HARRISBURG, Pa., July 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Reports outlining the impact that the four applicants for the remaining Category 3 resort casino license would have in their local area, along with a plan to meet diversity goals in their hiring, are now available for viewing and download on the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's web site.

The information can be accessed by choosing the "Local Impact and Diversity Reports" link under Hearings on the Board's home page at www.pgcb.state.pa.us.

PGCB Executive Director Kevin O'Toole says the reports continue the Board's efforts to again conduct an open and transparent licensing process.

"With the Board's local public input hearings on applications starting August 30th, it is important for citizens to be familiar with what the four Category 3 applicants are proposing," O'Toole says. "Posting the applicants' local impact and diversity reports on the Board's web site will help citizens better understand each proposal and strengthen their presentations at the public input hearings."

The Board will also announce in the near future when the public content of the applications for each Category 3 applicant will be available for public inspection in its Harrisburg offices.

Last week, the Board announced a public input hearing schedule as follows:

    --  August 30, 2010 - Penn Harris Gaming, LP - Hampden Township, Cumberland        County    --  August 31, 2010 - Mason-Dixon Resorts, LP - Cumberland Township, Adams        County    --  September 2, 2010 - Bushkill Group - Middle Smithfield Township, Monroe        County    --  September 8, 2010 - Woodlands Fayette, LLC (Nemacolin) - Wharton        Township, Fayette County

The Category 3 Public Input Hearing link also contains information on the location and time of each of the hearings, along with signup instructions for those persons interested in testifying at a hearing or submitting written comment.

An applicant granted a category 3 license is permitted to operate up to 600 slot machines and a maximum of 50 table games at an existing resort hotel. The first of the two Category 3 licenses was awarded to Valley Forge Resort Casino on April 8, 2009.

About the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board was established in 2004 with the passage of Act 71, also known as the Race Horse Development and Gaming Act. Pennsylvania's first new state agency in nearly 40 years, the Gaming Control Board is tasked to oversee all aspects of the state's casino industry. To date, with nine of a maximum fourteen casinos in operation, legalized slot machine and table gaming has created over 12,000 new living wage jobs, revenue that has provided property tax reduction in each of the past three years for all homeowners, and funds that have reinvigorated Pennsylvania's horse racing industry. A wealth of information about the Gaming Control Board and Pennsylvania's gaming industry can be found at www.pgcb.state.pa.us. At this web site, videos and information on the operation of the PGCB, problem gambling efforts and assistance, future meeting schedules and past meeting transcripts, and a link to request a speaker are among the many items available.

    CONTACT: Doug Harbach or Richard McGarvey    (717) 346-8321

SOURCE Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board