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Most VLC jobs to be gone from Bozeman by end of year

Video Lottery Consultants is slowly but surely saying goodbye to its Bozeman home.

The video gaming company, founded in Bozeman in 1985, has remained here through a series of mergers, corporate acquisitions and numerous name changes.

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL, Bozeman Chronicle Staff Writer

In a final acquisition about 18 months ago, International Game Technology of Reno, Nev., merged with Anchor Gaming and its subsidiaries, which include VLC. IGT then began moving manufacturing and systems departments out of Montana.

As a result, VLC managers anticipate the 200 Bozeman employees acquired by IGT in January 2002 will be whittled down to about 13 people by July of next year. At its height in the late 1990s, the company had 750 employees in Bozeman.

Those remaining 13 will have jobs here for an unknown amount of time as they design games for VLC’s most popular product line, said Ed Neuman, human resources director.

However, they won’t be working in the same building, as IGT has put VLC’s building behind the Museum of the Rockies up for sale.

In January, the remaining 165 Bozeman employees were notified verbally and in writing about the company’s long-term plan, Neuman said. Each employee has been given a "release date" and VLC has been systematically laying off people the first Friday of the month for several months.

"We had 105 on the payroll that will be issued tomorrow," Neuman said in an interview Wednesday. "Yesterday we released 24 that were included in that payroll."

As of the end of this week, VLC will have 81 employees in Bozeman.

Each employee has been offered a severance package, including a bonus for those who chose to stay until their release date to help with the company’s transition.

VLC itself isn’t disappearing, but its operations are moving from Bozeman mostly to Clifton, N.J., and Reno, said managing director Mike Tessmer.

Sixteen employees were offered positions in New Jersey and two have relocated there.

Another 30 people were offered positions with IGT in Reno and 19 have chosen to relocate.

"We had 165 employees in December," Tessmer said. "Eighty-nine people either had offers or will continue to be employed. That’s still more than half the people. We had a lot of people who said, ‘I’ll take the severance and bonus to help with the transition because I like Bozeman.’"

Tessmer and Neuman themselves plan to stay here after their jobs are through at the end of this year. They said they like Bozeman too much to leave and many others feel the same way.

"My kids are here, it’s not an option for me to move," said Cristy Myrstol, a VLC employee since 1992. "It was very, very shocking since business is going so well for VLC. This is not due to lack of business, it’s just mergers and acquisitions."

But Myrstol complimented the company for treating employees well through the process and giving them 10 months notice to prepare.

"It’s just sad," Myrstol said. "There’s no bitterness, but it’s just like ‘Welcome to corporate America.’"

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/07/03/news/01vlcbzbigs.txt

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