LV business people honored for crime-fighting efforts

Steve Humm

Thursday, June 25, 1998 | 11:25 a.m.

Three professionals were honored Wednesday by the Business Watch Network, a group of Las Vegas business and civic leaders, for their work in preventing crime.

Sheriff Jerry Keller presented the awards to Bob Miodunski, president of United Coin Machine Co.; Joan Wilson, director of government affairs for 7-Eleven owner Southland Corp.; and Brenda Lovato, property manager for Barcelona Properties Ltd.

Miodunski's company is developing a system that will protect the runners who service slot machines in stores. The system changes the way slot payments are handled, reducing the number of robbery opportunities 80 to 90 percent, Miodunski said.

With the new system, customers will use bills in the slot machines and receive a receipt for their winnings. The receipt will be inserted into a device similar to an ATM that will dispense their winnings.

Miodunski said a typical store now averages eight to 12 visits per day by his employees. The new system will cut that number to one visit every two days plus one additional weekly visit to refill the machines.

The system will be in all of United's 7-Eleven store slot locations by September or October, Miodunski said. He hopes it will reduce the nearly $500,000 that route companies have lost to robberies in the last year.

Wilson was honored for her efforts to redesign Nevada drivers licenses, making it easier for merchants to determine the age of customers. She originated the idea and worked with John Albrecht from the Attorney General's office.

Wilson, who lives in California, said she was appalled by Nevada's old license.

She helped with the new design, which includes special photographs for minors as well as bars color-coded to reveal adult, under 21 and under 18 drivers. The goal was to "put back into the neighborhood what (7-Eleven stores) take out," Wilson said.

Lovato was selected for her overall crime prevention efforts in the Penwood/Arville area. Her goal was originally to improve the economic climate in the area surrounding Barcelona Properties, but her work spawned activities that spread across the city and led to the development of the Business Watch Network.

"I'm overwhelmed and honored that they think that highly of the efforts I've done, because sometimes I've felt like I was running around in circles instead of going forward," she said. "There is a strong foundation there now."

Paul Workman, vice president and business development officer for BankWest of Nevada and the president of Business Watch Network, said the organization currently has roughly 100 members, and he expects that number to grow five fold in the next five years.

"We want to do anything we need to do to make it safer for local businesses" he said.