One could say Brian Ohorilko was born to run a casino and racetrack. After all, his childhood home in Altoona backed up to the Prairie Meadows training track.

His family later moved to Mitchellville, where they lived next to a couple of racehorse farms. He would bring daily race forms to school and developed an interest in math and analytics, calculating odds and probabilities with gambling games and card games. In high school, a teacher suggested he develop a business plan for a casino as a class project.  

After college and a brief stint at Pioneer Hybrid he joined Prairie Meadows in 2001. He wanted to get into horse racing but it was the middle of winter and racing wasn’t happening. So he worked in the restaurant for about a month before trying his hand in the simulcast center and also as an official during horse races. He took entries and also worked as a judge at the end of races, reading photo finishes. 

About three years later, he felt like he needed to do something different and he joined the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, where he spent 20 years. During that time he experienced firsthand the growth of the state’s gaming industry. He helped open several casinos. He wrote regulations. He helped conduct studies on internet poker, and was involved in bringing sports betting to Iowa. Ohorilko was a director of gaming for casinos in Eastern Iowa, and later became the state director of gaming before eventually becoming the administrator.

But Ohorilko knew at some point he wanted to get back in the private sector, so when the opportunity arose to return to Prairie Meadows as a vice president he jumped at it. And then, when longtime CEO Gary Palmer announced his retirement last year, Ohorilko threw his hat in the ring to succeed him. “And I was fortunate enough to be selected for that position,” he said.

The Business Record sat down recently with Ohorilko, who started as CEO on Jan. 1, to learn more about his journey and his vision for the organization that may be known as much for its philanthropy as it is for its gaming and entertainment.

This Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity.

What does it mean to you to be able to come back and lead this organization in your hometown?

It really is a dream come true. Coming from the Midwest, you really don’t think you can have a career and raise a family in this industry here. When people think of gambling, they think of Nevada and New Jersey. It really is amazing, when I think about it and how visionary our leaders were back in the 1980s. This industry is a $2 billion industry every year in the state of Iowa, when you take in all the tourism and economic impact that it has. I didn’t even have to leave the state and I didn’t have to leave my community to do what I love and raise a family in a place that I know is the best place to raise a family. That’s not something a lot of people have the opportunity or the luxury to do, so to be able to make a career of this industry here in this state and not have to go anywhere else, that’s pretty exciting.

How has the gaming industry changed over the past 20 to 30 years?

It’s changed dramatically. Iowa was in the right place at the right time and was the third or fourth state to approve riverboat gambling. That was maybe a little bit taboo at the time. People were afraid gambling would harm the community and that there would be increases in crime or bankruptcy and things like that, but that never really materialized. Iowa did it right by requiring a portion of the casinos’ net proceeds to come back to the community. Some, like Prairie Meadows, all the net proceeds come back to the community. That was truly forward thinking because now if you look at all these areas that have received a license, and even the ancillary counties, you can see the impact on those communities. It looked very different from how it looks now. At some point, we can say there’s too much gambling and we’re probably at that point in the state of Iowa, where we have the exact number, the right number. But in terms of changes, we saw gambling being legalized. We saw loss limits lifted. We saw the riverboats being relaxed so that people could build on land. And when we did that, we saw all this additional economic development. It turned into hotels, golf courses, restaurants, bowling alleys and event centers. And then the addition of sports wagering, which has provided some economic impact, not as much as I think everyone was hoping, but still it is something the state needed.

How important is it for Prairie Meadows to be involved in the community and through its philanthropy?

That’s one of the things I emphasize with our team is really how the little things they do have a  significant impact on this community, whether it’s through economic development and tourism, or through the grants and distributions. Prairie Meadows last year gave back to the community about $50 million and that is significant. Over 400 nonprofits received some sort of grant or distribution from Prairie Meadows last year. Having that understanding of regionalism is important and it’s important because of Prairie Meadows’ nonprofit status. We are one of two in the country. The other casinos in the state are not nonprofits. They have a nonprofit partner, but that’s what’s different about Prairie Meadows is when it was created, it was created as a 501(c)(4), and with that all the proceeds go back to the community and that is significant and it’s a huge responsibility that we don’t take for granted.

How daunting was it to take over from Gary Palmer?

It really hit me during his retirement dinner for the community and how many people came up to me and said ‘You have big shoes to fill.’ I’m very thankful that I stepped into a position with a company that wasn’t distressed. It’s very successful. I’m also thankful that I have a board that supports me 100%. I have a lot of excitement and a lot of ideas. I feel like let’s take what we’re doing right now and take it to the next level. Let’s show the community what we can do. That’s not any reflection on the past. Things have been done really well, but now let’s just take it to the next level.

What did you learn from Gary that helped prepare you for this role?

He really helped me specifically on the operation side. I had a lot of knowledge with gaming laws and rules and regulations, but I had never operated a casino. I was very familiar with all the operation balance sheets and their annual audits, so I understood all of that, but understanding something as simple as if we raise a limit on a game from $5 to $10, how is that going to impact operations. We might see fewer customers, it may mean we need less staff, or we’re going to deploy this particular promotion. Gary was very good at the operations side and just understanding customer behavior. He was exceptionally gifted at that. So those things were extremely helpful for me to learn under him for those two years.

You mentioned taking things to the next level, what will that look like?

It’s time to implement data and analytics in everything we do, make sure we have the right gaming devices on the floor that our customers like to play. We want to be promoting to those customers in a way they like. Maybe it’s a free dinner. Maybe they want free play cash, or maybe they want a concert ticket or something else. It’s using the information we have to make sure our customers get an even better experience. So we’re pulling some levers to really try to know we add some different types of games or activities that our customers want. I think it’s important that our brand is out there and everyone knows of Prairie Meadows, but I think it’s equally important for us to continue our reach with our distributions. If we can do a little better on the revenue side but be a little sharper with our data and analytics, then that’s more money we can give back to the community. That’s more outreach we can provide. It’s maybe just sharpening our pencils a little bit.

Are there any capital improvements planned for Prairie Meadows in the coming years?

We have a lot of the less sexy things that are breaking down, like the mechanical, the electrical, the plumbing, the parking lots, so if we’re going to invest in some of that, maybe it’s also an opportunity to modernize other areas of our floor, modernize other amenities and do things like that. We definitely need to consider what that looks like. There’s a new casino being built in Cedar Rapids and we believe there’s a lot of gaming in this state, so it’s just really important to show this community that we are a great steward of our license. We have modern games. We have modern amenities, and we’re taking care of our facility. If we can do those things, whether it’s through additional capital we may need for a project in the next couple of years, I believe that’s important that we do that.