Like so many of Montana's successful hospitality operators, state Representative Joe McKenney's beginnings in the business were humble making change at a mall arcade in Missoula his freshman year of college.
But with an acute business sense, some good fortune and a strong will to succeed, Joe quickly advanced from a minimum wage worker to an owner of a successful enterprise and an esteemed representative in state government. As Joe likes to say, "There is no such thing as a dead end job, only dead end thinking."
Son of a career navy petty officer, Joe grew up "everywhere and nowhere," traveling up and down the eastern seaboard until he hit high school in1974. It was then that his father, winding down his career, transferred to the Navy Reserve Center in Billings a strange final docking for a life-long seaman, Joe says, but a happy landing nonetheless.
Joe graduated from Billings West High in 1976, then enlisted in the Navy where he served for four years as an aviation electronics technician, repairing aircraft and serving on the flight deck of the USS America aircraft carrier.
In the Navy, McKenney traveled extensively around the Mediterranean, making ports of call in France, Spain, Italy as well as Yugoslavia and Egypt. Traveling the world, McKenney says, he gained a clearer sense and keener appreciation of what it was to live and earn a living in his own country.
"I was absolutely shocked at the differences in lifestyle and opportunity," he explains. "It wasn't that these were bad countries, but it seemed like most people didn't have much. And, more importantly, if they wanted to prosper, they didn't have much opportunity to do so."
When he got out of the Navy in 1980, Joe headed to the University of Montana for classes in wildlife biology. At the same time, he took a part-time job at the Aladdin's Castle amusement center in Southgate Mall an entry level position, he says, but important, as it introduced him to the industry in which he'd eventually make his mark.
At the mall, Joe says, he met with a sinking stomach a number of wildlife biology majors unable to find work in their chosen field. So he quickly decided to change course, learning to repair the amusement and video arcade machines and landing himself a job managing another Aladdin's Castle in Great Falls.
Joe stayed at the arcade three years, repairing machines and picking up important lessons about running a small business.
In 1984, at age 26 and eager to start his own business, Joe took another job managing a gaming machine route, and after a couple years, was able to save enough to purchase his own vending company, North Central Gaming.
(A vending company, he explains, provides amusement machines pool, darts, juke boxes, pinball and video gaming machines repair and accounting services and a cut of machine profits to hospitality businesses in exchange for the floor space and customers. At present, there are roughly 103 businesses licensed to vend gaming devices in the state.)
After a few years in the vending business, Joe raised enough capital to open another business, Fun Factory Pizza, a family entertainment center which, at its peak, had the distinction of hosting over 2,000 children's birthday parties annually.
Despite the volume, Joe says, Fun Factory Pizza involved a great deal of overhead and stress (that was 2,000 birthday parties, annually), so after eight years in business, just barely breaking even, Joe decided to close the doors.
Though the family entertainment center couldn't deliver good cash flow, North Central Gaming on the other hand was showing strong growth. In 1994 the company was listed in Inc. Magazine's top 500 fastest-growing private companies in America.
Towards the late nineties, the vending industry started to consolidate, so in 1998, after 13 years in business, Joe decided to sell out to the larger Northern Vending, while staying on as the marketing manager.
A natural born entrepreneur, however, Joe wasn't content to spend all his time working for someone else. So as soon as the company was sold, he says, he quickly started tossing around other ideas for another business of his own.
"I noticed from my time at North Central Gaming that when gambling became state regulated, quite a few of the social taverns places where you'd go to meet friends, have a drink, a bite to eat, socialize were converting to small casinos. After several years of this, I thought there might be a demand for the social tavern again."
Joe decided to put his theory to the test and opened Legends Sports Pub & Grill in June 2002.
Legends is a spacious establishment at over 8,000 square-feet with a full-service restaurant and sports pub that includes 35 televisions and a small casino.
Though Joe admits the business has been undergoing some "growing pains," for the most part, he says, things have been going well. "Every month we've been setting a new revenue record."
Since his days with North Central Gaming, Joe says he's believed that with even moderate success comes an obligation to give something back to the communities in which you do business.
Joe gives both his time and money serving in the Montana state legislature since 1998 and giving substantial contributions to a variety of community causes.
"I've been in business for myself since December 1985," he says, "and It's rare that I don't give to an organization that calls and asks for money."
"Actually," he says after a pause, "I can't think of any one in-state charity that's called on me that I haven't given to."
Though Joe says he generally favors those organizations that benefit children educational initiatives, scholarship funds, free bicycle helmet programs he doesn't follow any particular rule of thumb when it comes to charitable giving.
"If I have a personal interest in what they're doing, they might receive a larger donation, but otherwise, I just take it on a case-by-case basis."
A long-time player in the hospitality business, Joe is quick to point out that his business is but one small example in an industry that, overall, "probably gives more than any other in the state."
He continues, "In order to have a tavern or gaming business, an owner has to have a license. And to have a license in this state, the license holder must be a Montana resident. This fact probably goes a long way to explain why we give as much as we do."
As a legislator, Joe is also quick to point out the economic importance of the revenues of his industry for both state and local governments.
"We're one of the most highly taxed industries in the state," he explains.
"In Great Falls, taxes that are derived from taverns and casinos account for approximately 20 percent of the city budget. That translates into police, fire department, road repair, city employees important services. We're a significant part of not only Great Falls', but Montana's economy as a whole."
But again, he says, this is just a part in fact a good part of running a successful enterprise in a city that supports you.
"This is our community'; these are our friends and neighbors. We strongly support our communities because We're right here living and working in them."
Source: Special Reports,
Jan. 2002, published by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite, Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701'; e-mail <contcom@qwest.net>.