Ainsworth Game Technology spotlights new headquarters, convention presence

It’s a big week for Ainsworth Game Technology.

Not only is the Australian slot machine manufacturer gearing for this week’s Global Gaming Expo at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, it’s also opening the doors of its new 291,000-square-foot North American headquarters in Las Vegas to conventioneers. The new building on Raphael Rivera Way, fronting the 215 Beltway just west of Interstate 15, will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Gov. Brian Sandoval and a visit from the company’s founder and executive chairman, 93-year-old Len Ainsworth, later this week.

“This new facility is our way of telling our customers we’re here to stay and they can rely on us to be here,” said Mike Dreitzer, president of Ainsworth’s North American division.

Company officials spent much of last week sending slot-machine cabinets to their booth at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, the largest exhibition space the company has ever had at G2E at 6,480 square feet.

Ainsworth will show 135 games at the casino industry’s largest gathering, which opened with educational sessions Monday and will continue with the display of more than 9,500 products on the trade show floor Tuesday through Thursday.

The company, which has Rumble Rumble and Flying Horse among its more than 200 titles, will present more than 50 games on its A600 and A600 Slant Top cabinets. Ainsworth also will debut its new A640 cabinet with King Kong, King Kong Skull Island, The Magnificent Seven Reloaded and The Three Amigos Ride Again prior to their planned December releases.

But Ainsworth’s big star may be its new custom-built, two-story building with a production facility that takes up about three-quarters of the space and replaces a building 6½ times smaller.

“We actually moved in in April and we’re only now beginning to settle in,” Dreitzer said. “We began planning for it four years ago, broke ground in October 2014 and then moved in in April.”

The facility not only serves as prominent facility for Southern Nevada with a view of the Strip but as a recruiting tool for top industry talent. The facility houses Ainsworth’s North American game design studio, a showroom that doubles as a lounge for corporate events, a large break room and a gymnasium for employees.

The manufacturing area has eight production lanes and nine shipping bays to move product by truck or plane. Tickets on cabinets in the shipping area had products heading for Argentina and the Dominican Republic as well as California, Oklahoma and Reno.

The Las Vegas facility serves casino properties from Latin America to Canada and about 65 percent of Ainsworth’s business is in the United States and Latin countries.

Ainsworth also produces machines for Australia, Singapore and Macau from its Sydney, Australia, headquarters.

The company’s most recent financial report from June 30 showed the company’s revenue up 19 percent over last year to $285.5 million ($218.6 million U.S.) and profit before tax down 20 percent to $75.1 million ($57.5 million U.S.). The company will pay a 5-cent dividend per share in October.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.