Page 12 - BusinessWest December 26, 2022

Editorial
SMGM Needs to Step Up
BusinessWest
PUBLISHER
John Gormally [email protected]
•••••
EDITOR
& ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER George O’Brien [email protected] • • • • • SALES MANAGER & ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Kate Campiti [email protected] • • • • • SENIOR WRITER Joseph Bednar [email protected] ••••• STAFF WRITER Kailey Houle [email protected] ••••• ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS Kate Campiti [email protected]
Kathleen Plante [email protected]
•••••
ART DIRECTOR
Mike Nasuti [email protected]
•••••
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Christine Longhi [email protected]
•••••
MARKETING &
EVENTS MANAGER
Melissa Hallock [email protected]
•••••
OFFICE MANAGER
Cindy Sears [email protected]
•••••
Entire contents of this publication are Copyright
©2022, and cannot be reprinted in whole or part without special written per- mission by the publisher. Yearly subscription price is $45.00. BusinessWest assumes no responsibility for mistakes in advertise- ments, but will make corrections if written notice is received within 7 days of publication date. BusinessWest reserves the right to reject an advertise- ment it deems misleading or inappropriate.
1441 Main Street Springfield, MA 01103 (413) 781-8600 Fax (413) 781-3930
pringfield officials went public recently with their frustra- located in a church that was famously moved to make way for the tion with MGM and what they consider to be poor perfor- casino, have closed, and no replacements have been found. The mance when it comes to everything that was promised to Chandler Steakhouse is open only on weekends, as are the bowling
the city and the region by the gaming giant.
It is their hope that these calls will spur some action to bring
the operation on Main Street much closer to what was promised in terms of hiring projections, restaurants and the hours they’re open, vacant facilities and storefronts, and more.
While we believe these calls — and they are both literal and figurative in nature — should have come months ago because the problems are not exactly recent, we’re glad they are finally being made.
Indeed, what we’re seeing on Main Street is certainly not what was first promised going back nearly eight years ago when MGM was in contention for the sole Western Mass. casino license. And while the pandemic and the ongoing workforce crisis has certainly made keeping those promises much more difficult, MGM has an obligation to Springfield and this region to do better and do more.
Let’s start with what was promised. And let’s put aside hiring projections for a moment because, like gaming revenues, these numbers were always overly optimistic and probably not to be believed anyway.
What was promised was a first-class, inside-out casino with slots, table games, restaurants, shops, and things to do — an expe- rience for those who ventured to the complex on Main Street. Four years and five months after the doors opened to great fanfare, the experience is far from what was promised or anticipated.
Some of the shops, including the Kringle Candle Emporium
Opinion
alleys. Meanwhile, the Main Street entrance to the casino has been closed most of the time, making this far less the inside-out facility that was promised.
As for hiring, particularly the hiring of certain segments of the population, from women to minorities, MGM has been lagging behind what was promised here as well.
Granted, the landscape has changed considerably since MGM opened its doors in late August 2018. The pandemic forced the facility to close for several months, and when it did reopen, there were a host of new conditions that had to be met. Meanwhile, the workforce landscape has changed considerably as well, and the broad hospitality sector has been especially hard hit; there are many restaurants that are now closed a few days a week, and many have had to cut back on what they can offer.
Still, MGM can do better — and it must do better. City officials are a little late with their list of complaints and calls for improve- ments, but they are certainly right to demand improvement from the casino giant. MGM Springfield was supposed to be a game changer for the city and region, and thus far it has not lived up to those expectations.
The city must do more than demand meetings with MGM’s CEO. They need to demand accountability and stay on the casino operators until they bring this operation far closer to what was promised than what we can see — and not see — today. v
Workforce Was the Story of 2022
As the look-back story that begins on page 6 reveals, there were many important and intriguing stories that unfolded in 2002 — every- thing from the maturation and contin- ued evolution of the cannabis industry to the reopening of the hotel in the Tower Square complex; from the long- awaited start to work at Court Square in Springfield to the Thunderbirds’ exciting run to the playoffs.
And, of course, there was the economy and rising inflation and skyrocketing inter- est rates — more challenges for already- challenged businesses of all sizes and in every sector.
But easily the biggest story of 2022 — and it is almost certain to be the biggest story of 2023 — involves the workforce issues facing area employers.
It was in 2022 that it became crystal clear that this issue is not a temporary glitch, another side effect of COVID, a problem created by the federal government making it way too easy for people to collect unemployment and not have to work.
No, it was in 2022 that we came to accept, or should have come to accept, that
this problem has very deep roots and needs the full attention of everyone involved — from employers to economic-development agencies to state officials who set tax rates and ultimately determine how expensive it is to do business in this state.
Indeed, this past year, we saw a continu- ation of the issues we saw in 2021: Baby Boomers retiring, in some cases well before they get to 65, let alone 67; others who are not so old simply staying on the sidelines (how, we’re not exactly sure) and opting
not to work certain jobs, especially those at the lower end of the pay scale; employees showing far less loyalty than they have his- torically and instead displaying a willing- ness to move on to something they know or perceive to be better; and job candidates accepting a position and then simply not showing up on their start date because they found something else in in the interim.
All this had an impact in 2021, and in 2022 there was even more of the same: healthcare facilities with long lists of open positions; hospitals paying huge amounts for travel nurses because they can’t find enough people to take full-time positions; restaurants forced to close more days of
the week because they don’t have enough help; banks unable to fill key positions, even after they widened the search beyond the 413, something they can do thanks to remote work; individual businesses and entire sectors responding by increasing pay rates and benefits, even as they struggle
to make ends meet; and businesses of all kinds saying simply, ‘we can’t find the help we need.’
This was the story in 2022, and, from all we can gather, there are simply no signs
of improvement on the horizon. What is clear is that, in the years to come, finding this help will be an ongoing challenge, one for which there are no easy answers. Stake- holders will simply have to do everything they can to make this state an attractive place in which to do business and work, and to attract and retain as much talent as we can.
Failure to do so will have real conse- quences on the local economy and our col- lective ability to simply do business.
This is why, as we said, this isn’t just a top news story. It’s a problem that requires our full attention. v
12 DECEMBER 26, 2022
OPINION
BusinessWest