The Mississippi Lottery Corporation has announced that Jeffrey L Hewitt, who is currently serving as the corporation’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, will become its next President.
Hewitt was one of the first employees hired by the corporation in June 2019 after the Magnolia State passed the Alyce G Clarke Mississippi Lottery Law in 2018, establishing a state lottery program.
The Mississippi Lottery Corporation is the private company that runs the lottery. Hewitt will succeed the corporation’s first President, Tom Shaheen, who is retiring on June 30.
Commenting on his appointment during an interview with the Associated Press, Hewitt confirmed that his main vision as President is to continue to build on what Shaheen has accomplished.
He said: “Tom, the current president, has really laid out a great path for us. We’re on a good course, we don’t see dramatic changes, deviating from the path that we’re on. We just want to keep moving forward, keep growing the product.”
State law declares that the first $80m in lottery proceeds for each fiscal year goes to improvements to roads and bridges, with the remaining earmarked for education. Its fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30 and so far this year, the lottery has transferred around $115m in proceeds to the state.
Hewitt said the lottery program is still establishing its base lottery games, a process that will continue for the next year or two. It introduced a Cash 3 game in September and its next game will likely be a Cash 4 game, released around February 2022.
The lottery’s biggest sellers are its instant scratch-off games, which account for 83% of all sales.
Hewitt has 30 years of lottery experience, beginning his career with the Florida Lottery in 1987 and previously serving in senior roles with the Georgia Lottery Corporation, as well as Scientific Games, Intralot and IGT Global Services.
He stated: “I’ve worked on the lottery side, and then also on the vendor side. I’ve seen both sides of the business, and I think that has given me a unique perspective that a lot of people in the lottery industry don’t have.”