Sep. 1--MGM Mirage Chairman Terry Lanni admits there's significant room for improvement in the firm's newly released statistics detailing the racial and ethnic backgrounds of its employees, vendors and contractors. 

That said, Lanni's proud of the commitment he and his management team have made toward his goal of diversifying employment, purchasing and construction at MGM Mirage casinos. 

"We've got a long way to go," Lanni said recently of the companywide diversity program he instituted last fall. "If these numbers aren't significantly improved by this time next year, I'm going to be severely disappointed." 

The firm's diversity program was prompted by criticism that it spent very little money on black-owned businesses. 

Lanni admitted last year that his company didn't spend enough on minority contractors and suppliers and said MGM Mirage would demand that its general contractors include a minority component in all future bids. 

The company also sponsored opportunity fairs for minority-owned vendors, suppliers and contractors. 

MGM Mirage owns Bellagio, The Mirage, MGM Grand, Treasure Island, New York-New York, Boardwalk and Golden Nugget casinos in Las Vegas. 

The company owns three casinos on Interstate 15 in Primm and the Golden Nugget in Laughlin. The company is Nevada's and Clark County's largest employer, with 38,209 workers. 

Lanni noted positive and negative aspects to the company's employment of minorities in Clark County. 

"We're pretty good at the front-line jobs, but at the higher-level positions we're weaker," he said. "At the top, we're dismal." 

MGM Mirage's Clark County employment numbers include 10 of the company's 11 casinos. Golden Nugget Laughlin numbers are not included because almost every one of the property's 800 workers live in Mojave County, Ariz. 

Of the 170 MGM Mirage vice presidents and above in Clark County, 136 are white. The company employs four black vice presidents and above, with 27 Asian and three Hispanics serving in the firm's top-level jobs. 

The company has begun an aggressive minority management recruitment program, specifically targeting graduates of historically black colleges. 

A mentoring program is also in place to help minorities move up the MGM Mirage employment ladder. 

"We're not going to do this by cutting people," Lanni said, although he cautioned that white managers may face diminished advancement opportunities. 

"There will be some people disadvantaged by this," he noted. "But we have a company that's a growing company, and as we grow, we're going to have additional opportunities. I want to emphasize that we're not firing people to meet these (minority manager) levels." 

Lanni said Vice Chairman Dan Wade met with each of the company's casino presidents to draft plans aimed at improving the numbers of minorities in MGM Mirage's top management positions. 

Louis Overstreet, executive director of the Urban Chamber of Commerce, a group representing black-owned businesses, said MGM Mirage's release of its employment and spending numbers is a good first step. 

"It reinforces their commitment to report on their progress," Overstreet said. 

Companywide, MGM Mirage employs 44,711 people. Of these workers, 2,624 fall into the company's top three employment categories: vice presidents and above, directors and managers. 

While 49.7 percent of MGM Mirage's total employee base is categorized as white, 74.9 percent of the managers and above are white. 

MGM Mirage contracting numbers aren't bad, but the company wants to focus on increasing opportunities for black-owned construction companies in Las Vegas, Lanni said. 

About 14.3 percent of the $51.7 million the company has spent this year on construction projects nationwide has gone to minority-owned firms, with Hispanic firms gathering the lion's share of those construction dollars. 

Hispanic firms received $4.5 million on 30 contracts, 57.4 percent of MGM Mirage's minority contracting business. Black-owned firms captured $2.1 million, or 26.3 percent, while Asian-owned companies garnered less than $2,000 on only two contracts. 

Minority-owned firms received 11.5 percent of the $16.8 million MGM Mirage has spent so far this year on Clark County construction projects. 

Of the $5.3 million spent on minority-owned contractors, only $145,138 went to black-owned businesses. Almost $4 million went to Hispanic-owned firms, and $1.3 million to American Indian owned companies. 

"One factor is that we weren't in a growth phase in Las Vegas," Lanni said. The company will soon begin a number of projects he expects to significantly increase the construction dollars available to black-owned businesses. 

"We find, unfortunately, that there aren't a lot of black-owned construction businesses in Clark County," he said. "I'm not happy we have only $145,000 worth of construction contracts with black-owned businesses. 

Lanni said MGM Mirage may provide black contractors with credit or even partner with them to boost its spending. 

"The construction business requires a lot of capital," he explained. 

The UCC's Overstreet said the changes envisioned by Lanni take time. 

"I think they are on schedule for the improvements they've promised," Overstreet said. "The expectation is that they'll continue to work on their numbers, which are low in some critical areas." 

MGM Mirage's purchasing numbers reflect the large amount of business the company does with Asian gamblers. 

Asian-owned business supply MGM Mirage with many food and beverage items preferred by the company's Asian clientele, Lanni said. 

Asian-owned firms captured 58.8 percent of MGM Mirage's spending on minority-owned vendors in Clark County, and 54.1 percent of the total spent nationwide. 

MGM Mirage purchased $282.1 million in goods and services from all vendors so far this year, with $20.5 million, or 7.4 percent, spent with minority businesses. 

Lanni noted that the company is willing to adopt practices competing casino operators use to increase diversity in spending and employment. 

He cited Park Place Entertainment's creation of a diversity committee on its board of directors. Lanni plans to ask MGM Mirage's board to create a similar committee. 

The casino industry will benefit from taking the lead on diversity issues, he added. 

"It's helpful to be out front on this," he said. "If you walk out into any one of our casinos you'll see a panoply of different types of people. If we can get the message out there that the industry is out front, that would be a positive." 

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