On the Move
Departments
On the Move
Who’s going where and doing what in the gaming industry
ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES
Tom Smock has been named senior vice president and general counsel for the Las Vegas-based gaming equipment manufacturer. Prior to joining Aristocrat, Smock spent the last seven years with Las Vegas Sands Corporation, most recently acting as senior vice president and general counsel for the Venetian Macau. Smock’s extensive operator experience also includes corporate counsel for the Caesars Palace Hotel Casino. Additionally, Smock has held numerous attorney-at-law positions with various firms.
CHOCTAW RESORT DEVELOPMENT ENTERPRISE
The Choctaw Resort Development Enterprise (CRDE), a business enterprise of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians which markets itself as Pearl River Resort, announced the resignation of Chuck Miller as president/ CEO of the enterprise. Miller’s resignation is effective Aug. 28, 2007, and a search for a new executive is underway.
CLIFF CASTLE CASINO
Trudy Clark, a Yavapai-Apache Tribal Member, has accepted the position of general manager at Cliff Castle Casino. Clark is the first tribal member to be selected as general manager of the Camp Verde, Ariz. casino. She started her career in April of 1995, and as part of the original management team that created the goals and implemented the strategies, helped make Cliff Castle Casino a leader in the Arizona gaming market for the past eight years. Serving as the director of internal audit, she led her staff in auditing not only the casino’s revenues, but the Yavapai-Apache Nation’s various entities as well.
FANTASY SPRINGS RESORT CASINO
Freddy Reiger has been named executive chef. Rieger will oversee the 250-room resort’s seven food and beverage outlets. He also is in charge of culinary efforts for the resort’s 100,000-square-foot Special Events & Convention Center. Rieger, the executive chef at Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. since 2000, previously was executive chef at Portofino Bay Hotel At Universal Studios, a Loews Hotel in Orlando, Fla.
MOTORCITY CASINO HOTEL
Asaad Farag has been named vice president of hotel operations. Farag’s responsibilities will include all aspects of hotel operations including the spa, retail, catering and conference sales. A native of Egypt and a U.S citizen, Farag brings to the MotorCity team more than 20 years of hotel management experience at some of the world’s most impressive properties. Prior to his new assignment, Farag was general manager of the Conrad Istanbul. He also served as general manager of the Regent Wall Street Hotel & Spa in New York City and was a member of the start-up team for the exclusive Stirling Club Turnberry Place in Las Vegas, serving as vice president and general manager.
SAN MANUEL BAND OF MISSION INDIANS
Aaron Levy has been named to the position of general manager and CEO of business affairs. In this dual role, Levy will oversee the day to day operations of San Manuel tribal government administration, including but not limited to finance, legal, governmental and the local, state and federal governmental interface, human resources, information technologies and communications. In addition, Levy will lead the department heads of economic development, diversification and investment programs. With over 20 years of corporate background, Levy served as CEO, president, COO and director of several publicly traded companies and has imple-mented several growth and diversification strategies.
TRANSACT TECHNOLOGIES
Brandon Knowles has been named vice president of gaming sales. Knowles is a veteran of the gaming industry with over 14 years experience, including positions with Shuffle Master, Aristocrat Technologies and Progressive Gaming International. In his new role at TransAct, Knowles will be responsible for managing and achieving TransAct’s sales objectives for key slot machine manufacturers and casinos. In addition, TransAct announced that Tracey Chernay will relocate to the Las Vegas office on a full time basis to lead the company’s sales and marketing efforts for all its products while also maximizing the sales and marketing initiatives in gaming. Chernay currently serves as senior vice president of sales and marketing for all TransAct products.
VALLEY VIEW CASINO
Michael A. Gorczynski will move from interim general manager to full-time general manager of Valley View Casino in Southern California. Gorczynski has been serving as the interim general manager of the casino as of July 19th. He joined Valley View Casino in 2003 as the vice president of finance and chief financial officer and has been a member of the San Pasqual Casino Development Group’s board of directors since 2004. Previously Gorczynski served as the vice president of finance for the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, Mo. from 2000 to 2002. He has also worked in the management of the Sheraton Casino & Hotel in Robinsonville, Miss. and the Sands Hotel & Casino and Caesars Atlantic City.
Judy Wright has been named vice president of human resources. Wright has over 26 years of human resources experience, beginning her career in 1981 as a personnel representative and was later promoted to benefits representative at Hewlett-Packard in San Diego, where she was responsible for the benefit administration of over 2,500 employees. In 2001, she joined the team at Valley View Casino as a benefits administrator where she implemented the casino’s team member benefit plans. She also worked as Valley View’s employee services manager and human resources manager before her promotion to director of human resources. In her new role, Wright will continue to oversee all daily operations of the human resources department, including strategic planning and execution ofthe casino’s current expansion project and the hiring of hundreds of new team members to fill new positions.
