Good morning and welcome. I appreciate the opportunity to contribute my thoughts to you today. I'm fortunate to represent Atlantic City in the state legislature. In the last few years Atlantic City and Atlantic County have emerged as a flourishing commercial center and a good place to find work or operate a business. You have already heard statistics that indicate the region's booming, and it's in large part due to the positive influence of the casino industry.
Casinos mean different things to different people.
To some they mean a place to go and have a good time. To many others in this state and beyond, casinos mean employment. Atlantic County heads the list of counties which benefit by the dollar volume of casino service industry business. However, the second and third in line are the northern counties of Essex and Middlesex, respectively, with a combined share of almost 20 percent of the total casino business. These direct benefits of gaming seem pretty obvious, but I'd like to give you some examples of the good things, the human things, that are the indirect benefits of gaming.