After the president of the Casino Association of New Jersey president, Steve Callender announced that he would be retiring, the search was on to find his successor. The announcement was made in March 2021 and the members of the association have already made a decision. The association represents the interests of all Atlantic City’s casinos and is a leading trade organization. Terry Glebocki has been named the new president of the association. Galecki is also the current chief executive officer at the Ocean Casino Resort and has been active in the casino industry for more than 30 years.
In a statement from Glebocki, she said that she is honoured and privileged to succeed Steve Callender. She added that Callender has led the organization through trying times in 2020 and that she and the organization are grateful for the strength he has shown as well as his leadership shown to get the association through these unprecedented times. The appointment of Glebocki makes her the first-ever female president of the Casino Association of New Jersey and further expands the diversity of the leadership ranks in the casino industry in Atlantic City and the industry as a whole.
Callender has had significant experience in the casino industry and Glebocki is ready to live up to the legacy. He has been part of the gaming industry ever since Atlantic City took its first legal bet in 1978. Callender worked hard for his position at the top, starting as a table game dealer at resorts to make sure everything runs smoothly by overseeing many of Atlantic City’s casino resorts. He was also the regional president of Caesars Entertainment recently. The company that operates and owns Harrah’s, Tropicana and Caesars in the city.
The former president has had a long and successful career in the industry and Glebocki takes his place with some fruitful experience of her own. Glebocki’s career spans more than three decades in Atlantic City. In 1987, she was employed as the assistant controller at the Bally’s Grand. The resort would later change its name to the Atlantic City Hilton and would subsequently be renamed the Atlantic Club. A few years later Glebocki became the vice president of finance at a different entity.
In 1991, she took up the position of VP of finance at Trump Entertainment Resorts. A position that she held for quite some time, spanning to 2007. She left and was taken on by the Revel Entertainment Group. The company took five years to open its doors to the 2.4 billion Revel Casino Hotel. Seven years later, the casino resort would close its doors due to bankruptcy in 2014. Four years after the closure, an opportunity arose when the casino opened its doors again but now as the Ocean Casino Resort in 2018. At the time, Glebocki was serving as the executive VP at Tropicana Entertainment. Once the doors to the former Revel Casino were reopened, she returned to the property as its chief financial officer at the start of 2019. In the same year, while Ocean Casino Resort was completely owned by Luxor Capital, the New York hedge fund, Glebocki was named the new CEO at Ocean Casino Resort in December.
For years the gaming industry has been filled with men in executive suites and boardrooms at casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Those days are long gone and can be seen at casinos in Atlantic City. In early 2020, MGM Resorts appointed Melonie Johnson as the President and Chief Operating Officer at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa. Of the nine casinos in Atlantic City, four of the casino properties are now headed by female leaders in the industry. The Vice President and general manager at the Tropicana is Jacqueline Grace and Bally’s senior Vice president and general manager is Karie Hall.
Furthermore, along with more female representation among the casino industry leaders in Atlantic City, Johnson was the first African American woman chosen to lead one of the city’s casinos, Grace was the second. Which shows that there is progression in the industry as diversity increases. In her statement, Glebocki also said that she is proud of her fellow female executives. She added that they were paving the way for future talented women that would eventually join them in the ranks of leadership. The achievements of these women have gone a long way in transforming the gaming industry and to making it a more dynamic and diverse place to work.