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In business gaming lab that tests casino games plans to add 100 jobs over next two years By Richard N. Velotta���senior staff writer During the 2011 legislative session, lawmakers approved a bill allowing private gaming test labs to review casino games and devices on behalf of the state. Not only did it help relieve a backlog for the state, but it provided an opportunity for new jobs. The state reaped some of the benefits as BMM Testlabs conducted an open house at its new world headquarters in Las Vegas this month. ���It���s a proud day for us, personally and professionally,��� BMM Global President and CEO Martin Storm said. About 100 gaming professionals toured the company���s newly expanded 22,000-square-foot facility at 815 Pilot Road in a warehousing and manufacturing area. ���Within the next five years, we���ll have a whole lot more of this building and take over the block,��� Storm said. BMM, which employs more than 200 people in 12 countries and operates 11 gaming labs, expects to add another 100 employees here over the next two years. The company had a 7,500-squarefoot building on Eastern Avenue. Since 2000, when BMM first came to Las Vegas, the lab outgrew the facility. The company���s new building has plenty of space for the new multiseat slot machine games that manufacturers are submitting for approval. BMM offers game and system testing on all types of devices. It tests slot machines and table games as well as peripheral equipment such as bill validators, kiosks and IT security systems. Bo Bernhard, executive director of UNLV���s International Gaming Institute, also attended and announced that the BMM donated two scholarships to students studying gaming technology. The company also established a formal relationship with UNLV for an internship program for students. development Plans for downtown luxury hotel pushed back a year By Conor Shine���staff writer Celebrity chef Charlie Palmer���s proposed luxury hotel and restaurant at Symphony Park in downtown Las Vegas are still on hold until room rates increase, developers for the project told the City Council this month. Council members unanimously approved extending the closing date on the land. That means developers will have another year to try to get the 371room hotel project off the ground. Hotel developer Richard Kaufman told the council that the hotel market in Las Vegas hasn���t recovered enough for the project to be financially viable. ���The problem is room rates are low so we need to spend less money because we can���t charge more,��� Kaufman said. ���How do we make it more affordable to build?��� One potential solution, he said, would be to build an initial 100-room hotel with a restaurant on the 3-acre site across from the Smith Center for the Performing Arts that would be expanded later. ���Symphony Park is where we want to be and we have made the decision to take the long view that Symphony Park is the best place for the Charlie Palmer hotel,��� Kaufman said. The action extends the development agreement and land close date until Feb. 27, 2014. The developers have put down a nearly $500,000 deposit to keep their hold on the property. Another extension would require further action by the council. Kaufman said uncertainty surrounding other tenants at the park, which include the Smith Center and the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center and could eventually include offices, residential units and an arena, also have slowed the project. Council members seemed anxious to see progress, but acknowledged building the right project was worth waiting a year or two more. STRATOSPHERE CASINO | HOTEL | TOWER Located on Level 106. TopOfTheWorldLV.com | 702.380.7771 | 25 MARCH 2013 20130325_VI11_F.indd 11 | Sunday through Thursday, 11am to 10:30pm ��� Friday and Saturday, 11am to 11pm 11 3/21/13 2:20:32 PM