While construction crews and the newly-hired employees of Wild Rose Jefferson are preparing for the Aug. 1 opening of the casino, Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation is working at developing guidelines for distributing the charitable funds generated there.
Grow Greene, qualifying sponsor organization for Wild Rose, expects to disburse about $1.5 million annually for charitable and community projects. The money comes from gaming proceeds at the casino.
In years past, the Greene County Community Foundation has distributed between $90,000 and $100,000 in gaming revenues provided by the state. The Foundation will not receive that once Wild Rose opens, but Grow Greene plans to allocate at least that much to the Foundation.
Grow Greene will meet next week, president Norm Fandel said, with the goal of having initial guidelines set by early August. Grow Greene wants to get feedback from municipalities about its proposed funding method before a public announcement is made, he said.
Grow Greene member Rick Morain briefed the Community Foundation board Monday evening on the options being discussed. He said the guidelines are still “a work in progress.” “The reason we have eight people from all over the county, four men and four women with different interests, is so that all interests can be represented. We don’t have consensus on all decisions, and that’s a good thing,” Morain said. He added that Grow Greene members have agreed that once guidelines are developed, all members will support the group’s decision.
Members of Grow Greene, in addition to Fandel and Morain, are Craig Marquardt, Peg Raney, Bob Allen, Lori Mannel, Kate Neese and Brenda Muir. Mike Mumma serves as legal counsel.
