FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Even during a business battering pandemic, Queen of Virginia Skill & Entertainment, powered by Pace-O-Matic, is generating a significant amount of revenue for the Commonwealth of Virginia and its cities and counties.

The company has over 5,700 skill games in restaurants, bars and convenience stores across the Old Dominion. As the result of a new state law, skill game manufacturers and distributors, starting July 1, are required to pay the Commonwealth $1,200 per month for each one. 84% of the taxes go into a new COVID-19 Relief Fund, which the General Assembly will disburse to organizations working to help Virginians struggling with the novel coronavirus.

In the first month, Queen has turned over $6.8 million to the treasury. $5,749,632 of that went into the COVID fund, while $826,176 will be distributed to localities that host Queen games. In Central Virginia, that has meant $25,920 for the City of Richmond, $38,160 for Chesterfield County and $38,160 for Henrico County. These totals are Queen contributions for the month of July and will fluctuate as terminals are moved per ABC rules and regulations.

“This represents only funds that Queen has furnished to the state,” says Michael Barley, a company spokesman. “It’s clear that the public loves playing our games, even though they are not going out as often to establishments in their neighborhoods where our games are located. Our proprietors are being very judicious about cleaning machines and enforcing social distancing to keep our players and store employees safe.”

The General Assembly will determine how to allocate the Relief Fund proceeds, but Queen of Virginia is already helping one hard hit institution, nursing homes, according to Queen of Virginia’s Joel Rubin. “We paid seven restaurants in Hampton Roads back in June and another three in the Richmond area on August 19 to make over 400 pizzas to feed employees at 16 senior care facilities in those two regions. They were very grateful, and we were happy to do it.”

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