Ohio's gamble on casinos Sunday, April 09, 2006 Ohio is now moving down and of promoting casinos is economic development. Read more. Casinos work as economic development strategies only in a relatively isolated cases. In particular, they are appropriate for rural regions that are within a reasonable driving distance of larger metropolitan areas. Casinos can operate as an effective way to shift income from stronger metro regions to weaker rural counties. (So, for example, the casino in Rising Sun, IN draws from metro Cincinnati.) Given the competition from Las vegas and Atlantic City, casinos generally do not work well in larger metro regions. To be an income generator, casinos must attract over 60% of their patrons from outside the region. In metro areas like Detroit, hitting this target is very difficult. An example from Louisiana illustrates the point. Casinos in Shreveport are successful as income generators. Located in the northwest corner of the state, Shreveport is able to draw patrons from Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas (where gambling is outlawed.) In contrast, casinos in Baton Rouge do little to boost the regional economy. These casinos have no clear target market from which to draw patrons. Overall, the Great Lakes states are facing tough times ahead. Among these states, Ohio has been the worst performer. Staking the future on gambling will help some real estate developers, but it will not generate the innovation economy Ohio needs. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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