Tim Rooney to be Honored as Top Leader in Corporate Social Responsibility

On Tuesday, October 20th, Timothy J. Rooney, son of Steelers founder Art J. Rooney, Sr. and president & CEO of Empire City Casino, will be honored at City & State Magazine’s Corporate Social Responsibility Awards (CSR) Breakfast, which will recognize leaders in the Hospitality, Gaming and Tourism industries. Rooney will be the recipient of the Special Award for Excellence in Workforce Diversity, Corporate Giving & Community Engagement.

The CSR Breakfast will take place at Hunter College in New York City. The event will feature a panel discussion featuring NYC Hospitality Alliance’s Andrew Rigie and begins at 8 AM.

As the owner of the largest private employer in the fourth largest city in New York, Rooney employs nearly 1,300 employees, representing 14 different unions, with an annual payroll of over $45 million. As a family-run business, Rooney considers each employee to be a member of his extended family and works to create and maintain a diverse workforce. Nearly two-thirds of the current workforce identifies as either minority or female, and over half of the management team does as well.

Opportunities are also provided for employees who would like to give back. Employees volunteer at the Food Bank of Westchester to bag food items like beans or pasta, for distribution to needy families. Employees and customers participate in an annual toy and coat drive done in partnership with Catholic Charities and the local Aisling Irish Community Center, and hundreds of thousands of dollars are raised for diabetes research in the annual JDRF Walk held on the racetrack.

“Mr. Rooney and the team at Empire City Casino consistently show that their corporate culture is to give back to the community and be a good corporate citizen,” said Dr. Marsha Gordon, president of The Business Council of Westchester. “They are the region’s largest job generator and are committed to positive employment opportunities for so many.”

Rooney credits much of Empire City’s success to the dedication of the employees at Empire City.

“When you treat your employees with respect, they will in turn treat your customers with that same respect,” said Rooney. “Our customers can go to a lot of different places for entertainment and gaming, in the end, people will go where they feel most at home. And that has more to do with respect than anything else.”

Rooney is known for his quiet philanthropic involvement supporting hundreds of charitable organizations throughout New York with contributions of more than $1 million annually made in the form of sponsorships and donations supporting non-profits in the areas of education, hunger, the arts, medical research and more. An annual donor to the Inner City Schools initiative of the Archdiocese of New York, Rooney was recently honored at their 78th CYO Club of Champions Tribute held at the Waldorf Astoria, where over 600 attendees gather to recognize his lifetime achievement of “dedication, compassion and generosity to the young people of the Archdiocese of New York”.

“The most important thing we can do in this country is give people living in poverty a chance to get out of poverty,” Rooney said. “I believe educating our youth is key in that effort.”

City & State Corporate Social Responsibility Awards for Hospitality, Gaming & Tourism will take place at Hunter College in New York City. The event will feature a panel discussion featuring NYC Hospitality Alliance’s Andrew Rigie and begins at 8 am. For more information about the event contact Jasmin Freeman at 646-442-1662.