LV casino-building giant backing e-commerce firm

Kevin Ferguson

Tuesday, July 10, 2001 | 11 a.m.

A Las Vegas company with a stellar resume in the design and construction industry is trying to create a new cyber niche: design-to-commerce.

Tririga -- which evolved through brainstorming chats among executives of Las Vegas casino-building giant Marnell Carrao Associates -- recently launched its first product. It's a software program that aims to automate and manage all phases of construction, manufacturing and engineering projects.

Tririga's Intelligent Business System program incorporates the online purchasing elements of business-to-business e-commerce, but also offers much broader applications that are key to the construction industry, said Anthony Marnell III, Tririga's president and chief executive.

The software program allows project managers to access via the Internet a centralized database that includes drawings, design specifications, budgetary changes and other project data.

"The system allows companies to share images, documents and plans in a quicker and more efficient manner," said Marnell.

The 27-year-old Marnell is the son of the co-founder of Marnell Carrao, the design and construction company that built the Bellagio, Mirage, Excalibur, New York-New York, Treasure Island and Rio casino resorts on and near the Las Vegas Strip as well as the Forum Shops at Caesars.

Tririga's software was commercially launched in mid-June at the A/E/C (Architecture, Engineers and Construction) tradeshow in Chicago. The company's product won two awards at the show.

"I was impressed by the unique ability of Tririga IBS to create and manage a complete database in real-time, and provide everyone in the loop with instant access to key people, information and processes -- anywhere, anytime," said Art Liddle, executive editor of trade magazine CADALYST. Liddle served as a contest judge.

Marnell said the company is negotiating software licensing agreements with major Las Vegas hotel-casino developers and national retail chains for future construction jobs. However, he said it was premature to release names.

Since October Marnell Carrao Associates has tested the software to manage some minor construction projects at New York-New York and the Rio, Marnell said.

Tririga was formed in early 2000 because executives of Marnell Carrao saw so many inefficiencies in the design and construction industries.

"It's an organically derived system," said Joel Orr, vice president of Chesapeake, Md.-based Cyon Research Corp, a company that tracks the industry. "That's why it has an edge over its competitors. It wasn't formed from a dot-com entrepreneur."

Orr said there are some 194 software products similar to Tririga's, 30 of which directly compete with the Las Vegas-based company.

"Tririga's in it for the long haul. They're self-funded and they have a proven track record," Orr said.

Tririga plans to generate revenue though subscription fees. Tririga charges $200 a month for each person that uses the system on a construction or design project.

"We (cater to) two markets. Our software could be used by a five-man firm or a 50,000-man team," Marnell said. "If (a team) has three people, it would cost $600 a month. It's a pretty good value proposition."

The Marnell family is bankrolling the bulk of this cyber-venture, which so far has cost $25 million, Marnell said.

Marnell Jr., whose father worked as a mason on the Sands Hotel-Casino in the 1940s, served as chairman and chief executive of the Rio since its inception in 1989 until the all-suites resort was sold to Harrah's Entertainment Inc. in 1999.

The Rio is from where a third of Tririga's executive staff came. Marnell Jr. serves as Tririga's chairman, while his son oversees the day-to-day operations of the 130-staff company.

Marnell III ended his five-year stint at the Rio in December, 1999. He stayed on board through the property's sale to Harrah's, then left as Harrah's vice president of VIP marketing.

When Marnell Carrao President James Barrett and the Marnell father-and-son team were forming Tririga in early 2000, the Internet boom was at its peak.

Despite the deflating of the dot-com bubble in the past year, Marnell III is still confident that there is a market for Tririga's cyber-service.

"Being a pioneer of this technology, certainly there's a lot of unknowns, but I do think we have a viable product," Marnell III said.