Dean M. Macomber has over 46 years of diversified experience in the gaming industry ranging from Dealer to CEO, development to operations through all phases of the business cycle involving mega-integrated casino-resorts, urban/suburban day trip operations, Native American Projects, racinos, and small locals-oriented casinos. Approximately half of this time has been working for 11 casino companies involved in the opening of 7 casinos, two takeovers and one exit from bankruptcy in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, South Lake Tahoe, Laughlin, Macau, Philippines and Canada. The other half involved working as an executive level consultant for over 60 casino companies,
architects, law firms, banks, and vendors, and 3 regulatory commissions in 16 U.S. states, 3 Canadian provinces, and 13 countries including Asia, Australia, Europe, Russian Federation, Caribbean, Mexico, and cruise ships involved in strategic planning, development, funding planning, profit improvement, growth, and monetization. A frequent speaker, he has presented over 65 speeches, taught college-level courses on casino management, and authored 25 articles. Mr. Macomber holds a master’s degree from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University
CAREER EXPERIENCE AND CAPABILITIES
Dean M. Macomber is currently President of his own consulting company, Macomber International, Inc. As such, he has worked on a variety of projects including by way of a sample: pre-opening activities for two casinos in Macau with a proposed combined investment of US$1.1 billion; assisted Native American tribes with strategic and tactical planning/training; separately assisted New York, Maryland, and Kansas regulatory commissions with the review of 20 combined competitive bid submissions; coordinated a European technology company’s acquisition of a US gaming systems company; assisted an Australian Internet casino company’s search for a US strategic partner; advised a Swiss casino seeking an “A” license; worked on a proposed six-casino, mega-destination resort complex at Clark Field in the Philippines; consulted on the opening of a small casino in a Puerto Rican destination beach resort; was asked to help raise capital for a casino project in Vladivostok, Russian Federation; developed an analytical casino econometric model for use by a public Australian company; conducted a casino-resort feasibility study in Panama; planned and opened a new, 400-unit slot operation at an Iowa greyhound track; acted as part of TABCORP’s first round Singapore license bid (they were asked to bid on Round 2 but chose not to do so) and, assisted the Directeur General with the pre-opening of Casino Montreal, Quebec, Canada including acting as the Interim Director of Marketing.
After the abrupt termination of three top executives in Macau, Las Vegas Sands asked Mr. Macomber to temporarily act as Senior Vice President of their three casinos with 1,100 table games and 3,600 slot machines that generated over US$3B in annualized gross gaming revenue overseeing over 7,000 casino and casino marketing employees.
He also worked for one of the largest VIP Room and Junket Operators in Asia as CEO of a casino-resort in the Philippines that the owner wanted to take public as a springboard for a strategy to open a chain of medium casino-centric projects throughout Asia. Unfortunately, the effort to take the property public was unsuccessful and the owner and Mr. Macomber agreed the position had changed and parted amicably.
As General Manager and President of Casino Niagara under a management contract awarded to The Navegante Group, Mr. Macomber arrived in Ontario, Canada with an initial core team of three other principals. Only 136 days later, using 35 experienced gaming consultants mentoring Canadian hires new to the gaming industry, the casino opened with 3200 employees, 3000 slot machines, and 123 table games to accolades from the government owner, local community, staff, and most importantly, the customers. Shortly after opening, only six US gaming executives remained, including the CEO of The Navegante Group and Mr. Macomber. The property generated over US$400 million in gaming revenue with an EBITDA margin of 46 percent after a 20 percent gaming revenue tax.
Prior to joining Navegante in 1996, Mr. Macomber worked as Managing Director of Corporate Development at Alliance Gaming Corporation, a company he joined in 1994. As part of a multi-disciplined team of executives from Disney, Goldman Sachs, First Boston, Trammel Crowe and the Promus Companies, their responsibility was to seek out, analyze and secure start-up and merger/acquisition opportunities. The group produced extraordinary deal flow, evaluating more than 150 opportunities ranging from $5 million to $350 million.
Earlier, in 1989, he took the position of pre-opening General Manager of the 400-acre Emerald River Resort in Laughlin, Nevada. This position involved all facets of planning, funding and identifying the needs and resources of a complete destination resort with four casino sites, one million square feet of retail/entertainment, 100 acres of real estate development, and a championship golf course.
The project went on hold with the downfall of the junk bond market, and he moved to another casino owned by the same company, the Gold River Gambling Hall & Resort in Laughlin. As Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, he was responsible for formulating and implementing the business plan that won bankruptcy court approval and took the 1,000-room resort out of bankruptcy. After court approval, he was COO and General Manager of the property during a difficult transition and recovery period.
Mr. Macomber has been a member of the key decision making team of various gaming operations for over 20 years and consequently, has been involved directly or indirectly in every department of the organization chart. He has worked with Las Vegas Strip hotels, mega-destination resorts, border monopolies, racinos, boutique casinos complementing a resort, and small, 400-unit “locals” resorts. He has a diverse geographic experience in gaming as well, having worked in Las Vegas, South Lake Tahoe and Laughlin, Nevada; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Ontario and Quebec, Canada; and other international venues including Asia, Europe, and Australia. He has traveled to most other North American gaming venues as a result of his consulting and time spent with Alliance Gaming Corporation.
Mr. Macomber understands the casino/hotel industry from the inside-out and outside-in, having spent time as a consultant for a public accounting firm as well as leading his own consulting company during periods interspersed between his operating roles. He has taught university level courses on casino gaming, written 25 articles, and made over 65 presentations on gaming at various domestic and international conferences. Academically, he holds a Masters Degree in Hotel Administration from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and was a lecturer and case study judge for the prestigious University of Nevada Reno, Executive Development Program.