As North Dakota's charitable gaming industry as exploded into what can more fairly be called the casino industry, there's been a trend toward nonprofits buying up for-profit hospitality establishments -- bars and restaurants -- to protect turf for games like electronic pull tab machines and blackjack tables. How does the hospitality industry feel about that? "We have members on both sides of the issue, and so we don't have the luxury of picking a side, and I don't necessarily think we should," Terry Effertz said on this episode of Plain Talk. Effertz is the executive director of the North Dakota Hospitality Association, which represents the state's bars, restaurants and hotels. She said in many ways, the growth in charitable gaming has been a boon to many small businesses in her industry. "We went from about $156 million in pre-electronic pull tab gaming proceeds, gross proceeds to $2.3 billion now," she said. "And so, in less than a decade, look at that explosive growth. There's a lot of opportunities. When you see a small business that may not make it, they might take that option. The rent proceeds have helped keep the lights on in some of those small town bars as well." One thing that would help, and might serve as a buttress against nonprofits buying up bars and restaurants, is some changes to the state's caps on how much an establishment owner can receive in rent from a gaming operation. "They're more interested in what the rent proceeds are," Effertz said of her membership, "because they see, in some cases millions, of dollars filtering through their business through the gaming and they're making a couple grand a month off of their rent proceeds. And so I think that there is some feeling of inequity in some places." But she acknowledged that this might be a tough sell, politically. "It's hard for us to go in and say, 'Hey, we're the purveyors of your vices. Give us some of that charity's money.' Right?' Like, it's a hard thing to say we deserve more when it's going for a charitable purpose." Also on this episode, we discuss the Flock camera debate in North Dakota's communities, and react to listener feedback from someone who has been struggling with kratom addiction. If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It's super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you're from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below. Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive
