Encyclopedia Dubuque
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
STEVENS, Brent
STEVENS, Brent. Los Angeles, (CA, 1960-- ). CEO of Peninsula Gaming. Brent Stevens was raised as one of four children by a single working mother. Swimming was his only route to college and a scholarship allowed him his chance at a degree. That degree lead to yet more study and an MBA from the prestigious Wharton School.
While doing trend analysis, Stevens noticed a set of trends in the gaming and entertainment market that caught his attention. He then had the idea that if these trends were true and the right kind of community could be found to support this kind of gaming project he had in mind, there may be a great opportunity.
With the December, 2010 vote by the Kansas Gaming Board, awarding a 5th gaming license to Peninsula’s existing four successful properties, the company was poised to have nearly 3000 employees with 50 at their corporate headquarters in Dubuque.
By 2004 the DIAMOND JO CASINO was the clear market leader in Dubuque, outpacing the Greyhound Park & Casino by nearly 10% annually. However, by 2005 the regional market began to flatten and Stevens and his team realized that the only way to grow was to invest. While Stevens assured community leaders that the analysis showed clearly that in the end both casinos would come out the winner, many local leaders doubted his projections and momentum in either casino's ability to invest faltered.
Stevens' projections turned out not only to be completely accurate, his patience and willingness to prove his case has put his company on top of the market while also helping his competitor, our community, exceed even their biggest aspirations of 2005.
Stevens believed enough in the vision of the Diamond Jo team and the ability of the community to adapt and grow that he made possible nearly $100 million dollars of additional revenue flow to the DUBUQUE GREYHOUND PARK AND CASINO while he waited for his vision to unfold.
In 2010 the Diamond Jo again returned to the top of its market, this time in cooperative competition with the now named Mystique Casino, using tools like the PlayDubuque.com campaign to help both casinos continue to grow.
In 2008 he not only invested heavily in the new Dubuque casino, his team took all that they had learned and made the Diamond Jo the flagship of his operations. He then went one step further and offered to fund the additional $25 million dollars in bonds to make possible the new City owned parking facility that was key in matching the second Vision Iowa Grant for America’s River 2.
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Source:
(This entry first appeared in 365ink-January, 2011) "Brent Stevens, CEO of Peninsula Gaming," 365ink, January 2011