On Gold Eagle Casino’s 20th anniversary, its North Battleford workers are looking back at how far they’ve come.
Gold Eagle has more than tripled its staff since its humble beginnings of 88 employees in 1996.
General Manager Kelly Atchenum has been with the casino just one year shy of 20 years, and says job creation has been a big highlight.
“That’s one of our biggest successes. We employ over 300 staff at the Gold Eagle,” he says.
Atchenum says gaming has made huge strides since he started there.
“Originally the gaming was just the old exhibition-style where you have the table games, whatnot at the exhibition,” he says. “Now we’ve evolved, keeping up with demand as good as we can.”
The small number of table games and slot machines that filled North Battleford’s former Marks Work Warehouse building in 1996 has seen gradual expansion as demand for quality gaming and food services kept growing.
Over the years, the casino has bought two buildings – the Bonanza and former Friendship Centre – to renovate and expand.
Atchenum describes the path to a 5,000 square foot expansion in 2015.
“We kept expanding, renovating the floor so to speak, trying to update as much as we could. But August 2015 was the first time we actually expanded on floor space” aside from an initial expansion in 1997, he said.
And 20 years later, Gold Eagle’s entertainment facility is 34,033 square feet.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing to get to this growth. Atchenum says filling their 300 positions hasn’t always been easy.
Highlighting Gold Eagle’s community focus, Atchenum pointed out that 50 per cent of the casino’s profits goes back to their First Nations trust while the rest is split between the community development corporation and the province. Gold Eagle is a non-profit gaming organization.
Events are planned throughout the month to celebrate 20 years, starting Tuesday with a cake-cutting at Gold Eagle. Cash and prize draws will be going on every Tuesday and Wednesday this month.
Gold Eagle is one of SIGA’s six casinos, and will also have special live entertainment all month for the anniversary.