Timothy Slatton, Planning and Analysis Manager of Operations at Four Winds Casinos, balances his life between both artistic and mathematic skills. At Four Winds, he manages a team of data analysts, and in his free time, he participates in Northwest Indiana’s local theatres.
After college, where he studied finance, he was quickly hired by an accounting firm. With this experience, he was offered a job at Four Winds as a data analyst. He held that position before being promoted to Planning and Analysis Manager of Operations. He has spent nine years at Four Winds.
In this position, Slatton now manages a team of five data analysts. Their goal is to help upper management make informed business decisions.
“We take large amounts of data and make sense out of it. We do a lot of forecasting, budgeting, planning, and things like that,” Slatton said. “We have our hands in pretty much everything. We can see how certain slot machines are performing, how certain banks of machines are performing compared to others in the casino, everything about the tables.”
Outside of slots and tables, everything else is an amenity; the hotel, all the food and beverage outlets, the concerts, all of which are meant to bring in guests.
The money that these guests spend is not only put back into the casino, it also goes toward tribal citizens of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians. Tribal citizens can live anywhere in the country, but tribal headquarters, which is most easily compared to a government structure, is in Dowagiac, Michigan. Slatton appreciates that his work benefits the tribe and helps provide housing, education, and careers for tribal citizens.
While his job exercises his left brain, Slatton’s free time is filled with theatre and exercises his right brain. A humble man, he would not call himself a triple threat, but his abilities to act, sing, and dance more than qualify him, not to mention he is also a cellist.
Slatton first participated in theatre at Portage High School, where he was cast in a musical his senior year. After graduating, he became involved in local theatre. Slatton lives in Long Beach, Indiana, but travels all around the Region for theatre.
“I’ve been on stage, mostly musicals, but I’ve done a few plays,” Slatton said. “I’ve been in the orchestra pits playing the cello. I’ve done that for various theatres across the area; both acting, and cello.”
His favorite role was as Sir Robin in Monty Python’s “Spamalot” at Ross Music Theatre in Merrillville. The musical is based on “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” a movie that never fails to make Slatton laugh. It was one of his largest roles, and he had a wonderful time working with the cast.
Slatton also lends his time and theatre expertise to many theatre organizations, having served on multiple boards. He was the treasurer at the Portage Area Community Theatre for six years. He is currently the treasurer of The GhostLight Theatre in Benton Harbor, Michigan. He also serves on the board of the Northwest Indiana Excellence in Theatre Foundation, a membership organization for theatres around Northwest Indiana.
Slatton enjoys traveling to community theatres throughout Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana to see shows. This provides support for the theatres, and he knows better than anyone that theatres need support in every way. Whether at Four Winds Casinos or within theatres, Slatton is more than willing to be that source of support.