Forbes
H. Steven Norton
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Director
Diamondhead Casino
Largo , FL
Sector: FINANCIAL / Real Estate Development
75 Years Old
H. STEVEN NORTON was elected a Director of the Company on August 6, 2002. Since 1998, Mr. Norton has served as President and CEO of Norton Management, Inc., a consulting company in Alton, Illinois and Las Vegas, Nevada. Mr. Norton also currently serves as a Director of Centaur, Inc., a privately held company which owns a casino in Central City, Colorado and owns Hossier Park, an Indiana race track, located in Anderson, Indiana. Mr. Norton is also a Director of Colorado Casino Resorts, Inc. in Cripple Creek, Colorado and North East Resorts, Inc., a privately held company pursuing gaming in the state of Massachusetts. Mr. Norton recently became a Director of 8th Wonder International, Ltd., an entity formed in Jersey, in the Channel Islands, which is involved in the concept design and development of casino resorts. Mr. Norton is also a major creditor of and has provided consulting services to Onnam Entertainment, Inc., a privately held Las Vegas based company, with contracts to develop and operate Native American casinos in various U.S. locations. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Onnam received permission from the Mississippi Gaming Commission to develop a casino site in Biloxi, Mississippi. The casino, if constructed, would compete with any casino resort subsequently developed by the Company. From 1993 to 1998, Mr. Norton served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Argosy Gaming Corporation, a public company and operator of riverboat casinos. Mr. Norton also previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Sands Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada; as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Gold River Gambling Hall & Resort in Laughlin, Nevada; as Executive Vice-President of Resorts International, Inc. and Resorts International Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey; and as Vice-President, Treasurer and Comptroller of Paradise Island, Ltd/Paradise Island Casino. Mr. Norton has also previously served as a founder and a Director of the American Gaming Association; as a founder, a Director and Vice-Chairman of the New Jersey Casino Association; as Chairman of the Indiana Gaming Association; as a Director and Vice-President of the Missouri Gaming Association; as a Director of the Illinois River Boat Association and as Chairman of the Casino Commission of the American Hotel Association. Mr. Norton has also served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the American Hotel Association; as Chairman of the Board and President of the New Jersey Hotel Motel Association; as Director and Vice-President of the Bahamas Hotel Association; as Chairman of the Bahamas Hotel Employers Association; as Director and Treasurer of the Bahamas Employers Confederation; as a Board Member of the Nevada Hotel Motel Association; as Chairman of the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Bureau; as Chairman of the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board; and as a member of the Advisory Board of the Governors Office of Travel and Tourism in New Jersey.
Options Exercised
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National Council of Legislators from Gaming States
Steve Norton, Director, American Gaming Association, Alton, IL
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Some might think that at 75, Steve would be content to sit back, collect Social Security and count his millions. Not so!
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I read with great interest the comments Kevin Thomas made about
the prospects of a casino in New Bedford and was impressed by
his research, his logic and his unwillingness to believe the one-sided
promotion of predatory gambling.
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Steve Norton's response fails to fully convey his interest. He can't
honestly be labelled a mouthpiece for the industry because he
IS the industry and stands to gain from promoting fictitious numbers.
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Forbes: Mr. Norton is also a Director of ... North East Resorts, Inc., a privately held company pursuing gaming in the state of Massachusetts.
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Mr. Norton promises "...few positions would require even a high school diploma."
In other words, you are guaranteed low wage, low skill, dead end jobs.
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We need jobs we can be proud of, where there's an opportunity for advancement,
promotion, jobs with a future that provide hope.
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Even Bernie Madoff gave people jobs, better paying than a casino job, with his phony prosperity scheme.....casino capitalism is the same rouse.
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Predatory gambling sucks discretionary income out of the local economy.
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Professor Kindt's research indicated that 1 slot machine permanently
removed 1 job from the local economy.
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We need a fair and balanced public discussion about predatory gambling.
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The more I learned about the experience of other states, the more
I understand how Mr. Norton accumulated his wealth by creating dead
end jobs that destroy the fabric of our communities.
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Mr. Norton doesn't live here and can count his millions from afar.
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The lending situation won’t affect Hoosier Park’s operations or number of employees, however, said Jim Brown, the racino’s general manager of gaming.
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“Our customers can expect the same entertainment experience that they have come to expect from us, and there will be no impact on our employees,” Brown said. “It will be business as usual for Hoosier Park, regardless of how we go about restructuring our company.”
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Brown said the slot machines will not be tightened and rewards will not be reduced in the casino.
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With the missed interest payment, however, two of Indianapolis-based Centaur’s affiliated entities in Pennsylvania, Valley View Downs LP and Centaur PA Land LP, filed voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions. Brown said the bankruptcy filings were designed to help Centaur keep its gaming permit in Pennsylvania, with which it plans to build another racino called Valley View Downs & Casino.
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“We have the last gaming license in Pennsylvania, and we are deeply committed to building that facility,” Brown said. “This was the best mechanism to preserve it.”
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In the meantime, Centaur continues to negotiate with its creditors to restructure its corporate debt. Brown said those negotiations would affect the company’s future actions.
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“We have numerous options,” he said. “Chapter 11 for the entire company is a possibility. This is simply an effort to redo a debt structure and make your company healthy and ensure the possibility of long-term success.”
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Centaur Chief Financial Officer Kurt Wilson said the company had been negotiating with its lenders since July. The company’s existing facilities, which include Hoosier Park and Fortune Valley Hotel & Casino in Central City, Colo., are healthy but not generating enough money to cover Centaur’s capital structure, Wilson said.
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Weakness in the economy and a heavy fee burden — Centaur paid $250 million for its Indiana license — has contributed to the existing facilities not being as profitable as needed, Wilson said, as has a delay in the Pennsylvania project that has held up cash flow from that location.
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The Pennsylvania project had been funded at the same time as Hoosier Park’s casino was built, but Centaur was unable to receive its Pennsylvania gaming license before credit markets froze and it was forced to give back the loan, Wilson said.
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“It has been stymied and delayed since then,” he said. “Now there’s an opportunity with this credit market thawed, it clears the path to move forward,” he said. “We filed Chapter 11 to protect the status of that license so we can continue uninterrupted. We believe it’s the shortest route.”
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Wilson said he believed Centaur could accomplish an agreement with its lenders soon. It is unclear how much the missed interest payment was for, as Wilson said Centaur’s finances are private, but the company does not have any principal payments on its loan until 2012.
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Brown said he hoped Centaur’s loan default doesn’t affect whether customers come to Hoosier Park.
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“Nothing will change,” he said. “I am optimistic that our customers will understand what this is. Everyone can expect a great time a Hoosier Park and for a long time to come in the future.”
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