Bingo out, race betting in at Greene County Entertainment

Move over Greenetrack and make way for Greene County Entertainment. As the pari-mutuel wagering business opens, signs of Greenetrack are slowly disappearing. The old signs are now covered up, and bingo is a thing of the past. The two things that have come back, are some customers and employees.

General Manager Johnny Coleman says since the business opened a few weeks back, they've had a couple hundred customers.

"Some people get it confused, like this is Greenetrack, but this is not Greenetrack. This is new ownership, a new company. If they have lost trust hopefully, they come in and let us gain their trust," said Coleman.

Customers aren't the only people who have returned to play, Coleman said a majority of their now 37 employees used to work at Greentrack. He said most of them had reached out for a job, when the license was awarded to Green County Entertainment. The business applied for the license in late February.

"A small area like this, one job matters. With 30 jobs, and hopefully with the goal of getting to 150 would be beneficial to the county," explained Coleman.

Latasha Johnson the Mayor of Eutaw said the jobs returning to the city will have a ripple effect in the local economy.

"There's no doubt about it. If they live in our county and our community, they are working, they are going to spend money in the city of Eutaw," said Johnson."It helps us with the revenue. People to keep their money there, citizens stay there. A lot of when you have to get another job, it's in another city or another county so they are able to go back to work, because a lot of workers are from Greene County."

Johnson said, at most, the city was receiving $4,500 a month from Greenetrack. Under Alabama code businesses who receive licenses from Greene County Racing Commission must collect an admission tax and a tax equal to 4 percent of the contributions on all pari-mutuel pools.

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Both Johnson and Coleman say at this time it's not clear how much Greene County Entertainment will give to the community because it just opened, but giving back is the goal.

"We hope to get involved, and make donations to the different charities that were left out when Greenetrack closed," said Coleman.

A senate bill introduced this week by State SenatorBobby Singleton would amend the state constitution to outline a new distribution of the funds, and the taxes, and regulations for a business at the racetrack. If the bill is passed, the amendment would be voted on in a Greene County special election or in the 2024 primary.