Golden Entertainment restructures leadership team

Nevada-based casino and gaming tavern operator Golden Entertainment has promoted Blake Sartini II to chief operating officer (COO), with Steve Arcana moving to the newly created role of chief development officer.

Sartini II initially joined the company in June 2007, working with Golden’s tavern operations and building what is now the largest branded tavern portfolio in Nevada with 69 locations.

Most recently he served as executive vice president of operations, with direct responsibility for the company’s five local casinos in Las Vegas and Pahrump, in addition to oversight of Golden’s taverns.

“Blake has worked in every capacity throughout our organization since he started at Golden almost 17 years ago,” said Golden Entertainment chairman and CEO Blake Sartini. “His unique knowledge of our company’s culture, commitment to operational excellence, and strong leadership skills make him the ideal individual to be given responsibility for all our Nevada casino resorts, locals properties, tavern operations and related corporate functions.”

Following the promotion for Sartini II, Golden’s current COO Steve Arcana has been appointed chief development officer.

In this newly created role, Arcana will be responsible for all new tavern development, finding new third-party food and beverage concepts for the company’s casino resorts, and exploring opportunities to unlock value in the company’s excess real estate in Las Vegas, Laughlin and Pahrump.

Arcana initially joined Golden in 2003 and has overseen the company’s operations as it has grown from a privately held, 900-slot machine route operation to a publicly traded gaming company.

“Steve has been with Golden for over 20 years and has been an integral part of growing our business and guiding us through many challenges,” continued Sartini. “Steve has established a strong operating team and has been a consistent leader throughout his decades at Golden.

“His long history and extensive experience in the industry will continue to benefit the company in his new role focused on creating value from new tavern development and unused assets in our casino portfolio.”

Sartini added: “These management changes will allow Golden to focus on maximizing performance in our core operations while exploring opportunities to drive future improvement by bringing potential new concepts to our existing portfolio.

“I am confident the changes to Blake and Steve’s roles with the company will position us well to create additional shareholder value.”

Shares in Golden Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEN) gained 3.46 per cent to close at $35.92 per share in New York Tuesday.