Jenny Holaday Is the First Woman to Run a Casino in Massachusetts

Jenny Holaday is the first woman to run a casino in Massachusetts, succeeding Encore Boston Harbor president Brian Gullbrants, who is leaving for a high-profile job with the resort’s parent company in Las Vegas.

Brian Gullbrants Becomes Wynn Las Vegas Properties President

Wynn Resorts, owner of Encore Boston Harbor Resort, located in Everett, has announced to its employees in a letter that Brian Gullbrants is leaving his position as president of the resort for a high-profile job in Las Vegas with Encore’s parent company. Gullbrants will depart in August to become the president of Wynn Las Vegas properties, and Jenny Holaday will be his successor at Everett. She will become the first woman to run a casino in Massachusetts.

Wynn Resorts chief executive Matt Maddox said in the letter that Gullbrants “has established strong relationships with regulators and gained the confidence of the local community.” Maddox said that he is impressed with Gullbrants’ talented team at Encore Boston Harbor, which has brought the best financial results since the beginning of its operations.

Before he became president of the Everett casino, Gullbrants was its executive vice president of operations. He succeeded Robert DeSalvio, who was its president for five years. He ran its construction, which cost $2.6 billion, to its grand opening in 2019. When Gullbrants took over, he managed to lower the price for dining to appeal to a wide range of players.

When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Encore had to shut down, and when the casino was allowed to reopen, the traffic was still slow due to health restrictions. The rules, which affected the table games capacity, among other things, were lifted recently.

The resort has managed to recover and go back to pre-pandemic results, recording $50 million in April, which is $2.5 million short of its revenue in February 2020 ($52.5 million), before the pandemic.

Jenny Holaday Is the First Casino President in Massachusetts

Jenny Holaday has worked as an executive in the gambling industry, working for companies like Harrah’s, Mandalay Resort Group, and Caesars Entertainment. She has been executive vice president of Encore since 2019.

When commenting on Holaday’s hire, Gullbrants said that he is leaving the resort in good hands.

Madox wrote: “Her experience in gaming, marketing, and strategic planning make her the perfect choice to move Encore forward.”

In an interview about her promotion, Holaday said that becoming the first woman to run a casino in Massachusetts is a “meaningful milestone” in her career. She said that her mother also worked in the gambling industry, allowing Holaday to gain knowledge of the industry from a young age and develop an interest in it. She stated that her mother was a strong female role model for her.

Holaday stated that there is a lot to do to carry out Gullbrants’ pre-pandemic plans. The resort will do everything it can to get back on track, including returning to the same number of staff, working full time (about 3,300 employees) before the pandemic, and 1,100 part-time workers.