SAO Corvallis - Business Growth Forum April 22, 2004

Speaker: John Acres, Founder, Acres Gaming.

In the 1980's he started a couple of companies and sold one for millions, then started another and lost it all. He picked himself back up, focused on what he knew best, and started what became Acres Gaming in Grant Plaza (where the Business Enterprise Center incubator is now). With just a handful of employees, the company got funding and was able to go public by 1993. In 1998 the company moved its headquarters to Las Vegas, but John bowed out a couple of years later, preferring to live in Corvallis. Continuing to build on what he has learned, John's current venture is recumbent bike maker Bigha.