WYOMISSING, Pa. & BILOXI, Miss. & SIOUX CITY, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Penn National Gaming, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN) announced today management changes at its Boomtown Biloxi and Argosy Casino Sioux City properties. Effective, August 29, Kees Eder, will become General Manager of Boomtown Casino Biloxi following his tenure as General Manager of Penn National’s Argosy Casino Sioux City, a position he has held since September 2007. In addition, Lance George, will succeed Mr. Eder as General Manager of Argosy Casino Sioux City (also effective August 29). Mr. George joins Penn National from Pinnacle Entertainment where he most recently served as Vice President & General Manager of Boomtown Casino and Hotel in Bossier City, Louisiana, since December 2010. Both Mr. Eder and Mr. George will report to Thomas P. Burke, Senior Vice President Regional Operations of Penn National Gaming and both appointments are subject to customary regulatory approval.
Mr. Eder brings over 40 years of gaming and hospitality industry experience to Boomtown Casino Biloxi where he will oversee all aspects of the property’s operations. He joined Penn National in October 2000 as Vice President of Resort Operations at Hollywood Casino Tunica before being named Assistant General Manager of the property in August 2006. Prior to Penn National, Mr. Eder served in roles of growing importance throughout the hospitality industry, including ten years at the Pratt Hotel Corporation. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration from the Hoge Hotelschool in Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Lance George joins Penn National from Pinnacle Entertainment, where he most recently served as Vice President & General Manager of Boomtown Casino and Hotel in Bossier City, Louisiana, since December 2010 as well as Vice President and Assistant General Manager of Boomtown Casino in Harvey, Louisiana since July 2009. Mr. George joined Pinnacle in February 2003 as a Database Marketing Analyst at the Belterra Casino & Resort and held similar roles at several Pinnacle properties and in corporate operations during his time at the company. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of New Hampshire.
Thomas P. Burke, Senior Vice President Regional Operations of Penn National Gaming, commented, “Kees has been instrumental in the continued development and growth of Argosy Casino Sioux City over the course of his four year tenure as General Manager. Through his efforts, the property has established itself as a leading entertainment option in Sioux City with over 700 slot machines, 22 table games and a poker room across 36,000 square foot of gaming space. In addition, Kees has successfully built extensive ties with and given back to the local community, particularly through our partnership with Missouri River Historical Development. We believe this experience will serve him well as he assumes the General Manager position at Boomtown Casino Biloxi and works to further establish our presence in the Biloxi market.
“We are also excited to welcome Lance George, a proven industry executive, to the Penn National property management team. Lance brings with him a track record of success built over nearly ten years in the gaming industry serving at a variety of small and large riverboat properties. We believe this track record as well as his experience in directing a range of database and property marketing efforts will allow him to quickly get up to speed at our growing Argosy Sioux City operation and help him to further expand its success in the local market.”
About Penn National Gaming
Penn National Gaming, through its subsidiaries, owns, operates or has ownership interests in gaming and racing facilities with a focus on slot machine entertainment. The Company presently operates twenty-six facilities in eighteen jurisdictions, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, and Ontario. In aggregate, Penn National's operated facilities feature approximately 29,000 gaming machines, approximately 600 table games, 2,400 hotel rooms and 1.1 million square feet of gaming floor space.
Through a joint venture, Penn National is developing a full casino at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, which is anticipated to open in the first quarter of 2012, and is also developing casinos in Toledo and Columbus, Ohio, with openings targeted for 2012.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may vary materially from expectations. Although Penn National Gaming, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) believe that our expectations are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of our knowledge of our business and operations, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from our expectations. Meaningful factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations include, but are not limited to, risks related to the following: our ability to receive, or delays in obtaining, the regulatory approvals required to own, develop and/or operate our facilities, or other delays or impediments to completing our planned acquisitions or projects, including favorable resolution of any related litigation; our ability to secure state and local permits and approvals necessary for construction; construction factors, including delays, unexpected remediation costs, local opposition and increased cost of labor and materials; the passage of state, federal or local legislation (including referenda) that would expand, restrict, further tax, prevent or negatively impact operations in or adjacent to the jurisdictions in which we do business (such as a smoking ban at any of our facilities) or in jurisdictions where we seek to do business; the effects of local and national economic, credit, capital market, housing, and energy conditions on the economy in general and on the gaming and lodging industries in particular; the activities of our competitors and the emergence of new competitors; increases in the effective rate of taxation at any of our properties or at the corporate level; our ability to recover proceeds on significant insurance claims; our ability to identify attractive acquisition and development opportunities and to agree to terms with partners for such transactions; the costs and risks involved in the pursuit of such opportunities and our ability to complete the acquisition or development of, and achieve the expected returns from, such opportunities; our expectations for the continued availability and cost of capital; the maintenance of agreements with our horsemen, pari-mutuel clerks and other organized labor groups; the outcome of pending legal proceedings; changes in accounting standards; our dependence on key personnel; the impact of terrorism and other international hostilities; the impact of weather; and other factors as discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K as filed with the SEC. The Company does not intend to update publicly any forward-looking statements except as required by law.