Maine State Liquor and Lottery Commission
Minutes of Meeting
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Hallowell, Maine
Introduction of the Bureau’s two new employees by Christine Royce: Brittany Smith & Tammy
Miller.
Call to Order:
Chairman Orland McPherson called the meeting to order at 10:00 AM
Roll Call
Commissioners in Attendance: Patricia Rice, and Ralph Sarty, Jr. Also in attendance: Tim Poulin,
Deputy Director; Robert Andreasen, and Joe Collins, Southern Wine & Spirits of New England; Dolly
Bois, MS Walker; Cathy Sullivan, RSVP; Patrick Murphy, Martignetti; Trevor Kenney, Phillips
Distillery; Dean Nowell, Bow Street Distributing; Darrell Frecker, and Calvin Rinck, Scientific Games;
James Bass, Solton Bass; Don Potter, Terry Goddard, and Sheila Gibbons, Pine State Trading; Steven
Mason and Rhea Golub, FuseIdeas; Kevin Glah,Edrington Americas; Michelle Roberts, Assistant
Attorney General; Michael Boardman, Marketing Director, Maine State Lottery Commission; Richard
Snow, Guest of Commissioner Ralph Sarty, Jr., and Christy McKeen, Clerk for the Maine State Liquor &
Lottery Commission.
Approval of Minutes:
Chairman McPherson asked for a motion that the minutes of the March 18, 2015 meeting be approved. A
motion was made by Commissioner Sarty to accept the minutes. Commissioner Rice seconded and the
motion passed unanimously.
Liquor Operations:
• Spirits Business Update:
o Sales report for March:
§ Selling days: 22 TY vs. 21 LY
§ Cases shipped were 79,606 TY vs. 71,196 LY; +11.81%
§ Dollar Sales were $11,467,144 TY vs. $10,364,481 LY; +10.64%
§ Bailment collected: $325,700
§ Depletion allowance funds collected: $402,902
o Sales report for YTD:
§ Cases shipped were 771,157 TY vs. 741,435 LY; +4.01%
§ Dollar sales were $112,204,816 TY vs. 109,429,115 LY; +2.54%
§ Selling days: 193 vs. 193
o Sales report for April (first two weeks):
§ Cases shipped: +6.01%/dollar sales: +5.92%
o Revenue Projections for Bond Bank:
§ Through March, debt service is on pace to achieve fiscal target.
o New route to market tactics/programs:
§ Truckload Sale: special priced Jim Beam 1.75L deliveries on 4/24/15
§ Hello Summer long deep discount sale of selected items starts on 6/1/15

 o Spirits Trade Marketing:
§ Efforts to support Truckload and Hello Summer Sales completed or in progress
§ Maine Spirits Team meeting with agents to discuss resets
Licensing & Enforcement Update:
o Excise Tax Backlog Project continues. Down to 1 employee, but work continues. Primary
backlog almost complete and that employee will be moving to the day forward backlog.
Old Business:
•
•

Sales comparison for York, Cumberland & Oxford Counties. Sales for 3, 6 and 9 months show
strong upward trends; Maine in these time period is up significantly over NH.
Will provide this sales comparison quarterly.

Delisting Items:
Deputy Director Poulin presented two hundred thirty-two items to be delisted. A motion was made by
Commissioner Rice to approve the items as listed. Motion seconded by Commissioner Sarty and passed
unanimously. (Delisted items distributed and attached to the minutes).
New Product Listings:
Deputy Director Poulin presented thirty-seven (37) new product listings for April 2015. A motion was
made by Commissioner Rice to approve the items as listed. Motion seconded by Commissioner Sarty and
passed unanimously. (New product listings distributed and attached to the minutes).
Label Changes:
Deputy Director Poulin presented thirty-one (31) label changes for April 2015. A motion was made by
Commissioner Sarty to accept all label changes. Motion seconded by Commissioner Rice and passed
unanimously. (Label changes distributed and attached to the minutes)
Rebates:
Deputy Director Poulin presented fifty-two (52) rebates for April 2015. All rebates are standard in nature.
A motion was made by Commissioner Rice to accept all rebates. Motion seconded by Commissioner
Sarty and passed unanimously. (Rebates distributed and attached to the minutes)
Value Added Packs:
Deputy Director Poulin presented four (4) value added packs for April 2015. A motion was made by
Commissioner Rice to approve the items as listed. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Sarty and
passed unanimously. (Value added packs distributed and attached to the minutes)
Pine State Spirits:
Sheila Gibbons reported on the Trade Show for Convenience Stores and the Maine Spirits booth set up
with an Agents order site. Deputy Director Poulin attending the event and Don Potter was also there.
Pine State had the best looking set and was the most popular site at the show. Theme was right product
right price right time and Don’s team did a great job, the show was a success. Advertising and site

 changes as well as additions for the Maine Spirits magazine, and Don Potter and his team are making sure
that Agents have the magazine. Coupons may be added to the magazine for the future and access to all
media such as Facebook and TV important. Designated Driver responsibility reminders posted on
Facebook weekly for Friday weekend kickoffs.
Lottery Operations:
o Year To Date Sales: $177,821,472; +$16,901,278 or +10.5%
§ Instant games are up 18.4 %
§ Draw games are down 10.7 %
o Profit Transfer:
§ March: $4,441,014 vs. Budget (0.03%)
§ March TY vs. March LY (6.84%)
§ Year to Date: $41,098,753vs. Budget (4.45%)
§ YTD TY vs. YTD LY 5.65%
Lucky for Life Rulemaking:
Proposal made first week of January 2015. Game change is in effect.
Motion to Adopt the Lucky for Life Basis Statement:
Deputy Director Poulin passed out the Basis Statement for the Lucky for Life game. A motion was made
by Commissioner Sarty to adopt the basis statement. Commissioner Rice seconded and the motion passed
unanimously.
Motion to Adopt the Lucky for Life Proposed Rules:
A motion was made by Commissioner Sarty to adopt the Lucky for Life rules as presented and approved
by the office of the Governor to be effective for the game change. Commissioner Rice seconded the
motion. Clerk of the Commission Barbara Campbell called the role for the vote: Chairman McPherson Yes, Commissioner Sarty –Yes, Commissioner Rice – Yes. The three (3) Commissioners present having
voted in the affirmative, the motion carries unanimously.
Old Business:
Calvin Rinck from SGI made a presentation on player demographics that was the result of the Lottery
Player Segmentation.
Approval of New Games:
Deputy Director Poulin presented two (2) new games. A motion was made by Commissioner Rice to
accept the new games. Commissioner Sarty seconded and the motion passed unanimously. (Games
attached to minutes)
#255
#274

Truck & Bucks
$

$ 5.00
$ 10.00

 Tri-State Report:
Chairman McPherson stated that there was a meeting last week.
• Gross revenues were higher than forecast.
• Gimme 5 contingency fund is in negative due to winners hitting jackpots.
• Audit firm scheduled to audit Maine in May.
• June meeting is the 11th and 12th in Killington, VT.
Scientific Games:
Darrell discussed Lucky for Life promotion and the Monopoly Millionaire game show as well as
interesting demographics. SGI needs to come up with specifications and details on upcoming promotions
to report back on. Calvin had statistics on the Lucky for Life game promotion and the success of it this
time, 121.65% overall increase in the game which was the highest since 2013. Last Lucky for Life
promotion from 2014 was an 81.3% increase in sales. Other states are looking to Maine to see how we are
having so much success with draw games sales and the promotions that are being done. Michael
Boardman, Marketing Manager for the Maine State Lottery says layers of advertising helped the
promotion and the reward of the $100 is there to get the sales up. Monopoly Millionaire Club instant
ticket released in March and is ranked 3 of 9 for Maine on sales. 709% better sales for the instant ticket
than it was for the draw game of Monopoly Millionaire.
Fuseideas:
Steve Mason developing new POS materials for retailers starting with Red Sox showing cards for game
information with actual Red Sox game schedule provided. Steve provided poster and pennants for the Red
Sox instant ticket and there is also a dangler provided for that game. Friday trip, April 17th is the date for
press conference at Fenway Park with Deputy Director Poulin, Marketing Manager Michael Boardman,
Fuseideas and TV stations for ad spots being done in Boston.
Adjournment:
The next Commission meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at 10:00 AM in Hallowell.
The June meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 17, 2015, at 10:00 AM in Hallowell.
There being no further business a motion was made by Commissioner Sarty and seconded by
Commissioner Rice to adjourn. The motion carried unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 11:40 a.m.
_________________________________
Orland McPherson, Chairman
Maine Liquor & Lottery Commission
_________________________________
Timothy R. Poulin, Deputy Director
Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages & Lottery Operations