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Message was posted: 08:01 Jul 12th, 2006

User: ParadiseIsland Rank: Casino Gold: 2023CG Contributor rating: 4200 Status: Offline

Casino news from http://www.courant.com/ MASHANTUCKET -- Foxwoods Resort Casino, already the world's largest, is changing its management to prepare for a $700 million expansion in conjunction with MGM Mirage. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which owns Foxwoods, has a new casino president and is searching for a second president as part of a restructuring plan to respond to the casino's growth, according to tribal officials. John O'Brien will take over as president of Foxwoods this week. He was the casino's chief financial officer and an executive vice president. At the same time, Foxwoods is creating a second president's position to oversee the operations of the new hotel and casino it's developing with MGM, said Bruce MacDonald, spokesman for the tribal nation. "We are gearing ourselves for two major operations," he said. "It was a realization it was time to erect a more elaborate structure." The creation of two company presidents is a change from the past management structure, in which a chief executive officer was the top official at Foxwoods. The position of CEO is being eliminated for the time being. MacDonald said he couldn't answer at this point whether the two presidents would report directly to the tribal council. The tribe announced in March that Foxwoods' CEO and president, William Sherlock, was stepping down after six years. He will continue to work for the casino as an executive focused on the transition in management, the new MGM project and Foxwoods' development company, MacDonald said. The management changes are meant to position Foxwoods for its expansion and the addition of an estimated 2,300 employees. The new project, which is set to open in the spring of 2008, will include a casino, hotel tower, convention center, theater, restaurants and shopping. Foxwoods is teaming up with gambling giant MGM Mirage on the project, which will use the MGM name. O'Brien, the new president, is a 20-year veteran of the gambling industry. He has worked for Foxwoods since 1997. Before that, he worked for Hilton Hotels Corp. Two additional top-level positions are being created as part of the management restructuring the tribal council approved last week. Foxwoods will have a senior vice president for gaming and a senior vice president for non-gaming, an area thatincludes hotel, restaurant and retail operations. The positions will oversee both the existing casino and the new MGM project, MacDonald said.