Today, Seelig, 65, is president and chief executive officer of the company he founded in his Absecon home. A.C. Coin & Slot, in Pleasantville, N.J., has become the largest slots manufacturer and diversified casino supply company in the Atlantic City-Philadelphia region and one of the largest privately owned companies of its kind in the world.

The company, which Seelig runs with his adult sons, Jerry, Jeff and Jason, has more than 300 clients in about 260 gaming jurisdictions worldwide and employs 325. A.C. Coin has supplied slot machines to every one of the city's casinos.

Question: What jurisdictions are you in?

Answer: Wherever there's legalized gaming.

Q: How did you start the business?

A: We had actually been in the vending business. We tried to find a place for us in this industry. We then found a company while we were in Las Vegas who wanted to come to Atlantic City. We hooked up with them, came back here, and tried to start selling slot machines. We knew nothing, which was pretty difficult.

Q: How has technology impacted the slots industry, in terms of getting to know what the customers want?

A: . . . Years ago, we had a handle, and you pulled the handle. The reels were mechanical, and you felt a tremendous amount of pulsing. Coins used to come out of the machines. They'd hit the trays, and it was very loud. It was music to the player's ear. . . . It's much more computerized [now].

Q: Who is today's typical slots customer?

A: . . . If you've been to Las Vegas or Atlantic City, you see that the industry's changing to offer more restaurants, entertainment, shopping, fancy rooms. . . . A lot of people are getting younger, and a younger person wants a different product.

Q: With the industry growing so rapidly and being fiercely competitive, how does one succeed?

A: It's not about the product only. It's about the people. . . .. We have a lot of strong core values, and that bleeds down through the entire group.

Q: What international markets are you eyeing?

A: We're looking at a couple. As we look outside of our area, we constantly have to turn business down because they can't pass even our ability to do business with them. We're the most transparent of all the industries. . . . If we make one mistake, we have to answer to 200 gaming regulators.

Q: What mistake do you see managers make that you've either avoided or made yourself but learned from?

A: A lot of managers try to prove themselves too fast. That means not having all the information and trying to help everybody around them. . . . You need to take your time and really, carefully think through what the project is, and how to get it done with your people.

Q: What is the mission or goal in the next 10 years?

A: To keep growing at the same rate we're growing, and to find more good people. The hardest part of our job today is finding good people.

at 215-854-2594 or sparmley@phillynews.com.