Pinnacle Entertainment Announces Management Promotions
LAS VEGAS, NV, October 31, 2006. Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: PNK) today announced a series of corporate and property-level promotions designed to help oversee the Company's growth over the next few years.
Larry Buck, currently Vice President and General Manager of the Company's Belterra Casino Resort in southern Indiana, will relocate to Atlantic City, New Jersey to assume the newly created position of Regional Vice President, overseeing both the Company's major Atlantic City project and Belterra. He also will hold the title of President of Pinnacle-Atlantic City. A native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Mr. Buck began his career in 1983 in the accounting department of the Golden Nugget Atlantic City. After nine years in Atlantic City in various executive positions, Mr. Buck assisted in the opening of casinos in Lake Charles, Louisiana and Metropolis, Illinois. Later, as General Manager, he opened a casino in Maryland Heights, Missouri before relocating to Rising Sun, Indiana. Mr. Buck joined Pinnacle in 2004 as Vice President and General Manager of Belterra and oversaw the opening of the 300-guestroom tower added at Belterra shortly thereafter.
Kim Townsend, currently Pinnacle's Senior Vice President of Marketing, will relocate to Atlantic City to serve as Executive Vice President of Pinnacle-Atlantic City, working with Mr. Buck on the many development aspects of Pinnacle's new major resort project. Ms. Townsend joined Pinnacle in 2002 and was instrumental in the planning, developing and opening of L'Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, Louisiana, as well as the planning for the Company's two casinos now under construction in St. Louis, Missouri. Ms. Townsend, a native of Ocean City, New Jersey, began her career in 1979 at the Golden Nugget Atlantic City and then held a variety of marketing positions with the Trump properties in Atlantic City. Later, she returned to Mirage Resorts (formerly Golden Nugget Inc.) in Las Vegas and held corporate positions in marketing and development. In those roles, she assisted in the opening of The Mirage, Treasure Island and Beau Rivage. In 1997, Ms. Townsend became Vice President-Marketing of Las Vegas Sands, where she was instrumental in the planning, development and opening of The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, one of the largest and most successful casino resorts in Las Vegas.
Kevin Kaufman is being promoted to General Manager of Belterra, filling the role being vacated by Mr. Buck. Mr. Kaufman, who currently serves as Senior Director of Casino Operations at Belterra, began his gaming career at Harveys Casino Resorts. He worked his way up through increasing areas of responsibility, including as Director of Casino Operations at Harveys Council Bluffs. With the sale of Harveys in 2001, Mr. Kaufman joined Pinnacle as Director of Casino Operations at Belterra Casino Resort. He became Senior Director of Casino Operations in 2002.
Todd George will relocate to St. Louis to become Vice President and General Manager of Pinnacle's $430 million casino now under construction in downtown St. Louis. Mr. George is currently the General Manager of Pinnacle's Boomtown property in Bossier City, Louisiana. Mr. George grew up in upstate New York and began his career at the Turning Stone tribal casino near Syracuse, New York. He joined Pinnacle in the accounting department of Belterra in 2000 and was an integral part of the team that significantly improved Belterra's results over the past five years. He became General Manager of Boomtown Bossier City in 2003, which has performed very well under his tenure.
Mario Maesano, currently head of marketing at Boomtown Bossier City, is also relocating to St. Louis as the Senior Director of Marketing. Mr. Maesano is a native of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and began his gaming career in 1991 at Resorts Atlantic City. He joined Pinnacle in 2000 in the marketing department at Belterra, rising to Senior Director of Marketing, a role that he also held at Pinnacle's L'Auberge du Lac during its first year of operation.
Barry Regula is being promoted to replace Mr. George as General Manager of Boomtown Bossier City. Currently, Mr. Regula is Senior Director of Casino Operations at Boomtown Bossier City. Mr. Regula is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and joined Pinnacle as Director of Entertainment at Casino Magic Biloxi in 1996. He progressed within that property to become head of slot operations and VIP services before relocating to Bossier City in 2002.
Keith Henson will relocate to Las Vegas and become Vice President of Relationship Marketing. Mr. Henson is currently the Senior Director of Human Resources at L'Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where he oversaw the hiring and training for that property. The opening of L'Auberge du Lac involved interviewing over 10,000 applicants and training over 2,500 employees. He joined Pinnacle in 1997 as a table games dealer at the Company's Boomtown Reno property. Prior to moving to Lake Charles, Mr. Henson had progressed through various promotions to be Director of Marketing and Slot Operations at Boomtown Reno.
Rafael Verde also was recently promoted to Assistant General Manager at Boomtown New Orleans. A native of Venezuela, Mr. Verde began his career in the gaming industry at Argosy Casino-Baton Rouge in 1994. He joined Pinnacle at Boomtown in the accounting department in 1999. During 2003 and 2004, he was Senior Director of Finance and Administration at Belterra, before relocating to Lake Charles where he was Senior Director of Finance at L'Auberge du Lac during its initial opening period.
"These promotions will support Pinnacle's major growth plans, including our new projects in Atlantic City, St. Louis and Lake Charles," said Daniel R. Lee, Pinnacle's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We're pleased to be able to promote so many talented executives from within the Pinnacle organization to help oversee our growth. We believe in training our own people and promoting from within whenever possible. These well-earned promotions exemplify the benefits that our Company's growth can have on the career opportunities for all our employees."
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