Woman becomes first GM at Horseshoe Hammond
Roles for female leaders growing in casino industry
Kathryn Jenkins possessed a degree in English literature from Georgia State University with plans to enter pharmaceutical sales when a close friend suggested she’d make a great casino host.
“She worked for Harrah’s in New Orleans. I had no idea,” Jenkins said of her friend.
The c har i s matic Jenkins said she interviewed for an executive host job in an airport, landed the job at Harrah’s New Orleans and drove her Volkswagen to her new home and job on a whim.
That was in 2002.
Having quickly worked her way up the ladder in the industry for the next 18 years, mostly at Harrah’s, the 45-yearold Jenkins was recently named the the first female senior vice president and general manager at Horseshoe Hammond Casino, a part of the newly merged Caesars Entertainment Inc.
She’s the third woman general manager in the Region, joining Brenda Temple at Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City and Jahnae Erpenbach at Majestic Star Casinos in Gary. Erpenbach also was recently named chairwoman and chief executive officer of parent company Spectacle Entertainment and Spectacle Gary.
In her new role, Jenkins will
oversee 1,700 employees, 108,000- square-feet of gaming space, The Book sportsbook, The Venue entertainment venue and eight restaurants.
As she sat in the Hammond casino’s Jack Binion Steak restaurant, a picturesque view of Lake Michigan, the adjacent Hammond Marina and Chicago Skyline in the background behind her, Jenkins talked about her respect for Binion, a former owner of the casino and the man the restaurant was named for, as well as her own road to the top and love for the business.
“I have (Binion’s) bobblehead. I really respect and admire the way he runs his business. Binion is at the core of what we do here,” she said.
She described herself as being the street person in the industry, the person who worked her way up from the floor, as opposed to the employee with an MBA.
Jenkins said Caesar’s is a good company to move up in.
“If you want it, you can get it at Caesar’s,” she said.
She said having started on the casino floor, she learned the business and understands what employees need to do.
“I’d think cooperatively,” she said.
Jenkins said while she works long hours, she’s lucky that she gets her entertainment during her work hours.
“You can’t ask for a more fun industry,” she said. “Who else gets to have a chef show off their talents for you or seats to a major show?”
Jenkins succeeds Dan Nita, who held the position of senior vice president and general manager of Horseshoe Hammond for 11 years, in addition to being named regional president for Caesar’s. Rick Mazer held the top position at Horseshoe Hammond for a number of years before Nita, leaving to join Harrah’s in Las Vegas.
Ed Feigenbaum, editor of Indiana Gaming Insight, said the newly merged company is making a statement by naming Jenkins as its new general manager. He said concern had been expressed about the lack of diversity at Eldorado, which merged with Caesar’s, during the approval process.
“It was a pretty good sign that they appointed a woman as general manager at Horseshoe Hammond,” Feigenbaum said.
Jenkins said it was “wonderful” to hear that she’s now the third woman general manager of five casinos in the region, two of which are under Erpehbach. She said at the Hammond casino the executive team is comprised of two men and two women. She credited Nita for the diversity.
Feigenbam also said the appointment bodes well for Jenkins, noting that her two predecessors at the casino — Nita and Mazer — both served in that position for a number of years then moved up in the company.
Jenkins said she’ s worked with both men in the past.
“I know I know I have big shoes to fill,” she said.
Nita believes she’s up to the task.
“I am very excited to have Kathryn leading the Horseshoe team. Her background in marketing, particularly developing relationships with our best guests, will be a great benefit to the property,” Nita said.
Nita said he and Jenkins first worked together at Harrah’s New Orleans, Jenkins in marketing while Nita was in finance.
“Our paths crossed again when she worked in our corporate office in Las Vegas – she was responsible for rolling out programs to elevate our relationship marketing efforts. She has worked in several markets, which is helpful to bring best practices to Hammond – be it for the guests or for team members,” he said.
Nita said Jenkins is one of the property general managers who will report to him as regional president.
Jenkins, who is originally from Massachusetts and was raised in Jacksonville, Florida, said aside from a brief stint with Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, where she was senior director of casino marketing in 2010, she spent the remainder of her 18-year casino career with Harrah’s, now Caesar’s Entertainment.
According to casino officials, Jenkins served in various marketing leadership role in the company, including regional director of VIP sales and marketing and corporate vice president of national casino marketing.
“Her leadership in these positions resulted in tremendous growth, and Jenkins went on to take the role of vice president of VIP sales and operations, overseeing marketing strategy and operations for all Caesars properties outside of the Las Vegas market as well as VIP marketing programs throughout the enterprise,” officials stated in a release.
More recently, Jenkins served as assistant general manager at Harrah’s New Orleans and then general manager of Horseshoe BossierCity and Harrah’s Louisiana Downs in 2019.
Jenkins said one of her roles was to start marketing for Caesar’s in Canada. While based in Las Vegas, she made trips to different areas of Canada, including the oil fields in the Great White Tundra north of Calgary.
“They were looking for a new revenue stream,” Jenkins said of the casino company.
She started a charter flight program in which the workers could get away from work and the frigid area and spend four days at the casino in sunny Las Vegas.
Jenkins took over the helm at the Hammond casino during a trying time, with the COVID-19 pandemic, creating changes in the casino’s operation and in the way she met her own new staff.
Having to forgo the usual employee rally, she said she wanted to meet them each one-on-one instead.
As for the industry itself, she said, “We’ve always had really big events and parties. It’s been a daily challenge — how to still be compelling and still safe,” Jenkins said.
“This is a fun business and it needs to be fun,” she said.
While the future ownership of the Hammond casino is up in the air — it could be sold by the end of the year as part of the merger — Jenkins remains upbeat about her role with it. “I hope to be here as long as they’ll have me,” she said.