Centaur and Hoosier Park mark emergence from bankruptcy

Anderson, Ind.; October 11, 2011 - After nearly a year and a half since Hoosier Park filed for bankruptcy, employees were celebrating the company’s emergence, their survival through the process but most of all their commitment to the racino and its customers.

“Our staff has been phenomenal during this whole thing,” CEO Rod Ratcliff said. “They didn’t get down. They kept their head up the whole time. We can’t thank them enough as well as the patrons who stuck with us.”

Hoosier Park’s parent company officially emerged from bankruptcy Oct. 1 with about one-third of the debt it had when it filed for protection. The transfer of ownership from Centaur Inc. to the newly structured Centaur Holdings LLC of Indianapolis became official after approval from the state casino and horse racing commissions. The new major investor is Canada-based Clairvest.

To show their appreciation Ratcliff and Chief Operating Officer Jim Brown kicked off team member appreciation week Tuesday afternoon with a cake cutting and encouraging speech.

Brown stressed that many companies put in this situation may have taken the bankruptcy as a chance to lay off employees, stop community involvement, lesson the quality of their product or freeze wages.

“That’s not us,” he said. “We dismissed that approach seeing it as the absolutely wrong approach. We continued to support our operations to ensure we gave our patrons a quality experience.

“We are all relieved the 18-month process we’ve collectively gone through is over. We want to share that we are on our feet again and thanks for sticking with us.”

“This has almost been a painless process for our employees,” he said.

“It’s not like they went from the dredges to rainbows. There is a sense though that something has passed. We don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Director of Human Resources Jean Crowe said the employees didn’t see a lot of effects of the bankruptcy process. She said they were able to keep service levels up meaning employment numbers remained the same if not increased.

“There weren’t many who expressed concern or anxiety,” Crowe said. “We kept investing in the team members through everything assuring them everything would be OK.”

Director of Food and Beverage Rudy McMillan said the company’s commitment to quality — food and beverage service — was never compromised.

The staff at Hoosier Park was voted by several different entities as friendliest during the period.

“We all worked together merging as one,” McMillan said. “That created an exciting experience for our guests.”

 

Edited for length / Credit: The Herald Bulletin, Reporter Abbey Doyle