25 Feb Lakes Entertainment Inc.
Casino Property Developer Finds Winning Combination With Systems Consultant
Lakes Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ – LACO) is a full service contracting, building, and management firm specializing in the development and operation of casinos for Native American tribes across the United States. The company started in 1991 under the name Grand Casinos, and has since completed or contracted for six casino projects as well as designing several innovative table games and organizing the popular World Poker Tour.
Roger Roden, Lakes Entertainment’s Systems Implementation Manager, is responsible for a variety of applications within each casino property. These include the gaming system, food and beverage point of sale and inventory control, retail point of sale and inventory control, seating management, telephone system, and several others. All of these must be integrated with one another and the property’s overall accounting program. It’s no simple task, especially when each one is a unique, stand alone software package.
In mid 2007, set up and integration at the Four Winds Casino Resort in New Buffalo, Michigan was becoming especially challenging. Just a few months prior to the scheduled “go live” date, there was still much to be done, and Lakes Entertainment had little experience with the primary food and beverage application, called Crunchtime. Wisely, Mr. Roden asked his Crunchtime vendor to refer someone who was an expert in the program, and that’s when Lakes Entertainment found Brenock and Eamon Mc Erlean.
“There are more systems involved in a casino project that one person can handle alone,” said Roger Roden of Lakes Entertainment. “Eamon oversees implementation of food and beverage and retail – both point of sale and inventory management – as well as the seating management system and a long list of subsystems under each one of those.”
The affiliation worked. Four Winds opened on time and flawlessly. It was on to the next project.
As Mr. Roden put it, “Lakes Entertainment has now engaged Eamon and his team at Brenock to help with the Red Hawk Casino in Sacramento, California. I feel quite confident. Eamon has proven that he has the expertise to get the systems implemented. He gives me peace of mind, knowing that things are being handled… and correctly.”
Communication between Mr. Roden and Eamon Mc Erlean takes place via a weekly conference call, as well as phone calls, e-mails, and face to face meetings as necessary, with Eamon on site and Mr. Roden typically at the Lakes Entertainment headquarters in Minneapolis. As the project nears completion, Mr. Roden arrives on site and the meetings become more frequent. This structured interaction is a large part of Brenock’s appeal as a consultant.
“Eamon is excellent at keeping me informed and providing information to stakeholders,” said Mr. Roden. “Even more important, he has a great sense of knowing what he needs to talk to me about and what things he can make decisions on himself. That’s a huge plus.”
Given the growth of Lakes Entertainment and the successful affiliation between them and Brenock, it looks like Roger Roden and Eamon Mc Erlean will be working together for years to come. It’s a winning combination.
For more information, contact Brenock Technology, Eamon Mc Erlean at emc@brenock.com.
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