Tribal gaming giant Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment (MGE) has announced the appointment of two new senior executives to support the group’s “strategic growth” inside and outside the United States, including Las Vegas and Incheon, South Korea, where it is building a new integrated resort known as Inspire.
David Martinelli will serve as chief marketing office and Judy Newman-Locke as vice president of HR management. Both appointments are effective immediately.
Martinelli most recently was CMO of Mohegan Gaming’s flagship property, Mohegan Sun Connecticut. Martinelli joined the casino group in 1999.
Newman-Locke spent several years in global and domestic human resources management and will be responsible for overseeing the “development and implementation of global” practices for the group’s HR department.
The release quoted Mohegan Gaming CEO Mario Kontomerkos, who said, “It will take a strong and effective leadership team to steer our organization through this next chapter of growth and innovation. I am very pleased to have Dave and Judy join our team to further support our efforts throughout the U.S. and abroad.”
Mohegan Gaming is working to meet its goal of opening in 2022 its multi-billion casino resort project in South Korea. The scheme – known as ‘Inspire’ – is located in Incheon, near South Korea’s capital Seoul.
The first phase of project Inspire is to include 1,250 hotel rooms, a 15,000-seat entertainment venue, 40 food and beverage outlets, as well as a foreigner-only gaming venue with 160 table games and 700 slot machines, according to Mohegan Gaming’s latest annual report filed in December.
Mohegan Gaming is also to start managing gaming operations at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, a property scheduled to open in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the fall.
Also last week, MGE promoted Kevin Lowry to assistant general manager of Mohegan Sun Connecticut. Within this new role, Lowry will be responsible for finance, gaming, cashiering, tenant and retail operations at Mohegan Sun.
“We are pleased to introduce Kevin Lowry as the new Assistant General Manager of our flagship property,” said Mario Kontomerkos, chief executive officer of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment. “Kevin has been a member of the Mohegan family for more than 20 years and served Mohegan Sun Connecticut faithfully since we opened our doors in 1996. We are confident Kevin will guide Mohegan Sun, one of the largest integrated entertainment resorts in North America, on a path of continued growth and success.”
As an integral part of the Mohegan Sun team since its establishment, Lowry has served as the former vice president and chief financial officer for Mohegan Sun and Mohegan Sun Pocono. Within the finance department, Kevin has held the roles of analyst, senior analyst, budgets and analysis manager, director of financial planning & analysis, as well as vice president of financial planning and analysis over the years.
Lowry will work alongside Jeffrey Hamilton, president and general manager of Mohegan Sun, and the leadership team on all major initiatives. Lowry graduated from Marietta College with a bachelor’s in business management and currently resides in Pawcatuck, CT with his two sons Kyle and Luke.
