THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 9, 1994 TAG: 9408090394
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF E. SHAPIRO, RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
Penny Kyle had decided to leave a major Richmond law firm - it had an anti-nepotism rule and her husband was on track to become a partner.
Looking for work, she was steered to one of the firm's clients, CSX Corp., which was moving its headquarters to town.
The transportation giant needed Virginia lawyers, and Kyle recalled being told by a colleague, ``They don't have any women.''
Now preparing to depart male-dominated CSX to run the Virginia Lottery, Kyle joins a short roster of women holding high-level posts in Gov. George F. Allen's administration, and an even shorter list of women running lotteries. Eight of 37 lotteries operating in the United States are headed by women.
Kyle is as conscious of gender heading into her new job as she was in her old one.
Does she sometimes sense that she's a token female?
``Yes, I feel it a lot of the time,'' said Kyle, a corporate vice president at CSX who entered the job market 24 years ago as a community college English instructor.
``The boards that I'm on - a lot of the time I know that I'm there because they needed a female,'' she said. ``Someone's got to break the barrier, and I like to think I'm bringing in someone behind me.''
Be it the law, corporate Richmond or her numerous civic activities, gender may have gotten Kyle in the door, but hard work earned her a place at the table - and the confidence of some of the city's power brokers, among them CSX chairman and chief executive officer John W. Snow and his predecessor, Hays T. Watkins.
Despite a cheery demeanor, Kyle is described by some as strictly business. She is known for cool command and has a knack for running a meeting the way CSX tries to run its railroad - on time.
But how will she run the lottery, the state's third-largest revenue source behind sales and income taxes?
Kyle, who will take over the lottery this month, says managing the state's numbers game should be akin to operating a business. But she thinks it's an oversimplification to suggest that the rules of the private sector can be easily applied to a public agency.
``It will be a different environment,'' she said. ``I hope that I keep that foremost in my mind. I don't want to walk into that office every day and say, `This place is going to be run like CSX.' ''
Kyle avoids specifics about how she'll operate the lottery, compared with its founding director, Kenneth W. Thorson. To the surprise of Democrats and Republicans, Thorson was dumped as state lottery chief in June by Allen.
``I don't see it as entertainment,'' Kyle said of the lottery. ``I don't see that it's my position to provide one sector of the entertainment industry. My purpose is to run a business that provides revenue to the state that our citizens don't have to provide through taxation.''
For the fiscal year that ended June 30, the lottery generated net income of more than $300 million on sales exceeding $875 million. The games, which started in 1988, dodged the sophomore slump that frequently befalls young lotteries. But it continues to face competitive pressures, among them, games in surrounding states.
William C. Bergman, executive director of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, doesn't think Kyle will find the transition from CSX to the lottery very difficult. But he offered some advice.
``I would say listen to the staff and become familiar with all the issues - the advertising issue in particular, and game design,'' Bergman said. ``The lotteries, from my perspective, are fun.''
Kyle won't say whether she'd support loosening the restrictions on lottery advertising - by law, they must be informational, not promotional - or proposals to divert lottery profits to the localities. Currently, profit goes directly to the state's general fund.
Kyle says it's possible that the lottery, with 308 employees, may have to make do with fewer bodies as Allen tries to shrink the bureaucracy. Asked to identify possible savings, Kyle hints at restrictions on the use of agency vehicles. That could be tricky since most of the cars and vans are owned by the lottery and are vital to sales and marketing efforts.
For Galax-born Penelope Ward Kyle, the journey to the corridors of power began in 1979, when she became an associate in the real estate department of the law firm of McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe. Divorced, she had opted for a legal career because it was more lucrative than teaching.
At McGuire Woods, she met the man who would become her second husband, Charles L. Menges. Their marriage may be an example of the adage, ``Opposites attract.'' She's a Republican; he's a Democrat. She voted for the lottery; he voted against it.
She left McGuire Woods in 1981 because of its ban on married couples.
Moving through the CSX labyrinth, Kyle started as associate counsel to its resources subsidiary, then became assistant corporate secretary to the parent company before joining the real estate division. She eventually managed about 130 people and helped oversee a portfolio that includes major properties throughout the South. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Penny Kyle - leaving CSX after nearly 13 years - says running
Virginia's numbers game should be akin to running a business.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA LOTTERY
by CNB