Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo Implements ARCA Concert

Many people think zoos do not handle much cash, but Association of Zoo and Aquariums (AZA) finance professionals know the opposite is true. It may not seem like a cash business, but the number of registers at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo typically outnumber the local supermarket, or even Wal-Mart, and meeting their cash needs evokes a substantial cycle of cash handling.

When Jeremy Eddie CFO, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, assumed responsibility for their revenue audit department, he realized cash handling to open tills, reconcile revenue, and prepare bank deposits was intensely manual. With 120-150 registers, during peak season, satisfying their cash needs was a large undertaking, with significant cost, and the manual and repetitive nature of the work left open the opportunity for error.

“I knew there had to be a better way”, said Jeremy Eddie.

After talking with fellow AZA member Lori Voss, CFO, Cincinnati Zoo about how cash recyclers helped them eliminate manual cash counting Jeremy contacted ARCA. He choose the ARCA Concert system with cash recyclers, roll coin dispensers, and loose coin counters to automate every aspect of cash handling and reporting in one system.

“Concert is designed for large scale non-stop operations like Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo” said Jim Ekeland, ARCA Director of Retail Business Development. To meet Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo‘s needs we deployed the 8000D cash recycler which has a unique side car deposit safe to manage capacity. Uniquely, two safes are contained within a single machine. One safe handles cash needed for operations, and the second secures deposits, and excess cash. Many cash recyclers have to stop frequently to add singles needed for change funds, and remove twenties for bank deposit, interrupting users, and eroding productivity. The two safes within the 8000D, and now 8000B, with bill strapping and self sealing deposit bags, allows more capacity for singles during till creation, and automatically transfers twenties and high denomination notes to the deposit safe without interruption.

The system was installed prior to season, and has achieved more than a 25% reduction in cash handling labor with no additional staff needed for season. “It’s comforting watching Concert handle peak season week end volumes,” said Eddie. “Cost are down, deadline and accuracy pressures greatly reduced, and late night aggravations are a thing of the past.”

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About ARCA

About Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo

Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo is located at Nebraska’s I-80, Exit 454 and is open year-round. Summer hours are now through October 31, 2011 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily. Regular admission prices for 2011 are $13.50 for adults, $9 for children (ages 3 – 11) and $12 for seniors. Household memberships are available for $99 and include free IMAX® admission. Memberships are valid until March 31, 2012. Additional information can be found on the website, www.omahazoo.com.

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