Casino news from http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/
The Tohono O'odham Nation has a new casino boss to oversee construction of the new Desert Diamond Casino on Nogales Highway as well as the tribe's entire gaming operation, the tribe announced this morning.
Scott Sirois started July 10 as chief executive of the Tohono O'odham Gaming Enterprise after five years as general manager of the Robinson Rancheria Resort & Casino in Lake County, Calif., about two hours north of San Francisco.
While at Robinson, Sirois oversaw several expansions to the tribal casino, including the construction of a resort, hotel and conference center.
Sirois comes on board in Tucson in the early stages of construction of a new $120 million Desert Diamond casino, hotel and conference center on Nogales Highway to replace the so-called "tent" casino that has no hotel.
"The Tohono O'odham Nation and its gaming operation have the reputation of being first-rate and with the exciting changes taking place at the Nogales Highway location, I am looking forward to jumping in completely and moving things along," Sirois said.
Sirois was born in Duluth, Minn., and is an enrolled member of the Lake Superior Band of Minnesota Chippewa Indians.
He primarily grew up in Reno, where he earned a bachelors degree in businesses administration gaming management at the University of Nevada, Reno. Sirois went on to work 25 years at the Boomtown Hotel and Casino in Reno.
The Tohono O'odham hope Sirois' arrival brings stability back to the tribe's casino operations.
The tribe's prior chief executive, Jonathan Gregory, was fired less than three months after starting in February. Gregory, who has a similar background to Sirois, was brought on board after the sudden departure in November of Joe Calabrese, who in his two and a half years at the help had taken the new Desert Diamond Casino on Pima Mine Road and developed it into a successful entertainment center.
Calabrese had been the first Native American to run the Tohono O'odham's casino operations with Gregory and Sirois continuing that trend.
"We have a great vision for the future of our casinos and we are pleased to have found a new chief executive officer that shares that vision," said John Fendenheim, chairman of the Tohono O'odham Gaming Enterprise Management Board.
The enterprise includes the two Desert Diamond casinos and Golden Ha:sañ Casino in Why.
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