Wild Rose Casino and Resort opened in Jefferson in 2015, and the 2019 fiscal year has been its best revenue year ever.
According to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission report, Wild Rose Jefferson recorded an adjusted gross revenue of $29,135,885. That is an increase of about $1 million compared to the 2018 fiscal year of $28,170,956. Wild Rose Jefferson Manager Travis Dvorak says their best fiscal year includes some of their best individual months including November and December. He explains what has led to such a successful outcome.
“I think it’s a mixed bag of things, but what I think it is, is after four years we’ve really gotten to know our customers, listen to them and see what they like and don’t like and adjusted appropriately. I think maybe of all the things that we’ve done the biggest one is that we’ve introduced our tiered cards, where we have different levels of cards for different levels of players. And it’s really a reward program for the more you play, the more rewards you get. And that’s something a lot of casinos have done.”
The benefits stretch beyond just the casino, because when it does well, so does everyone who receives funding from them. Greene County and the City Jefferson each receive 0.5-percent of the gross revenue proceeds from the casino, being the host county and city, respectively. The County received $145,261 for the 2019 fiscal year, and the City received $145,561. Dvorak points out that the non-profit gaming license holder, Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation, also receives more funding to give away. To see the full gaming revenue report for all of the state-run casinos, click the link below.