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Profile: Lucky pick

Former Douglas city official heads state’s winning Lottery

Art Macias Jr. says he first experienced the social benefits of the Arizona Lottery as a City of Douglas administrator.

"Through the Lottery’s Heritage Fund, we were able to establish the Paseo de Las Americas Park in Douglas," says Macias, who now heads the Arizona State Lottery.

The park served a recreational need for the border community of Douglas, directly across the line from Agua Prieta, Sonora, he says. In addition, the park is a point of pride for Douglas citizens. The Heritage Fund is one of various funds that make grants derived from Lottery revenues.

"I’m really proud of that accomplishment," says Macias, who was community and economic developer in Douglas for seven years. In that post he oversaw 45 city employees.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano appointed Macias to executive director of the Arizona Lottery in November 2005. Before this appointment, Macias was the director of the Arizona Weights and Measures department since July 2003.

Macias now administers an agency with 102 employees and a current annual budget of $60,154,200. Last year, the Arizona Lottery generated more than $116 million in net profits to the state.

"Art effectively elevated the Department of Weights and Measures’ role as a national leader in consumer protection, and I know he’ll bring the same can-do mentality and vigor to the Arizona Lottery," says Gov. Napolitano of the appointment.

GETTING A GLOBAL EDUCATION

Macias took a roundabout road to his current Arizona Lottery office in Tempe. He was born in Mexico, raised in Douglas and pursued an education that reflected his interest in the wider world, and particularly his view of the United States as the leader of the world.

"I remember taking a trip to Washington, D.C. at an early age," he says. "I really wanted to come back and learn about the culture and history of the United States."

That memory led to his desire to attend a university on the East Coast. Macias attended Brandeis University near Boston, the only nonsectarian Jewish-sponsored university in the U.S. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1994.

He also earned a French Master’s degree in International Management from the Ecole SupŽrieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales in Paris, France, as a Rotary ambassadorial scholar.

"My background and education has given me the perspective that the world is getting smaller and smaller," he says. "I’ve always been eager to cross borders, and eager to bring people together.

Macias continues, "Each of those experiences when you venture out to learn things leaves you richer."

Macias says he feels that stewardship of the Arizona Lottery is important because the agency is a major revenue generator for the state. The Lottery is the only agency that receives no budget monies from the state general fund, but is funded by a portion of its earnings.

REACHING LATINO LOTTERY PLAYERS

The fact that he knows the Latino market from a personal standpoint provides him a unique perspective for expanding sales to Hispanic lottery players, he says.

"Having those close ties to Mexico gives me some insight," he says. "The lottery’s big
in Mexico."

He adds, "Our calling is to maximize revenues. We are developing a strategy to reach the Latino market in Arizona. I think we will see increased sales from the Latino community just because it is the fastest growing segment of the Arizona population."

But doing business with Latinos is not a one-way street, Macias says.

"We need to effectively get the message out on not just sales, but on the benefit to the Latino community of the Arizona Lottery," he says.

The Lottery makes Arizona a better place for everybody to live, he says, by funding community programs and public projects that encompass parks, recreation, wildlife preservation, education, public health, transportation and economic development.

"There is a common thread that runs through what I’ve done," Macias says. "In Douglas, and now at the Lottery. There is something about impacting the quality of life of people. It may sound a little bit warm and fuzzy, but I really believe it."