The Midwest casino boom has brought much needed changes to the region. In the Missouri River town of Boonville, Mo., a casino has generated tax revenue to fund urban renewal projects while also increasing employment opportunities, tourism and economic development.

“It is seen as the long-sought catalyst that could turn an anonymous community into a regional destination.”

“Casinos, which locate where factories will not and succeed where malls and multiplexes cannot, have been among the most reliable engines of change, helping to spawn glossy new museums, reconstructed downtowns and a slew of cultural festivals that draw thousands to unlikely places.”

“Politicians and business leaders who turned to gambling during the last recession as a stopgap measure to save hard-hit communities and buffer state budgets have seen, through the recent downturn, that casinos have become a linchpin of the region’s slow but steady economic shift.”

“'Towns without casinos are on the verge of being at a disadvantage', said Steve Rittvo, president of the Innovation Group, a New Orleans consulting company that does feasibility studies for the industry.  ‘I don’t think conventions go to Kansas City because they have casinos now, but I think they might not go to Indianapolis because they don’t have them.’”

“The casino, which opened in December [2001], has already brought this town…new streetlights and repaved roads, along with the long-sought Thespian Hall restoration.  The mayor insists she will not use the projected tax revenue from the casinos, nearly a third of Boonville’s $15 million annual budget, for operating expenditures, but will save it for dream projects, like new sewer lines and a community center.”