BOISE, Idaho ÔÇô Becky Schroeder brings many firsts to her new position as the Idaho Lottery's Chief Operating Officer, a position she started officially 12 days ago, including being a lottery industry leader in the Information Technology field.

Schroeder joined the Idaho Lottery in its second year of operations in 1992 in Information Technology and within a year's time, she was elevated to the department's position as Deputy Director. Over the years, Schroeder has been instrumental in keeping the Lottery on the forefront of technology within the industry and Idaho.

"We are fortunate to have a professional the caliber of Becky Schroeder to take the mantle of responsibility for handling the day to day operations of the Idaho Lottery," said Jeff Anderson who was appointed by Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter to run the Liquor Division in addition to his responsibilities as Director of the Idaho Lottery. "Her proven leadership is a testament to the commitment, dedication and ingenuity she┬┤s demonstrated in her career at the Lottery."

"I am very fortunate to be a part of the Idaho Lottery team," added Schroeder. "One of the secrets to the Idaho Lottery's success is formulating games, promotions and creative ideas with an innate respect for the power of technology and involving from the outset those responsible for really making it happen."

Key among Schroeder's accomplishments was the implementation of instant Scratch ticket automation in the early 90's, a significant statewide Lottery Y2K conversion, and most recently, the successful, whole sale conversion of the entire Idaho Lottery computer functionality (draw games, Scratch Games, back office management, and electronic warehouse operations) to new gaming systems vendor INTRALOT in February 2007.

"We've come a long way since 1992," reflected Schroeder on all the technology changes in the past 18 years. "When I started we used green screen, command line computers that we have updated to IP-based, open system environments."

To this point, additional lottery industry firsts for Schroeder and the Idaho Lottery include producing the first Scratch GameÔäó to offer telephone calling cards as a prize in the pre-cell phone era and creating applications to sell, track and bill for Lottery holiday greeting cards. She was also instrumental in offering extensive merchandise prizes by facilitating an electronic interface via rudimentary file transfer with one of Forbes' "500 Largest Privately Held Companies," her first year at the Lottery in 1992.

Schroeder also helped pioneer the technology used to create the first ever, web-based lottery loyalty club in North America, the Idaho Lottery's VIP Club in 1999, and then to offer points for purchases for VIP Club members in 2007. She also directed the development of the technology used for the 2009 Special Olympic World Winter Games Scratch ticket, a North American first, where lottery players had an opportunity to donate a portion of their winnings to benefit a non-profit organization or event.

Born and raised in northern Idaho, Schroeder was promoted to Deputy Director of Administration and Chief Deputy in 2007, and graduated from the nationally accredited Certified Public Manager Program the same year.

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