As Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino continues to grow in both size and popularity, Seneca Gaming Corporation has named Joanne Israel the brand new general manager of the preferred downtown entertainment destination.

Israel will oversee the day-to-day operations at Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino, that's currently in the middle of a $40 million expansion. Located at the Seneca Nation’s sovereign nine-acre Buffalo Creek Territory within the heart of downtown Buffalo’s burgeoning Inner Harbor area, the casino currently attracts approximately 3 million guests per year and employs 500 people. The growth is predicted so as to add approximately 300 new jobs on the casino, bringing the workforce to approximately 800.

“This is an implausible time, with Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino playing a key role in the entire excitement happening in downtown Buffalo and particularly within the Inner Harbor area,” Israel said. “I am honored and excited to be able to assist this world-class property continue to grow, to steer our amazing team at Buffalo Creek, and to construct at the remarkable work the Seneca Nation and Seneca Gaming Corporation have done at Buffalo Creek and throughout Western New York.”

When the casino expansion is complete in early 2017, it's going to add greater than 300 additional slot machines, new table games, and a brand new restaurant – the WD Bar and Grille, modeled after the preferred Western Door Steakhouse, which operates at both Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino in Niagara Falls and Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino in Salamanca.

Israel joined Seneca Gaming Corporation in 2011 and has held a chain of finance positions, including casino controller and, most recently, corporate director of finance operations. In 2015, she received the inaugural Rising Leader Award from the National Indian Gaming Association at its annual conference in San Diego. 

“Since joining Seneca Gaming Corporation, Joanne has distinguished herself as an efficient and insightful leader and key contributor to our team,” said Audrey Oswell, the company’s chief operating officer. “We are confident that her talents and leadership may also help Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino continue to become a premier a part of the Buffalo entertainment experience people enjoy whenever they visit downtown and the internal Harbor area.” 

Prior to joining Seneca Gaming, Israel worked on the public accounting firm of Chiampou Travis Beshaw & Kershner, where she was a senior accountant that specialize in tax, audit and government accounting. A member of the Seneca Nation and a resident of Lewiston, she graduated from Niagara University, where she received both a Bachelor of Administration degree in Accounting and a Masters of commercial Administration degree.

Read More... [Source: Gaming Industry News]