PRESS RELEASE

HARRISBURG: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today opened registration for the first of two scheduled Gaming Diversity forums designed to promote the inclusion of women- and minority-owned businesses in the Commonwealth’s emerging gaming industry.

The first forum is scheduled for Thursday Sept. 29, 2005, in the Fox-Gittis Room of the Liacouras Center on the Temple University campus in Philadelphia. A downloadable registration form for the day-long event is now available in English and Spanish on the Board’s Web site, www.pgcb.state.pa.us. Registration instructions are on the form.

The Board is also moving forward with its second planned forum, scheduled for Thursday Oct. 27, 2005, on the campus of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. Details of the Pittsburgh forum will also be announced as soon as they are completed.

Act 71 of 2004, which authorized expanded gaming in the Commonwealth, requires the Board to promote diversity in all aspects of gaming in Pennsylvania.

Editor’s Note: A tentative agenda for the Philadelphia forum follows.

Date: September 29, 2005

Location: Temple University, Liacouras Center, Fox - Gittis room,
1776 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19121

Purpose: present general overview of how gaming will operate in Pennsylvania, initiate the advancement of diversity among Manufacturers and Suppliers, and provide guidance on how to set up a supplier company.

Moderator: Commissioner Sanford Rivers

Fee: $75

Program:

8:30 - 9:00 a.m. - RECEPTION

9:00 - 9:15 a.m. - Welcome Address by Chairman Tad Decker

9:15 - 10:00 a.m. - SESSION 1 – Gaming in Pennsylvania

    1) Act
    2) Regulations
    3) PGCB Operations
    4) Diversity Plan Requirements Under the Act
    5) Panel: Commissioner Colins, Commissioner McCabe, Commissioner Conaboy, Susan Hensel, LaMonte Williams, and Audrey Powell, Policy Director to Rep. H. William DeWeese

10:00 - 10:15 a.m. - BREAK

10:15 - 11:45 a.m. - SESSION 2 - Advancing Diversity among Manufacturers and Suppliers

    1) Enterprise Opportunities in the Pennsylvania Gaming Industry for Suppliers
    2) Performing Effective Outreach to Women, Minority, and Disadvantaged Business Owners
    3) Panel: Commissioner Coy; Executive Director Anne Neeb; Darlene Jenkins, President, National Minority Supplier Development Council; Dr. Louis Overstreet, Executive Director, Las Vegas Urban Chamber of Commerce; and Phyllis James, Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel, MGM Mirage

11:45 - 1:00 p.m. – LUNCH - Keynote Speaker: TBA

1:00 - 3:00 p.m. - SESSION 3 - Preparing To Do Business

    1) Licensing Requirements for Suppliers
    2) Minority and Women Business Certification Requirements
    3) Starting a Business
    4) Panel: Commissioner Marshall; Peter Speaks, Deputy Secretary of Administration, Dept. of General Services; Thomas Wren, Director of Special Programs, Small Business Development Center; Irene Hannan, Senior Vice President, Citizens Bank; and Leslie Stiles, Executive Director, Governor’s Commission on Women

3:00 - 3:15 p.m. - Closing Remarks by Commissioner Colins

3:15 - 4:15 p.m. - Reception for Participants and Panelists