[Music] yeah hello viewers and welcome to the latest episode of the Huddle I'm Las Vegas correspond at Brian Joseph and I'm here with Eric barbero the new general manager of at Chicken Ranch uh Casino in Jamestown California Eric thanks for joining us thank you Brian appreciate you having me to start why don't you tell us a little bit about your background how does how was the journey that you were on eventually bring you to the uh Chicken Ranch Casino you know it's uh it's a story of since I was a child of wanting to be in this industry my father had moved us to Las Vegas in uh in the early late 90s and uh you know I finished high school in Vegas and had the opportunity to uh to dive right into the business as a valet attendant uh quickly worked in with MGM at the front desk and had uh had the opportunity to really grow uh from from uh from the ground level of uh of what the guest experience is in in our industry um you know I spent 20 years on the Las Vegas Strip had the opportunity to work for some great organizations such as MGM and Station Casinos Pen National gaming um and it it led me and my my family I've met my beautiful wife in Las Vegas have a have an amazing nine-year-old son who'll be turning nine next month and um and so after uh 20 years on the Strip we found an opportunity in Lake Tahoe and moved into the mountains and uh once we uh once we experienc Tahoe and uh and the sieras it's been a uh an amazing place to live and um and it turns out it's an amazing place to visit as we see our our guests really enjoy the area and and what it offers um you know and while I was in uh in Lake Tahoe we had an amazing opportunity to see this project and uh meet the the tribe and our chairman Lloyd Matson who's been amazing to work with um and we're really excited for what the tribes doing here in Jamestown California and um I think everybody else is going to be really excited as well once they see what the final product's going to be well we'll get into that a little bit more but but first I wanted to ask you how is your promotion to General Manager been received we noticed when we reported on it that it received quite a a reception on social media it's been great it's you know I I've had some great mentors and some great opportunities to work with some amazing people in our industry and uh I really appreciate all the support that they've uh provided to me uh you know it's been a year and a half here at the chicken ranch and uh and the opportunity that presented itself was one that uh that I think is a nice fit for uh for myself and my personal goals as well as uh as the business so for those that aren't familiar with the chicken ranch name my understanding is that comes from the chicken ranch Rancheria Miwok Indians of California is that correct tell us so tell us about the tribe you know they're a very uh very young tribe who's had to uh really fight through some resilient times and so as they continue to uh to fight the battles here in California and uh and and you know really achieve their sovereignty that they've uh they've been striving for for 38 years the business itself has started out as a uh a small bingo hall and in 2019 saw a great renovation adding a couple of new features to the casino and um the tribes really worked it's not just the uh the casino that they're focused on they also have a whole economic development plan that coincides with the resort um for instance you they're they're focused on the community they they are focused on providing their own water treatment facilities and Sewer treatment facilities and a county that struggles with uh with utilities in that sense um you know the county itself is uh is something that's seeing a lot of growth because of what they're doing and it's you know it's amazing to see it happen you you mentioned a little bit about the expansion that you you folks saw in 2019 can you tell us a little bit about your Casino operations what other amend I ities you have that sort of thing yes absolutely today's current casino is an 18 year old 18 plus year old um age limit and so there's no alcoholic beverage there's a one restaurant on the casino floor which produces an amazing quality of food in our market and um and they expanded that restaurant they expanded to uh table games um we added more slot machines class three specifically and um and you know the the tribe itself had really grown out of just what the big Hall traditional uh you know business model had looked like and they saw a lot of success with that um and so that success has led them to build now what is going to be you know a Las Vegas styled Resort in the foothills of of Yus and the SI nadaas so it sounds like you have some uh a real Vision going forward about what you wanna what you want to create can you describe that a little bit absolutely you know I think the the thing that we've really focused on is the guest experience both the external guest and also the internal guest you know the casino itself is going to uh to be very unique it's all glass typically don't see that the the views are are amazing I mean you're looking you could see the backside of Yus from the ninth floor Patio Restaurant um the you know we're also going to expand our operation into a larger footprint so where where we be taking our you know typical um class two class three operational mix we'll expand that to to about just under a thousand machines um today we have under 350 um with that our table games operation expands from nine table games to 22 table games we'll have an amazing sweet product um within the hotel operations which will be a new amenity for the tribe and for the operation we also will have an amazing food and beverage experience that you you know in our Market is pretty pretty challenging we we're we're limited to certain things you know there's a there's a Taco Bell across the street which uh which is you know sometimes a highlight but we're really excited for what the food and beverage experience will be that we present to the market and um and then obviously all the amenities that come with living in this beautiful area you know you have the opportunity to go golfing there's plenty of golf courses three just in the immediate area of us we also have some some amazing fishing some amazing hiking and uh we think that food and beverage and the gaming experience is going to really just uh add to that can you tell me a little bit you you mentioned the uh the internal clients external clients who is the chicken ranch casinos clientel or put it another way you know who who is coming to Chicken Ranch Casino and why and who will be coming to to Chicken Ranch Casino and Y yes you know traditionally historically we've seen a lot of our gaming customers really show the Loyalty it's been a casino at heart since day one and um they don't want to lose sight of that the casino is still the uh the top Revenue gen generating um you know business inside our division our division inside our business and so one of the things that um that really stands out is that we have this opportunity now to really expand the reach of what we've historically seen our demographic and customer become um you know we know that 5.9 million people drive past our door every every year just to make it up to yosity and so um by adding the hotel we know that that also adds an opportunity for us to really expand that reach now instead of seeing our local market really engage with the casino we believe that we're going to have the opportunity with the convention space to to draw some unique businesses and conventions also host some amazing events with weddings and different functions um but also we'll uh we'll we'll be able to reach out to you know Floridians that are looking to come and ex you know taste the what what the old west used to have with h some of the gold panning and uh and some of our historic towns here like Jamestown California J swn is a is a a quaint and and interesting place isn't it it is you know if you watch Back to the Future it's in that same shape at times you know we we enjoy uh you know taking the family down and uh going down into the caverns and gold panning and there's really a lot to do in this market and it's it's uh we see that our guests really the visitors like to come and uh work with our our community visits wamy County's a amazing uh support system that's helping Drive tourism into to the market and you know uh visit California we work closely with them to uh continue to to see how else we could better improve on on what tourism looks like in this community now I see from your website that that you have really embraced the chicken in your name chickens all over your branding how did that come about tell me tell me about the thinking behind that we are Wild at Heart and we definitely love the play off of the tiny bit weird uh you know it's it's a uh it's an opportunity for us to really shine on uh on the uniqueness of the brand and uh we have fun with it um you know our director of brand and guest experience with me mat is uh is the creator of that brand and I think the thought there uh years ago before I got here was to uh to really just try to be unique try to focus on what separates us from every other Casino operation um and I think we've done that you see that come play out in our demographic in our in our loyalty base you see it play out in our team members um and it really allows us the opportunity to be uh you know really step out of your comfort zone and try new things I think people really engage with that and they like it it's certainly it's certainly Charming I must say it was a it was a delight to to check out your website and see all the the chicken stuff on there thank you thank you now you mentioned that you're you have a deep experience on the strip and with you know some traditional gaming operations MGM for for example you've now you know Tak this uh journey into uh into tribal gaming I'm curious you know what do you see as the biggest issues facing tribal gaming today you know I I I think I think the opportunity to uh to to be in this market is it's so unique in this in this form of business U you know you're right tribal gaming is something that is uh is always going to be uh close to the heart um you're not working for just a shareholder you're working for an entire community and um and the decisions that you make are not uh you know they're not they're not typically uh just about the profit it's mostly um longevity it's it's really protecting sovereignty it's uh it's trying to ensure that the success of the business is uh is longterm um there's no fear you know coming from Las Vegas and working on the Las Vegas Strip it's almost every five years you wonder if your property is getting sold and if there's a transition and you know here that that's not the option the option here is that we have to find uh positive growth and we have to continue to to drive you know a successful business as it's it's a small part of the bigger picture um I've I've learned that quickly I would say that in any any challenging place you know the any challenge in tribal gaming is going to be around uh sovereignty you know they're constantly fighting you see that in our current uh case that the tribe just had a major defeat in court where they found that the state and uh and Governor Nome had been negotiating in bad Fai that that that decision and that uh that fight amongst the conglomerate of five tribes LED you know with chicken ranch and our our Tribal Council um really does uh give an opportunity in Indian country that could change how operations moving forward are impacted the the uh the opportunity to work off of a of compacts that are that are uh you know in the best interest of the business and the tribe or are what they were intended for um and so it's exciting to see what's going to come from this I know um I know you know I don't speak a lot on the tribe's behalf just because I'm on the cassino operations side but the resilience that I see coming from tribal gaming is really really something I respect and uh and look up to um I would also say that just like in any business the the most challenging things are as you go into a massive growth phase such as we are you know change management and and leading change is some of the hardest uh um time time it's probably one of the hardest things that you have to consider and so for us um you know I think we're in a time crunch with the resort opening up and we're we're a small tribe that's really had to uh grow quickly and so um some of that change management is uh is always going to be a struggle but we're we're making it through and we're having a great time doing it I I love talking with uh uh people that are engaged in tribal gaming because it that particular sector is so different from tribe to tribe and and from state to state I'm curious who do you view as the leaders in America's tribal gaming sector are there particular individuals or particular tribes that that you really admire or really think you know they're doing the you know they're doing it right yes you know I think you know you look at um Hard Rock for instance where my last um my last opportunity was amazing to work for as a uh as as a brand and as a business they've really figured out um how how they their business model plays out and how they want to grow and um I also I look up to our tribe I think our chairman is uh you know he's amazing it's so so detail oriented and uh really um every part of the business has a uh a hand in it and it's due to his effort and the tribe's effort that's led the success that they've seen um you know it's it's not it's not easy having to fight the fights that they've had to fight and um and that resiliency I'll continue to say it is something that I'm honored to be a part of you mentioned uh the seals in hard rock um you know I I I've seen some talk among some analysts that they believe in in future years triing tribal gaming operators will become the top go gaming operators in the United States and and the seals and hard rock is a perfect example San Manuel you know uh taking over Palms is another example uh so do do you agree with that assessment that tribal gaming someday is poised to become the the dominant gaming operator of America you know it's a that's a tough one I I I I agree I think they're very competitive I think tribal gaming has a very unique foothold into the markets that they perform in and um I think they have some great leadership I I agree with the yava and um and San Manuel I think that you've seen a huge effort come from them to uh to really see fast growth and you know knowing Peter archo myself and working with some of them they've really become the gold standard in the compliance side of tribal gaming and you know I I'll tell you that we uh we happily reach out and ask questions and try and gain support from each of these uh these uh you know partners that we work with in tribal gaming now I will also agree that probably one of the biggest strengths in tribal gaming is that I sit on a call on a monthly basis with 42 GMS of California and we discussed some of the challenges you know I wasn't here during covid I was up in like Tahoe um but I sitting on those calls have really learned and identified that you know these these this effort and the the con excuse me the uh the opportunity for them to work so closely together has really allowed for them to uh to get through some of the biggest challenges and it's that support that tribal gaming really offers um in the community and and having the uh the respect with each other to work together um and not against each other yeah know the the the collaboratory uh efforts you know cross tribes I think is pretty unique in the tribal gaming sector and it's it's it's interesting to see I imagine we'll see some of that at AA next month absolutely um you know it's one of my favorite uh things since I started working in tribal gaming is to uh to really get out to the shows and you know g2e has always been for for me it's always been a show that I attend and it's great to see your friends and and catch up with colleagues but uh when you head out to AA and you sit down through some of the seminars and you know some of the larger tribal gaming conferences you really understand in the seminars that there's a there's an educational piece that's there not just to to learn of you know new processes and new uh technology but also to to really speak through challenges that the uh that different tribes are dealing with I think um you know I think chicken ranch has the opportunity to and has had the opportunity to continue to grow and fight some of these challenges by through that um C Cal uh excuse me um through that uh you know working closely and uh and and trying to figure out you know how to how to make how to make ways as you step out of the box for the first time in certain areas and what were best practices and um you know it's great I think that uh that's really going to be a a strong driving force for any tribal oper operation in the future is just relying on the trust that you have in in best practices and and uh that that camaraderie well we will certainly be at aiga me specifically so we we definitely have to catch up when we when we get there I don't know if I'll make it this time Brian I mean we're so close uh for the opening that um that we're uh we're in the last couple of months here and so it's G to be tough from a timing perspective but I would love to uh to make it down there and uh and and grab a coffee with you you mentioned uh g2e you know I was at G2 last year and and I I caught a a gaming tribal gaming panel about the importance of of tribal gaming operations hiring members of their own tribes I'm curious about your thoughts on that does does the miok have a a program to facilitate that yes so um you know tribal preference is something that is a policy inside of our our hiring process and and you know I respect it I think there's a a large opportunity to continue to develop and grow um you know some of the the members of the tribe that want to partake into this business um you know I I will say that our tribe is a very um small tribe and so there's there's not many tribal members working um within the organization um but there is an effort to continue to grow that that experience and I think it's important I think that uh you know nobody's going to uh really focus and and care as much as the people that have the biggest uh you know uh take from it and so uh my effort here has been to to work closely with the tribe and and you know not only develop we are developing an amazing team but to continue to develop uh for years to come I think you have to look at Generations um that that will be uh you know real stakeholders inside of the organization that have the opportunity to really continue to drive success for their business and their future generations to come that's an amazing thing that you see in travel gaming they're very forward thinking and uh you know they they they say you always think seven years ahead and I really see that uh play out especially in the trust process when you see land being moved into trust land it's a it's a long process and these uh these tribes have have a fight ahead of them every every year and it's amazing to see them work through it yeah certainly the uh the long-term planning that goes into tribal gaming operations I think people don't quite appreciate the the amount of of of thought and and uh uh uh Vision that's required to to pull off what they do it really is it is it is an amazing amazing process to uh to be learning and uh it's taught me a lot I think um I think the opportunity to meet uh you know our legal council little Fon Bolan and um just just how the whole whole process works for them and you know I think as we work through our new secretarial procedures and and understand you know what the direction that the tribe is is visioning now um it's exciting it's it's really exciting um exciting for me you know being a Vegas kid and uh and having the opportunity to to Really I grew up in this business I've Loved I've loved watching this business step by step working you know my father's still in the business and having the opportunity to really see it from from the ground level and and now it's there's a whole new uh sector that I'm I'm now learning about it's it's just amazing and uh I'm really excited you know I think um I think Chicken Ranch Casino Resort is going to be something special not only to uh to our tribe but um and generations to come but also to the community um Jamestown California is is not a huge community and it's hasn't growth in many many years and so I really feel that what we're doing here is going to really overpour into the community and the other thing that tribal gaming is is really shown me is that they are so much that the thought process to give back to the community is always top of mind um there's endless stories that you hear from multiple tribes you know but when I I think of ours and I think of what we're we're capable of doing what they have done it's just it's amazing and um and I hope that it continues to to see the success in the community as well as what we're going to do here at the property that's really cool the the community commitment always with tribal gaming operations is is is fascinating to see and it's it's it's encouraging to see how much like you said the the integration with the surrounding Community yes you know I'll give you an example one of the things that the tribe is is uh doing right now is they're building their own fire uh station here and having the the uh County run it so uh you know that's in an effort because we live in one of the toughest fire districts inside of uh of California and um you constantly hear about you know the need for it and just the opportunity for them to you know utilize their resources to go out and do that um they don't have to and it's it's an amazing it's amazing thing to watch uh you know from conception to actual execution is is uh is pretty cool you're still it sounds like relatively new in the in the tribal gaming space but I wanted to ask you a a question because I think a lot of people don't quite understand the regulatory environment around tribal gaming there seems to be a misconception that the tribes essentially manage themselves but but that's not really the case can you describe a little bit the sort of regulatory oversight that happens at the federal state local and then at also at the uh at the tribal level uh that the uh that chicken ranch Casino deals with yeah so so you know I could speak to what we we're seeing happening now and uh what that is is you know historically we've had to uh we've had a tribal uh we we've had a tribal compact with the state of California and um and recently with the with the victory that uh that the tribe saw in in the courtroom they were able to um determine that we no longer have to uh you know work with directly with the state now we work directly with uh nigc and so um it's really just uh an opportunity for the tribe to self-govern and to uh to really work at the federal level rather than the state level um you know I am new to the tribal gaming space and so this is still a learning opportunity for me I'm a casino operator at heart I uh you know my my effort here has been you know since August turning the business around by 25% seeing a 15% growth rate in revenue and a 10% cut back in expenses that has really led to that 25% turnaround month over month uh you know I leave it up to the the the tribal chairman and the council who have you know taught me so much and continue to teach me otherwise I would really have no idea what they're doing on the uh on the uh tribal level with the state and and igc but um it's you know it's something that I know is extremely important to them sovereignty is not something that uh that will ever be uh relinquished in you know whether it comes from vendor contracts to uh to uh to the fights that they're putting forth right now and so um that's I don't really know much about the uh the the government side it's something that that I look forward to learning about complex but it's a um you know a lot of moving parts and a lot to lot to learn I'm sure it's it's gratifying for you to to get that opportunity to to learn something new absolutely absolutely you know my whole career has been based on that it's been stepping into the uh into new new Realms and uh and really just embracing and learning from some of the best and I I continue to do that even here with the uh with the the tribal economics and and understanding how the government works before we go what can we expect from chicken ranch and and the Miwok tribe for the rest of the year give tell us tell us what's coming well we'll have our you know today we like I said we have uh we have nine classic table games we have just over 580 gaming machines a bingo hall uh a restaurant and a coffee shop and and an excellent and I say excellent Players Club uh with amazing benefit that we offer to our to our players today um and I think what what's coming is going to be even more special we'll have a ninstory resort um the you know the five-story hotel it's going to expand the gaming floor um where we'll have like I said just under a thousand slot machines we'll have um 175 guest rooms in the hotel with 22 Suites in addition to the 175 uh guest rooms so just under 200 rooms we'll have a nightlife option that'll be uh an amazing uh you know opportunity to display some of the surrounding scenery as it'll be out on our pool deck um which will be on the fourth floor so it's a really beautiful uh outdoor pool area overseeing some of the beautiful scenery we'll have 12,000 square feet of event space and uh and like I said you'll continue to see some amazing Wild at Heart uh promotions and advertisements that uh that continue to get pushed from our marketing team um I'm really excited for the convention space I think that's something that's going to be unique uh to our market and really allow for us to continue to drive visitation into this area um but other than that yeah it's a it's a great experience and a and a fun uh fun project to be a part of sounds like it to and this year is going to be a big year for you guys when's the when's the ribbon cutting so we we don't have uh right now we're looking at summer we don't have an exact date we're we're having some issues with h pg& getting us some power so until we get a firm date on on that will uh but we are aware that summer will be operating either way whether we're on generator power or not so really exciting to uh to get the date uh we'll be working through that here in the next couple of weeks th this I mean is it fair to say that this year 2024 is going to be a turning point for the tribe and gon to be a major historical year for the tribe already has been I mean there's so much success that's come in the last you know 24 months from uh from the tribe that 2024 and opening the resort will only add to that success I think uh at the end of that at the end of the day it'll be the second biggest thing that they'll be proud of I think the first one will be the Sovereign win that they've had in the courtroom wow so really so this this will this will rank as the second most important uh year for the tribe I agree I I I well it's all in one year 2024 so so 2024 will definitely go down in history as uh some of the best leadership coming out of the tribe and some of the best uh growth and uh you know chairman Lloyd Matson is uh is leading that along with the tribal council here and uh and I continue to see what else we uh we take on and and you know they're not afraid to fight and that's something that uh that you have to respect what an exciting time for you Eric it's been a it's been a pleasure talking with you uh we uh we thank you for the time it's been a pleasure thank you Brian