CNY Business Journal (1996+): Turning Stone comes a long way

VERONA - The Turning Stone has come a long way over the past dozen years. The resort and casino has grown from a single building into a complex that seems more at home in Vegas than Verona. The resort offers gaming, lodging, dining, and entertainment as well as space for meetings and events.

When the Oneida Indian Nation opened New York's first legal casino in 1993, gaming consisted of 130 tables surrounded by a buffet and coffee shop. Over the past dozen years, Turning Stone has grown up and out.

By 1996, the casino began its transformation into a resort and destination property. The Nation added a 279-room hotel, restaurants, and retail-shopping space during the 1996 project.

Today, Turning Stone offers 125,000 square feet of gaining, including 2,380 machines. A new hotel tower, events center, and golf courses are the latest additions to the resort. More than 4.5 million people visit the resort each year, says Craig Clark, senior vice president and general manager for Turning Stone Resort & Casino.

Turning Stone recently upgraded its restaurants, adding a Brazilian-themed steakhouse and a new buffet that incorporates food stations.

"We give visitors a broad range of foods and experiences," Clark adds.

Under the terms of its gaming compact with the state, Turning Stone's finances are not public, but financial documents circulated in 2002 showed a profit of approximately $70 million on $232 million in annual revenues. The Nation values the Turning Stone at $700 million, according to a new employeeincentive program unveiled earlier this year.

Turning Stone guests have numerous lodging options. The prominent Tower at Turning Stone hotel features 287 rooms including comer suites that offer views of miles of countryside. The Tower hotel is the highest building between Albany and Syracuse. The Lodge at Turning Stone offers guests 98 suites adjacent to the clubhouse for the Nation's Shenendoah Golf Club.

Gamblers can take their pick of games of chance ranging from pull-tabs and bingo to high-stakes poker. Turning Stone's poker room has 22 tables that can seat 221 players. The casino plays four variations of the classic card game.

Like other casinos, Turning Stone offers a variety of entertainment. Big-name stars from across several genres of music fill its Showroom and new Events Center. The Turning Stone's 30,000 square-foot Events Center opened last year with a concert by country singer Tim McGraw. The center seats 5,000 and can be configured for trade shows or other events.

Opened in 1999, the smaller Showroom seats 800 and was one of the 50 busiest club venues in the U.S. in 2002 and 2003, according to Pollstar magazine. Pollstar tracks concerts at venues across the country

Turning Stone has leveraged its abundant open land to create a golfer's paradise at the resort, says Clark. The resort offers three championship-quality courses as well as two smaller courses. A high-tech golf dome is scheduled to open this spring. Representatives from the Professional Golfers Association recently surveyed the resort's Atunyote course in preparation for an upcoming event for club professionals.

Turning Stone's gaming floor has changed with the times. The casino has reduced its gaming tables to 103 tables as machinebased gaming has grown in popularity.

Turning Stone has its roots in Congress's 1988 passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The act legalized several forms of gambling on Indian lands and classified games of chance into three categories. Class I gaming includes traditional and social gaming, Class II gaming includes games such as bingo, and Class III gaming includes common casino games such as blackjack and slot machines. Indian nations were required to negotiate with state governments and clear regulatory hurdles before being allowed to operate Class III games.

A state ban on slot machines in effect at the time of the casino's opening meant that the Turning Stone was deprived of the gaining industry's biggest moneymaker. The Oneida Nation worked around the state ban, introducing video-gaming machines that didn't fit the state's definition of "slot machine" yet still provided machine-gaming that casino patrons found in other venues. New York State would later follow the Oneida Nation's lead, allowing the state's racetracks to operate videolottery terminals.

Turning Stone is only one of many businesses owned by Oneida Nation Enterprises. Ray Halbritter, chief executive officer, oversees retail, media, textile, and other Nation-owned ventures. The Nation employs 4,200. Turning Stone has 3,300 employees.

BOTW PROFILE

Arthur Raymond (Ray) Halbritter

CEO

Oneida Nation Enterprises

* Age: 54

* Residence: Rome

* Family: wife Jane, six children

BOTW FACTS

Turning Stone Resort & Casino

5218 Patrick Road

Verona, NY 13478

Phone: (800) 771-7711

Fax: (315) 361-7901

www.turningstone.com

* Founded: 1993

* Employees: 3,300

* Square Footage: 13 million square feet, including 125,000 square feet of gaming space and 100,000 square feet of meeting space

* Key employees: Arthur Raymond (Ray) Halbritter, chief executive officer; Frank Riolo, chief operating officer; Craig Clark, senior vice president and general manager

* Projected annual revenue: More than $300 million, CNYBJ estimate