WORLEY, Idaho – Laura Stensgar is employee #67 at the Coeur d’Alene Casino in North Idaho, that number representing one of the 96 Coeur d’Alene tribal members employed to open the original bingo operation in March 1993. Stensgar came on from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s planning department, a “foot in the door” job as she worked toward a degree in Business and Recreation Management at Eastern Washington University.
After almost 27 years as marketing director, public relations director, and twice as acting chief executive officer, Stensgar found her place. Last October, the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Council named her CEO, the fourth person to hold that job, and the first woman to hold the position.
Nearly six months into the position, Stensgar undertook a monumental task last week – reopening the Coeur d’Alene Casino after the property was closed since March 20 due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. It was the first property to reopen since commercial and tribal casinos nationwide in an effort to halt the spread.
“We have put a lot of thought and effort into preparing to re-open in the safest way possible,” Stensgar told The Associated Press.
Coeur d’Alene Casino CEO Laura Stensgar
Beginnings
The 96 employees hired for bingo represented more than the beginning of an immensely successful casino and destination resort. Those same 90 employees represented the largest single job increase in modern tribal history. Before bingo, the tribe employed about 100 people, some of that merely seasonal. Today, in all its programs and enterprises, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe employs about 2,000, less than half of that at the casino resort.
As a tribal member might say, “we have more jobs than Indians to fill ‘em.” At 53, Stensgar holds the most important of those beyond the tribal chairmanship or membership on the tribal council.
“I know I’ve earned this position,” Stensgar said. “I was frustrated four times when applying, but it was all worth it. I feel spiritually, physically, and mentally ready, and I realize I’m here not just to do a good job, but to do an amazing job. As a tribal member, it’s so important that I, and we, do well. I intend to put in all the time and effort necessary.”
The dues Stensgar paid included completing her degree at Eastern Washington while working full time. The tribe requires a master’s degree in business administration for the CEO position. Stensgar earned hers in 2015 at the University of Idaho, also while working full time.
As business goes, she’s off to a remarkable start. The casino’s three highest coin-in days ever have come during her brief watch. Per the compact with Idaho, Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort is limited to lottery-based gaming machines and off-track betting — no table games nor poker. Overall, gaming space covers about 100,000 square feet; an events center is home to concerts and other events; there are 300 up hotel rooms, a complete spa, and six eateries. Circling Raven Golf Club is Idaho’s No. 1 public course and an ongoing honoree as one of America’s “Top 100 You Can Play.”
Stensgar grew up in Plummer, Idaho, a mill town of about 1,000, and home to tribal headquarters. The abject poverty around her was less so at the Stensgar home. Her father, Ernie Stensgar, is a decorated Marine and Vietnam War veteran. Ernie Stensgar is also the Chairman of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and has served in that position some 24 years overall in two separate tours. The Chairman abstained as the Council voted unanimously to elevate Laura to the CEO position.
A few grumblings about that relationship may exist here, but after her own years of service and loyalty, and the success she has generated in the positions she’s held, there’s not much to grumble about.
“When I first applied for this job (an opening in 2004), I came close,” she said. “I came close a second time and was told I needed that MBA. I earned the MBA, then was a finalist a third time, but not chosen. I was frustrated and disappointed, but the opportunity arose again and here I am. I have worked hard, and I have stayed the course here. I am ready and able to face the challenges this job brings.”
Tribal growth
She grew up with challenges coming at the tribe from all directions, including an unemployment rate that sometimes-exceeded 70 percent. Gaming became the economic engine to end unemployment altogether, not to mention creating some 3,000 jobs beyond the reservation via the flow of goods and services. The economic impacts here have also guaranteed both tribal self-sufficiency and long-term sustainability.
She also had a front-row seat in 1991 as the tribe took on the biggest mining companies in the world, along with Union Pacific Railroad, in a lawsuit to clean up heavy metal damage in the Coeur d’Alene River drainage. A companion to that lawsuit was against the State of Idaho over ownership of Lake Coeur d’Alene. The mines and UP settled, collectively paying hundreds of millions of dollars for cleanup. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed that the tribe had “bed and banks” ownership of the southern portion of the lake.
Stensgar’s tutelage in leadership came right at the family dinner table. Her tutelage in gaming came with former CEO Dave Matheson, now serving on the tribal council and a veteran of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, where he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior and BIA acting director during the George H.W. Bush Administration. Matheson returned home to take over management of bingo as the gaming compact was being negotiated with then-Governor Cecil Andrus.
Photo of the limited reopening of Coeur d’Alene Casino in Idaho by Bob Bostwick for CDC Gaming Reports
“I had guidance and I had support,” Stensgar said. “We have had great leadership over the years, and great examples to follow. These days, we still have many ‘long-timers’ around. They’re going to be there to collaborate, and I will listen.”
The Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort has gone through seven major expansions since the days of bingo alone, paying off debt years early in the process, sometimes celebrated by “Mortgage Burning” events and including player specials. Stensgar’s role was always front and center to all things gaming and her marketing team was key in creating success on the gaming floor, not to mention establishing a brand that remains somewhat unique.
Resort future
The resort shines at the intersection of Idaho Highway 58 and U.S. 985, with Worley three miles south and Coeur d’Alene 25 miles north. Not quite, but close to the middle of nowhere. Matheson, himself with an MBA from the University of Washington, enjoys describing some of that with tongue in cheek.
“They say in business that the three most important things to consider are location, location, location, and we had none of those.”
It would seem that the isolation has been an asset and getting away from cities and urban areas a selling point, more so with an achingly beautiful landscape with Idaho’s rolling Palouse country, and views from the western edge of the Northern Rocky Mountains.
“We’ve always been creative; we’ve always been unique,” Stensgar said. “I am enjoying true happiness, both personal and professional, but I am not professionally content. I understand that I have a great opportunity, and I understand that I still have a lot to do. I listen to those here, and we are blessed with so many employees at all levels who will do everything necessary to move us forward.”
People who know her, and many who have worked with her, will tell you Laura Stensgar has paid her dues and, as CEO, that she’ll always listen to new ideas.
Employee #67 might tell you the same.
“I see great opportunity for us,” she said. “And I see optimism. To me, everything looks like low hanging fruit.”
Bob Bostwick is a Washington-based freelance journalist. He can be reached at robertsbostwick@gmail.com
