News Release
For Release: IMMEDIATELY
Contact: A. Bruce Crawley
Millennium 3 Management
Tel: (215) 751-0140
Email: abcrawley@m3mpr.com
PHL Local Gaming, LLC Adds Five New Board
Members
CEO Joseph G. Procacci to Serve as Chair
Philadelphia, PA, February 7, 2013 – PHL Local Gaming, LLC, one of six bidders for the
available gaming license in the city of Philadelphia, today announced that it has appointed
five new directors to join principal owner Joseph G. Procacci on its newly formed board of
managers.
The new directors of the PHL board of managers include: John P. Burke, former CFO,
Trump Entertainment Resorts; Joseph Canfora, president, PHL Local Gaming, LLC; Bennett
Lomax, CEO, The Lomax Companies; Mark Sterbens, former vice president, Herbst
Gaming, Inc.; and Craig F. Sullivan, president, Sullivan + Associates, a nationally recognized
hospitality and gaming consulting firm. Joseph Procacci, CEO of PHL Local Gaming, will
serve as chair of the board of managers.
Commenting on the new board appointments, Mr. Procacci said: “The ambitious, first-class
vision we have for bringing a “destination”-caliber casino to Philadelphia would be difficult to
achieve if we had not decided to surround ourselves with the deeply experienced, nationally
recognized, casino-, hotel- and financial-management professionals, who are now
represented on our new board.
“We are very pleased and proud,” added Procacci, “that they have joined us, and that they
will help guide us through the Commonwealth’s bid process.”
Burke, with a distinguished career which spans the financial management, financial services
and gaming industries, joined Trump Entertainment Resorts as a vice president and,
subsequently, served as senior vice president/corporate treasurer and executive vice
president/CFO, before leaving the company in 2010.
Canfora, with 25 years of gaming experience in major casinos, nationally, has served as
founder and chief executive officer of Merit Management Group, the premier development
and gaming management company in the U.S. and Latin America. Prior to forming Merit,
Canfora served as President of Empress Casinos, from 1997-1999, and became president
of Horseshoe Gaming, LLC, when it acquired Empress in 1999. In that role, he oversaw four
casino properties in the Chicago market and in Louisiana and Mississippi.
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PHL Local Gaming adds Five Board members/Page 2 of 2
Lomax, a financial services and investment management specialist, has served as CEO and
president of The Lomax Companies, a private investment firm, since 2003. Active in civic
and community affairs, he is a former director of the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and
currently serves as a member of the board of visitors of Temple University Law School. He
has also served as a board member of several investment and technology-related firms.
Lomax is a graduate of Hampton University and holds a JD degree from Temple University
School of Law.
With more than 30 years of “crossover” casino and hotel industry experience, Mark Sterbens
has been responsible for over $300 million in the design and construction of casinos, hotels
and riverboats. In that capacity, he has delivered exceptional profitability to numerous
ventures and has held full gaming licenses in six separate jurisdictions, including Las Vegas.
A graduate of the William F. Harrah Hotel College at the University of Las Vegas, Sterbens
most recently served as vice president/regional manager of Herbst Gaming, Inc.
Prior to establishing Sullivan + Associates, Craig Sullivan, whose clientele includes Atlantis
Casino Resorts, Hyatt Corporation, Primadonna Resorts and Empress Casino Holdings,
served as assistant treasurer at Ramada Inc. and as treasurer of its successor casino
operating company, Aztar. During his tenure at Aztar, the company opened 50 hotels and 5
casinos. Subsequently, in 1995, he joined Primadonna Resorts, as chief financial officer.
During his tenure, Primadonna opened the highly successful New York-New York Hotel and
Casino, in Las Vegas, where he also served as a board member.
Joseph G. Procacci, who is principal owner of PHL Local Gaming, LLC, is also CEO of
Procacci Brothers Sales Corp., one of the largest wholesale produce companies in North
America. Procacci is also a co-founder of the Vineyards, a 2000-acre residential
development in Naples, Florida, which includes two private, 18-hole golf courses, a worldclass clubhouse with tennis and swimming facilities, fine dining and entertainment.
If successful in its bid for the available casino management license in Philadelphia, PHL
Local Gaming LLC plans to open “Casino Revolution,” a $420 million, high-quality,
“destination”-caliber, hotel and casino. In addition to its four-star quality, 250-room hotel,
“Casino Revolution” will offer 2,400 slots, 105 table games, an Italian restaurant, a steak
house, a coffee/espresso bar, a 300-seat buffet, a 156-seat café and a covered, 1400-car
garage. The facility would be located at Front and Pattison Streets, in South Philadelphia.
More information about PHL Local Gaming is available on Facebook.
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Photo 1
Caption 1
Joseph G. Procacci, CEO, Procacci Brothers Sales Corp. and /Chair, PHL Local Gaming,
LLC.
Photo 2
Caption 2
John P. Burke, former CFO, Trump Entertainment Resorts, and board member, PHL Local
Gaming, LLC.
Photo 3
Caption 3
Joseph Canfora, PHL Local Gaming, LLC., President and Board Member
Photo 4
Caption 4
Bennett Lomax, CEO and president, The Lomax Companies, PHL Local Gaming, LLC.
board member
Photo 5
Caption 5
Mark Sterbens, Former VP/Regional Manager, Herbst Gaming, Inc., and board member,
PHL Local Gaming, LLC.
Photo 6
Caption 6
Craig Sullivan, president, Sullivan + Associates, and board member, PHL Local Gaming,
LLC.