Contact: Manny Cruz (619) 287-1865. manny@sandiegometro.com.
