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July 16, 2008

Centaur cutting back on spending

By Debbie Wachter Morris

Centaur Inc. is cutting back on expenses while waiting for word on a slots parlor license.

The Indiana-based company, which plans to build a harness racing track and casino in Mahoning Township, parted ways with its Harrisburg public relations firm last week and discontinued or reduced its use of other consulting services, according to Centaur officials.

Centaur had been using the services of Rick Kelly of Triad Strategies to providing media relations, Web site setup, fact sheets and other work for the Valley View Downs project.

Kelly said Monday that as of late last week, the company no longer works for Centaur.

Centaur is awaiting a decision from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on its slots license application. The company went before the board for a hearing Thursday, hoping to obtain a temporary license so it could start work on the Valley View Downs site off Ambrosia Road.

However, the board denied the temporary license, saying it needs more time to review the company’s plans and investigate its background.

Kelly said Centaur severed ties with Triad because of finances, and Centaur officials confirmed that.

Testimony at Thursday’s hearing indicated that without a conditional license, Centaur would not be able to drawn down on its financing for Valley View Downs, Kelly said.

Susan Kilkenny, Centaur’s director of marketing and vice president of public relations, said Monday that as a result of the gaming board’s decision to deny the conditional license, “we’re entering a cost-containment mode.”

Joseph DeRosa, general manager of Valley View’s casino operations for Centaur, added, “We’re going to have to tighten our belts here for the foreseeable future. Obviously, the project is being pushed out (time-wise), and time is money. Had we received our conditional license last week, we’d be under construction today.”

Kilkenny said the company has looked at where it needs to conserve funds. Her position was created by Centaur about six months ago and she has been filling a lot of the public relations and marketing roles herself, she noted.

Centaur’s plans to build the track and casino are in a holding pattern, DeRosa said, pointing out, “There’s another meeting next month. We’re optimistic every month.”

Meanwhile, Triad — its former public relations firm — is the most recent employer of Michael L. Manzo, who faces criminal charges in connection with a bonus scandal that erupted while he worked as top aide to House Majority Leader H. William DeWeese.

Manzo, who was charged last week, is free on bond. He was forced to resign as DeWeese’s chief of staff in November in the midst of the investigation. He joined the Triad Strategies staff a week later.

Although Kelly affirmed Monday Manzo still is employed at Triad, he would not comment on Manzo’s future there, calling it a personnel matter.

Both Kelly and Centaur officials said that Centaur’s disassociation with Triad has nothing to do with Manzo, that it was strictly a financial decision.

DeRosa commented Monday that he has never even met Manzo.

Although Manzo accompanied Kelly to a March meeting of the Lawrence County Planning Commission in New Castle when Centaur presented its plans, Manzo was not there in an official capacity, DeRosa said, and he did not meet him.

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