Miele Group holds reception to discuss skills games bills

It was a celebration of a legacy and a look to the future as Miele Manufacturing Group held a reception to discuss skills games legislation Wednesday night.

The event also coincides with the company’s 90th anniversary, President Louis Miele said in his opening remarks.

“In 1935, my grandfather had a vision to be an amusement parts operator. At that time, he had to borrow money to buy his first jukeboxes, which cost him a whopping $45,” he said.

“His vision laid the foundation for what would become a legacy of innovation, excellence and unwavering commitment to quality,” Miele said.

“The future is bright with possibilities, and we are excited to continue building our legacy. Together we will embrace the challenges ahead and strive for even greater heights, Miele said.

Several business and club leaders were on-hand to lend their support to passing a bill definitively differentiating skills games from other, casino-like games, including slot machines.

Doug Sprankle, of Sprankle’s Neighborhood Market said the addition of Miele’s skills games to his chain in 2018, has allowed them to expand their stores, offer employees health benefits and invest in the community, including raising over $100,000 for non profits in three days during their Octoberfest.

With regulation and fair taxation, the state could bring in an extra $300 million a year to invest in helping the state’s aging population, as well as investing in infrastructure projects, Sprankle said.

Muncy Township Fire President Nick Palmatier stressed that skills games have been a major boost in helping to fund volunteer fire departments, while Eric Hoover, state vice president of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, said the added revenue from the games has helped the organization to hire additional employees, raise payroll and upgrade their equipment.

State Rep. Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, the first woman elected as Speaker of the state House of Representatives, called skills games an opportunity for employees and small business owners, a sentiment shared by Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Bellefonte and Rep. Danilo Burgos, D-Philadelphia, who both stressed that skills games helped keep many businesses afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.

Speaking on his Senate Bill 626, introduced by State Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township, called attention to the difference between Pace-o-Matic machines and those commonly found in casinos.

“Those are the games that have gone through 11 court cases, and they have been found to not be in violation of the Pennsylvania gaming law,” he said, stressing that the Pace-o-Matic games manufactured by Mieles were in fact games of skill, where the participant can alter the outcome.

“Commonwealth witnesses have testified to the importance of this in the scope game, the player has the opportunity to win every time,” the longtime champion of skills games said.

Another area of frustration for Yaw is the fact that playing such games on a cell phone or computer is wholly unregulated.

“I invite you to watch a sporting event on television now, and not see an advertisement for casinos, either FanDuel or DraftKings,” he said.

“There’s also information that’s been discovered that where skill games are located, that’s where lottery sales are the highest,” calling out another what he said is an enemy of the skills games industry.

Under Yaw’s bill, skills games would be required to be operated within a business or social club and only as a form of supplemental income, and would be under the control of the Department of Revenue, rather than the Gaming Control Board, which Yaw said was created to oversee casinos, an industry that has worked for the past 11 years to eliminate the games.

Though he acknowledges the bill may not be perfect, Yaw said he and his colleagues have worked hard to ensure that every issue has been addressed, from enforcement to so-called stop-and-go operations, as well as the concerns that children may play the games.

If passed, the bill would see tax revenue from the games go into the Clean Streams Fund, which would benefit water quality throughout the state, Yaw, a sitting member of the Chesapeake Bay Commission said.

“When we put all these things together, we’re serving farmers, we’re serving small businesses and we’re serving the veterans organizations,” he said, urging supporters to reach out to their representatives in the legislature.

“The only way that we’re going to win is to get together and have a grassroots campaign that this is the type of bill we want,” Yaw said.

“We want a bill that supports supplemental income, supports small businesses, supports veterans organizations, supports social organizations and supports fire companies. That’s the type of bill you want,” he said.

“We all win with Pennsylvania Skills. The revenues generated for all involved have created jobs, higher wages, benefits, property improvements, charitable contributions, along with increased sales tax and income tax,” said Director of Public Relations & Charitable Giving Nicole Miele.

“The impact trickles down to every sector, which you heard benefits everyone,” she said.

“The most important impact, in my opinion, is our ability to give back to the communities where we live, work and raise our children. Through the success of this project at every level, there have been millions donated to nonprofits all over Pennsylvania this year,” Miele said, just prior to donating a check for more than $1 million to the YWCA Northcentral PA.

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This article was originally published by the Williamsport Sun-Gazette on April 21, 2025.