A Year Of Building Together
Year-One Reflections from Anthony Williams, President & CEO, DRA and Q Casino + Resort
Executive Summary
When I joined Dubuque Racing Association (DRA) and Q Casino + Resort as President and CEO one year ago this month, I assumed stewardship of an organization already 40 years into a promise: that our success as a business would be forever linked with the success of the Dubuque community.
The experiences of the last 12 months have only deepened my respect for, and commitment to, that promise.
It's been a year of milestones — the DRA celebrated its 40th anniversary having injected more than $1 billion back into the community since inception; the opening of The Key Hotel with Tapestry Collection by Hilton; the debut of Lock 11, our new rooftop restaurant and bar; and the launch of Back Waters Amp, a property defining amphitheater bringing world-class live entertainment to Dubuque. Moving forward, I’m excited to build on our momentum and activate Schmitt Island as an integrated, cohesive entertainment destination.
Alongside these new, state-of-the-art amenities, Q and the DRA have maintained our community commitment this past year by awarding more than $1.1 million in Core and Mission grants to 54 organizations across the region and contributing over $8.5 million to the City of Dubuque in 2025. None of this happens without a team, a board, and a community that believed in what we were building. I'm honored to share this year's story with you.
Reflections on My First Year
Stepping into this role a year ago, I knew I was leading something different than a typical gaming property or entertainment venue. What I didn't fully appreciate until I was here, in Dubuque, walking Schmitt Island and meeting the people who make this community run, was just how deep those differences go. I’ve walked just about every inch of this island and seen a place surrounded by incredible natural beauty, especially along the Mississippi River, and this property was designed to celebrate that.
DRA and Q Casino + Resort are a symbiotic structure built, from their very founding, to put the community first. They are one of only two organizations of its kind in the country established for the benefit of a local government entity. That mission was easy to understand on paper. It became real to me in board meetings, ribbon-cuttings, and conversations with nonprofits doing extraordinary work with often modest resources.
When I look back on this first year, what I'm proudest of centers on our team — how we came together, how much we carried, the unexpected challenges we faced, and what we ultimately delivered along the way for our guests and the community we call home. Every one of our wins reflects a team executing well under real operational pressure, not a single person's vision.
Change at the top of any organization creates uncertainty, and our team met that moment with steadiness: keeping operations strong, guests cared for, and launching three new, organization-defining amenities, all while adjusting to a new CEO and a new way of working together. That kind of resilience isn't something you can plan for; it's something a team either has or doesn't, and ours showed it had it.
I'm equally proud of the partnership we built with our Board this year, evolving how we communicate, plan, and hold ourselves accountable together, building on a governance foundation that was already strong. That collaborative rhythm between leadership and the Board has made this organization sharper and more aligned heading into Year Two.
I've learned that organizations that win long-term aren't the ones that move fastest — they're the ones that sequence correctly. Structure the right leadership team first, and the strategy executes faster later. Install a strong governance rhythm first, and the Board becomes a strategic partner instead of a checkpoint.
I've also grown more comfortable holding two time horizons at once: the month-to-month discipline of running a resort, and the longer vision for what Schmitt Island can become. Learning to make decisions today that serve both horizons, without letting the urgent crowd out the important, has been the real education of Year One.
And, finally, I've come to appreciate just how much of this organization's mission depends on trust — with our Board, our regulators, our community partners, and our team. Every capital decision, every personnel decision, every public statement is ultimately a trust transaction, and that's sharpened how deliberately I try to bring people along rather than simply announcing outcomes.
Capital Projects
The Key Hotel
On January 6, 2026, we cut the ribbon on The Key Hotel — a new boutique property with Tapestry Collection by Hilton, and one of the final phases of our multi-year, $83 million-plus renovation and expansion of Q Casino + Resort. The Key Hotel offers 90 rooms and 20 suites. Ground broke in 2024, and getting to opening day took collaboration across the city, our board, our team, and Hilton. This hotel is a testament to the vision for Schmitt Island as a whole, and it moves us further along in our transition to a full-service resort.
Lock 11 Rooftop Restaurant and Bar
Sitting atop The Key Hotel, Lock 11 is our new rooftop restaurant and bar, opening this May with sweeping views of the Mississippi River — part of our ongoing $115 million investment in the guest experience. Lock 11 offers an expansive dining room, an indoor lounge, and private dining spaces, with a contemporary menu rooted in Midwestern ingredients. The Iowa Pork Chop cannot be missed. I'm especially proud of the culinary team leading it, including Director of Food & Beverage Miles Breed, a Dubuque tri-state native with more than three decades in the industry.
Back Waters Amp
This summer, we opened Back Waters Amp — a premier amphitheater set to redefine live entertainment in the region. The venue hosted Whiskey Myers with Taylor Hunnicutt and Hairball with The Pork Tornadoes this July, with Cole Swindell set to take the stage this August. With a scalable capacity of up to 8,000 guests, Back Waters is equipped for everything from intimate performances to large-scale productions. It reflects our shared vision to bring world-class entertainment to Dubuque and represents one of the most significant activations of Schmitt Island to date, positioning our community as a growing destination for live music in the Midwest.
Business and Revenue Growth
The 12-month period ending June 30, 2026, saw Q Casino + Resort strengthen its balance sheet, with total assets up more than $6 million thanks to solid operating performance and the completion of Phase 2 Construction. For 2026, we’ve already seen some of our highest-revenue months since before the pandemic, and our full-year forecast is tracking ahead on profit.
In short, our investments are paying off, and we’re headed in the right direction. But growth at Q Casino + Resort has never been just about the bottom line — it's about what that growth allows us to give back.
Through our annual distribution agreement, DRA contributed $8,516,225 to the City of Dubuque and $222,855 to Dubuque County in 2025. Since 1985, DRA has returned more than $257 million to the City of Dubuque, and our total economic impact across the tri-state region has now surpassed $1.18 billion.
On the philanthropic side, DRA awarded more than $1.1 million through our Core and Mission grant programs, supporting 54 organizations across nine counties and 12 cities in Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin — everything from childcare capacity and workforce training to arts, historic preservation, and food security. That's on top of $67.4 million in total charitable distributions since our founding. These include organizations like:
- St. Mark Youth Enrichment — Building an early childhood center that will provide 30 childcare spots for children ages birth-4, supporting a nature-based, social-emotional learning model for Dubuque families.
- Bell Tower Theater — A local performing arts venue using its grant to fund a “New Audience Initiative,” which aims to engage a younger audience and strengthen the future of local arts.
- Dubuque Museum of Art (DuMA) — Undergoing a capital expansion and temporary relocation to the Millwork District, using grant support to sustain operations, elevate marketing, and preserve its collection.
- Driver Opera House (Darlington, WI) — A historic performing arts center whose grant supported marketing for its 2024–2025 season, plus installation of a long-awaited elevator, boosting tourism and event attendance.
- Butler Children's Garden Foundation Inc. (2025 Mission Grant recipient) — Received a renewable $50,000/year award to support a large-scale, capacity-building community initiative aligned with DRA's regional growth mission.
Our model remains simple: after operating expenses, we distribute 100% of remaining proceeds back into the community — a third to charitable giving, a third to the City, and a third to reinvestment in Schmitt Island itself. When our properties thrive, the region thrives.
I'm proud that even in a year of major capital investment — with significant dollars going toward The Key Hotel, Lock 11, and Back Waters Amp — we still put our community and our commitments at the center. We leaned in further and set the stage for even stronger growth and community investments to come.
What's Next
As we look to the year ahead, our focus is on finishing what we've started and building on the momentum of the last 12 months.
With the Key Hotel, Lock 11, and Back Waters Amp now online, our broader master plan for Schmitt Island continues — building on the success of Island Social, our all-ages entertainment venue, and the ongoing integration of The Key Hotel and Hilton Garden Inn into one cohesive resort experience.
One of my proudest accomplishments from Year One is a critical shift in mindset: we stopped treating our various amenities as separate businesses and started treating them as one integrated destination on Schmitt Island. This essential reframe is already shaping how we compete, invest, and activate this island for the community.
I see Q Casino + Resort becoming the anchor of a true destination — not just a gaming property with a hotel attached, but a place where gaming, hospitality, entertainment, recreation, and community life come together for all guests. Our strategy going forward is about giving people more reasons to choose the whole destination — the hotel stay on the water, the show as the sun sets, and the rooftop dinner celebrating a life moment in addition to the gaming floor where the action happens. Every part of our properties gives guests from across the globe and our region more reasons to visit Schmitt Island.
Every project we've delivered this year, and every one still ahead, is really an activation of our property’s full potential. And as Q grows, our capacity to reinvest in this community grows with it.
Year Two brings four major priorities for my team and me:
- Completing our leadership team, including hiring our new Chief Financial Officer, VP of People & Culture, and VP of Commercial Strategy;
- Launching our first formal Strategic Plan, with clear goals, owners, and metrics our team and Board can hold us to;
- Advancing Schmitt Island from vision into a disciplined capital deployment roadmap; and
- Deepening the integration of our hotel, restaurant, amphitheater, and gaming floor into one guest experience and one growth strategy.
On the philanthropic side, our Core and Mission grant programs will continue, and I expect we'll see the same caliber of ambitious, community-rooted projects come through our review process that we saw this year.
I want Q Casino + Resort and the DRA to be the organization other communities point to when they ask what it looks like to run gaming and hospitality for a community, not just in it. That means continuing to professionalize how we operate, being a steady and credible voice in the conversations that shape our industry's future in Iowa, and making sure every dollar of growth we generate translates into a larger, more reliable stream of community reinvestment.
None of what I've described in this letter happened because of one person. It is because of the 400+ employees who walk our floors every day. It happened because of a board that trusted a new direction and because we are surrounded by a community that continues to invest its faith in what we're building on Schmitt Island. We're one year into a long build. I'm optimistic, I'm impatient in the right ways, and I'm confident that the foundation laid this year will show its value for many years to come.
Sincerely,
Anthony Williams
President & CEO, DRA and Q Casino + Resort