ON TRACK

摘要

Ted Arneault took a down-and-out racing outfit in West Virginia and created a money-making gaming machine. To the list of west virginia heroes that includes Tecumseh, Stonewall Jackson and Chuck Yea-ger, add former tax accountant Edson (Ted) Arneault. Certainly, nobody has done more for the state's economy lately than the 54-year-old chief executive of MTR Gaming Group in Chester, W.Va., 35 miles west of Pittsburgh. In less than a decade he has turned a struggling racetrack into a vibrant casino operation that earned $16.9 million on revenues of $195 million over the last 12 months—and clinched the number 7 spot on the Forbes 200 Best list. Over the last five years sales have increased an average of 43%; earnings, 54%.