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New Minnesota Lottery Chief Looks Towards Growth

MINNESOTA – As reported by the St. Paul Pioneer Press: "Clint Harris was deep into an explanation about the differences in administrative costs between scratch-off lottery games and online games like Powerball when he was interrupted by a request to pay someone $200,000.

"'I have to approve any winner over $30,000,' said Harris, who has been executive director of the Minnesota State Lottery since October.

"He wasn't complaining. Harris, 49, who was appointed in the waning months of what he calls the lottery's 'year of trauma,' gets a kick from handing out big checks.

"…Harris frequently uses the words 'trauma year' to describe what came to pass at the lottery last year.

"In January 2004, George Andersen, the lottery's first director, who ran it like a family fiefdom, committed suicide shortly after learning that a state audit would paint an unflattering picture of his management.

"Harris, then the director of South Dakota's lottery, had close professional ties with Andersen and considered him a personal friend.

"…Harris credits Michael Vekich, a businessman who agreed to temporarily run the lottery, with doing most of the often unpleasant 'heavy lifting' before Harris was appointed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty. In a little over a year, the lottery reduced its staff from 198 to 144 employees and slashed its annual operating expenses from $32 million to $22 million.

"…A harder reality, he said, is meeting a goal announced last year of increasing annual lottery profits to $250 million by 2024.

"'In the long run, we're going to need some other product besides scratch and online games to be able to reach that goal,' he said, smiling when a casino was mentioned as a possible lottery revenue source…"

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