The Jacobs story spans decades and is rooted in development and expansion of property investments, people and communities. View the interactive timeline that highlights significant milestones in our company’s history.
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Behind every great team are great leaders. We owe our strength and longevity as a company to the consistent way we manage our business, our prudent growth philosophy and to the character of our employees.
Chairman and CEO Jacobs Investments, Inc.
CEO, Secretary and Treasurer, Jacobs Entertainment, Inc.
Jacobs Investments, Inc. and its operating subsidiary Jacobs Entertainment Inc. have many decades of experience in developing mixed-use, large-scale projects. The company was originally founded in 1976 by Mr. Jacobs, who serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The company engages in a variety of real estate development and private equity transactions.
Beginning in the 1980’s, the company’s initial focus on large scale entertainment related development projects led to the creation of the Nautica Entertainment District and the Warehouse District residential neighborhood, both located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. During the 1990’s, the company developed the Lodge and Gilpin Casinos in Blackhawk, Colorado as well as three hotel casinos in Nevada. Beginning in 2017, the company began the transformation of downtown Reno, Nevada with the J Resort and J Resort’s Reno Neon Line. The company has successfully built and operated transformative projects for many decades. Each of these projects have served as a catalyst to revitalize the areas around their development. Today, the Nautica entertainment District continues to motivate residents to live, work, and play in Cleveland’s city center. The Lodge and Gilpin casinos in Blackhawk, Colorado are part of an entertainment district located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains that has quickly grown to be a premier entertainment location for the City of Denver. J Resort and J Resort’s Reno Neon Line include a renovated 700 room hotel and casino, a half mile of Burning Man public art display, an outdoor 15,000 patron music festival grounds, and several hundred new apartment residences that have collectively revitalized downtown Reno.
Mr. Jacobs obtained a BBA degree in business from the University of Kentucky in 1975, an MBA degree in business from the Ohio State University in 1977 and an MA degree in urban planning from Cleveland State University in 1979.
Promoted to Chief Financial Officer in December 2006, Brett Kramer has been with Jacobs Entertainment, Inc. since 1994. Prior to his current position Mr. Kramer has held several other positions as a CPA within our accounting team, first as Assistant Controller, Controller, and V.P. of Finance. While in these positions he was pivotal in implementing a number of invaluable improvements to back-end accounting processes and records management. Prior to Jacobs Entertainment he spent four years with Deloitte and Touche in the Denver office. A Colorado native, Mr. Kramer graduated Cum-Laude from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
John East joined Jacobs Entertainment in 2006 and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer for Jacobs Entertainment in 2016. During his tenure with the company he has served in various Senior Management positions including General Manager for the Lodge Casino, VP of Colorado Operations and Vice President of Western Division Operations, where he had oversight of all five Colorado and Nevada casino operations. John began his gaming career in 1987 at Harvey’s Casino Resorts in Lake Tahoe where he worked in Food & Beverage, Hotel and Finance. In 1994, during the gaming industry’s expansive years, John was selected to move to Colorado to open Harvey’s Wagon Wheel and was made General Manager in 2002.