The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) gave high marks to Wynn Everett officials for their early use of women, minority and veteran contractors.
During a quarterly review of the Wynn Everett project by MGC Commissioners at a May 28 meeting in Boston, Commissioners said Wynn had done a great job of reaching out to diverse populations and had taken the Commission’s regulation “very seriously.”
The MGC regularly holds diversity hiring reports for all of its casino licensees and projects and has stressed the hiring of women, minority and veteran contractors through hours of meetings and hundreds of pages of regulations.
Through March 31, Wynn reported that it had already awarded 2.9 percent of contracts to such diverse businesses – with an overall goal of 7.9 percent.
“We have one design contract that is a fairly decent contract and has already been awarded,” Wynn Everett President Bob DeSalvio told the MGC. “We’ve obviously kicked off that process and obviously will try to bring that higher as time goes on. We’re off to a good start, but we’re on the front end of it.”
Commissioner Steve Crosby praised Wynn for being “focused on this.”
Wynn officials said they have awarded a large design contract to Michael Hong Architects in Los Angeles – a specialized architectural designer – as part of this effort.
The largest in-state award to date went to Pam Shadley Associates, a women-owned landscape architectural firm in Lexington.
“Wynn has awarded several contracts to minority-owned businesses for the design and construction of the Wynn Resort in Everett,” said Wynn Spokesman Michael Weaver. “To date, Wynn has committed 2.9 percent of design and construction contracts related to Wynn Everett to minority-owned businesses.”
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Why do race, ethnicity, and sex need to be considered at all
in deciding who gets awarded a contract?
It's good to make sure contracting programs are open to all, that
bidding opportunities are widely publicized beforehand, and that no one gets
discriminated against because of skin color, national origin, or sex. But that means no preferences because of skin
color, etc. either--whether it's labeled a "set-aside," a "quota,"
or a "goal," since they all end up amounting to the same thing. Such discrimination is unfair and divisive;
it breeds corruption and otherwise costs the taxpayers and businesses money to award a contract to someone other than the lowest bidder; and it's almost
always illegal—indeed, unconstitutional—to boot (see 42 U.S.C. section 1981 and this model brief: http://www.pacificlegal.org/document.doc?id=454 ). Those who insist on engaging in such discrimination deserve to be sued, and they will lose.