Here is the latest update from the Tennessee Lottery:

Starting up a billion-dollar business from scratch is a colossal task. For the Tennessee Lottery, the stakes are high: The Lottery must generate at least $88 million in profits by July 1 in order to fund scholarships for 65,000 Tennessee students attending college next fall.

With that in mind, the Lottery today is issuing the first of several "Startup Updates" to help Tennesseans track our progress over the next few months. Updates will be regularly posted to our Web site at www.tnlottery.gov and distributed via email as we move rapidly toward first-ticket sales on February 10 ... 96 days from now.

Short-term, the Tennessee Lottery is committed to achieving a strong startup and generating player excitement. Long-term, the goal is making sure that Tennessee has a profitable and stable lottery to support education for years to come. Take a look at the latest accomplishments:

RETAILERS GET IN GAME:More than 800 retail outlets are a step closer to selling lottery tickets after submitting their Lottery retailer applications during the past week. Thousands more are expected to "get in the game" within the next few weeks as the countdown to ticket sales begins.

On October 21, the Lottery mailed out nearly 3,600 application packets to independent and corporate retailers who expressed interest in selling lottery tickets following a statewide recruitment campaign. Another 300 application packets are being mailed this week. Retailers who didn't register during the recruitment campaign can download the packet online at www.tnlottery.gov/retailer.htm.

HEADQUARTERS MOVE:The Lottery moved to Nashville's MetroCenter this week. The move follows an October 30 vote by a committee of the Lottery Board to set up permanent headquarters in the Plaza Tower, formerly the Nortel Networks building. The property, located at 200 Athens Way, represented the lowest price among a group of finalist properties considered in a competitive process. Within a few weeks, the Lottery plans to select sites for district offices in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis and Northeast Tennessee.

VENDOR EVALUATIONS:A six-member panel is working day and night reviewing thousands of pages of technical proposals submitted by a handful of global corporations vying to provide the Lottery with vital computerized and instant-ticket products and services.

Proposals for computerized games were submitted by GTECH Corp., West Greenwich, R.I., and Scientific Games International, Alpharetta, Ga. Proposals for instant-ticket or scratch-off games were submitted by three bidders: Pollard Banknote Limited, Winnipeg, Canada; Scientific Games International; and a partnership comprised of GTECH and Oberthur Gaming Technologies, Montreal, Canada. Evaluations are expected to be complete by November 24, with final contracts in place by December 2.

LOGO UNVEILED: The Tennessee Lottery unveiled its permanent identity on October 27. The logo (see above) is a streamlined, compact brand that will be easily identifiable on everything from outdoor billboards to the face of lottery tickets. Lottery President and CEO Rebecca Paul says the festive color combination of purple, green and yellow will effectively "cut through the clutter of the retail environment" in order to attract consumers.

WHAT'S NEXT:The Lottery is preparing to procure a wide range of goods and services necessary for the operation of our expanding business. Goods and services will include items such as office furniture, office supplies, computer equipment, business printing, advertising services, travel agency services and janitorial services.

Businesses wishing to offer the Lottery goods and services should monitor the "Procurement Opportunities" section of our home page in order to respond to requests for proposals (RFPs), qualifications and bids. In the interest of time, RFPs, qualifications and bids will be posted only to our Web site at www.tnlottery.gov.

November RFPs include:
Financial Services
Network/PC
Advertising Agency
Telecommunications

DID YOU KNOW...an estimated 50 colleges, including Harvard, Princeton and Yale, were built using lottery proceeds, beginning in the late 1700s? For more information on the history of lotteries, visit the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries' web site at www.naspl.org/history.html.

JOBS POSTED: The Lottery, in cooperation with the Middle Tennessee Career Center, is posting employment opportunities online. Positions will be posted on a rolling basis between now and February, so jobseekers should check back often. To view the current list of positions, go to www.midtncareercenters.org/tnlottery.