Seneca Gaming Hires Female Trump Manager to Run Operations

Walker is one of the select few women in the country who has run a casino.

Seneca Gaming Corporation has big plans for its casinos, and is looking to expand its domain in the gambling industry. The Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino and Hotel, a $333 million project in downtown Buffalo, is under construction. The Seneca Allegheny Casino and Hotel is the subject of a 200-room, $130 million hotel expansion, and a $40 million entertainment venue is also planned. Seneca is attempting to acquire operating rights for video poker at Aqueduct Racetrack, and Seneca Niagara Falls Casino is also in line for hotel and entertainment investment.

To aid in reaching these goals, Seneca has hired Cathy Walker, previously general manager of Trump Marina Hotel Casino in Atlantic City. Walker will become head of operations for Seneca, with duties including the supervision of individual casino managers and bringing greater efficiency to the corporation as a whole.

Walker will assume her duties as soon as she receives a gaming license, a process which involves the approval of the Seneca Gaming Authority, an independent board set up by the state's compact with the Seneca Tribe to regulate and monitor the corporation's gambling businesses. Gaming Authority go-ahead could take several weeks.

In the meantime, Walker is negotiating salary with Seneca, and her deal promises to be significant. If Walker is paid in the area of the previous COO, she would get a package worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $800,000, and be eligible for substantial bonuses. At present, the combined salaries of the three highest-paid women employed by publicly traded companies in the western New York area came to just over $650,000, making Walker's contract a major event for women.

Walker is one of the select few women in the country who has run a casino. Now that she has left Trump, one of her employees will be Kathy George, the general manager of Seneca Niagara Falls Casino and Hotel. 

It is certainly good business that Seneca has hired employees based on competence rather than gender. By bringing aboard the best candidates, Seneca has positioned itself well to meet the challenges of expansion and new projects, and should continue to grow rapidly.