New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy will return as a keynote speaker at the 24th Annual East Coast Gaming Congress & NexGen Gaming Forum (ECGC), to be held October 25-26 at Harrah’s Waterfront Conference Center in Atlantic City.
Murphy will be the luncheon keynote speaker on October 26, where he will address New Jersey’s policy on a variety of critical issues facing the gaming industry. He continues a longstanding tradition that commenced in 1996 of governors of New Jersey addressing the East Coast conference.
“This is the third keynote address by Governor Murphy at the East Coast Gaming Congress. He is a longstanding champion of gaming as an effective public-policy tool, and his policies will affect the industry around the world,” said Lloyd D. Levenson, CEO of the Cooper Levenson law firm and a founder of the conference. “New Jersey has long been a leader in gaming policy, and Governor Murphy is determined to maintain that leadership role.”
The first governor to address the conference was the late Brendan Byrne, who championed gaming in Atlantic City at a time when Nevada was the only state in the nation to offer legal casinos. Subsequent governors have included James Florio, Jon Corzine and James McGreevey.
Also at this year’s EGCG, Timothy J. Wilmott, former CEO of Penn National Gaming, will be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Wilmott, who joined Penn National in 2008 as president and chief operating officer, led that company’s significant expansion in both land-based and digital gaming. Prior to joining Penn, Wilmott had a stellar career at Harrah’s Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment Corporation) where he held a number of executive positions, including chief operating officer, overseeing the operations of all revenue-generating businesses, including 48 casinos.
Over the course of his career, he managed and developed a broad array of gaming properties in Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey and North Carolina, as well as overseas.
“Tim possesses an extraordinary combination of leadership and vision, and those are the chief ingredients that fuel growth and success in gaming, and have led to his storied career,” said Spectrum Gaming Group Managing Director Michael Pollock, a conference co-founder who will present the award to Wilmott at the luncheon on October 26.
Gaming operators, equipment manufacturers, regulators, attorneys, architects, analysts, public officials, investors, and other gaming-related professionals are expected to attend ECGC. The full two-day conference schedule and registration is at EastCoastGamingCongress.com. Early-bird registration savings are now available.
ECGC is organized and produced by Cooper Levenson, Attorneys at Law, Spectrum Gaming Group, Esports Entertainment Group, and Sports Illustrated Sportsbook.
