Leader Interview: George Goldhoff

 

Leader Interview: George Goldhoff,

President, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City

 

Jane Bokunewicz (JB): Hello, everyone! Welcome to the LIGHTs On Leader Interview presented by the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism. I'm Jane Bokunewicz, the faculty Director of LIGHT, and I'm honored today to be joined by George Goldhoff, who is the president of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.

So, thank you, George, for being here to do the interview.

George Goldhoff (GG): Yes, Jane. Thanks for having me. Glad to be with you today.

JB: Great. So, I'm going to start out with a really broad question, that you can answer any way you'd like, who is George Goldhoff?

GG: Okay, that is a broad question. I would start off with the most important thing in my life, which is my family.  I've been married to Justina for the last 30 years, and I have three healthy, wonderful children that are moved out of the house and are sort of scattered across North America.

I enjoy gardening, health and wellness, reading and outdoor sports.

Professionally, I've been a bit of a casino, hospitality, entertainment gypsy for about 40 years, and I've lived in a variety of locations, since I was a young man in my 20’s.

JB: Well, that's interesting, because that leads me to my next question. What in your career brought you to Atlantic City, and to the Hard Rock in Atlantic City?

GG: First of all, I'm delighted to be back on the East Coast. This is my home. This area. I’m from New York. That's where my wife and I met. She's from Philadelphia. So, I'm absolutely thrilled to be back on the East Coast, and Atlantic City is an amazing place to set up home.

I would say, I've always enjoyed every role that I've had, and I've really learned from every role. I started dishwashing when I was 15, that led to cooking, which led to restaurant management, which led to hotel management, which led to casino management. Throughout my career.

I think I will mention this. Most people don't know, but I think it ties in with everything else, which is to say that I never graduated from high school - because I was so busy dishwashing and cooking.

But, I later stuck with it, and I was one of 20 people that was on stage when I graduated with an advanced degree from an Ivy League school.

So, resiliency, I think, is sort of, maybe a common theme, if you will.

But professionally, a couple of highlights in my career: One, was when I got to work for Joe Baum in New York, who has since passed, but he was a James Beard lifetime, achievement award winner. He owned the Rainbow Room, which is on the 67th floor of Rockefeller Plaza, and at the time was the highest grossing privately owned restaurant in the world. We did it with a high average check, although we did have a lot of volume. So that was really interesting, and instructive on how a high-end facility and restaurant runs from marketing to IT to HR to operations.

And that led me to Bellagio, where I had the opportunity to partner with a whole group of amazingly talented men and women. And when we opened that, I was there pre-opening for about a year, and we opened in 1998. It has since celebrated, I think, it's 25th anniversary, which is hard for me to believe. It really changed the way that developers and operators viewed food and beverage, and how they outsourced that. So that changed the landscape.

And one other moment in my career, which was very instructive, was when I became the President, CEO, of Pure Canadian Gaming in Alberta, Canada. I had four casinos there. It was owned by private equity, and to accept that role I needed to invest side by side a fair amount of my net worth and put skin in the game. I thought that was absolutely a wonderful opportunity to essentially bet on myself and the team that I could assemble.

Those were three highlights that led me to the responsibilities that I have now.

JB: Wow! What a career! And I think it's so inspirational to hear how you started and how far you've come. I think that is such a great part of the casino industry - that it enables people to do that. So, thank you for sharing that. 

What would you consider your greatest current challenges and or successes?

GG: The current challenge is driving profitable market share. Our costs are increasing, whether they are taxes or wages or overhead or marketing. I guess expectations have never been higher. There is a lot of competition. There are a lot of options, and this market is particularly intense.

I know it always had that reputation. But I'm feeling it every day, and it really is an absolute joy. It's a delight to be in this market.

But, I would say that is the biggest challenge. The incentives and the offers are richer. They are more plentiful. Capital investment is necessary, and there is a proliferation of gaming on the horizon in regards to the three New York downstate licenses, which are imminent.

I would say, we are really in this inflection point of trying to solidify our place in the gaming world in Atlantic City. Once again.

JB: Yes, Atlantic City has gone through many iterations over the years. And what do you see as the future of Atlantic City?

GG: I really am optimistic about the future of Atlantic City. We have a lot of challenges, a lot of obstacles. But what I envision is really a walkable, clean, safe - not only entertainment district, but I think we start there from Atlantic to the Boardwalk and from Albany to New Hampshire - but it goes to Bader Field, it goes to the Marina, it goes to the inlets, it goes to Gardner’s Basin. We really have an opportunity to leverage all of that. I see a vehicular and pedestrian walkway, greening of open spaces, improvements and paving and curbs and facade improvements and the reduction of blight.

And if you think about what we have as a natural tourism attraction, which is the beach, the ocean, and the boardwalk. Not only through the tradition that we've had throughout the years, but some of the greatest cities in the world have these walkable spaces like, Seattle, Boulder, Colorado, Memphis, Burlington, Nashville, Los Angeles, Miami, and we have it right now, and that is something that they had to conceptualize, envision and build. And we have that. I really am optimistic and not pollyannish - like, oh, everything is great, everything's going to be fine. It's not, but I see it as upside.

I think we offer a style of hospitality and entertainment and tourism that is quite unique from our feeder cities in New York and Philadelphia. And south of us. So that is my vision for Atlantic City.

JB: Yes, we do have so much to offer, and we have a lot of great things. It is just making them a little bit better, to tie them all together and become a real tourism destination. Thank you.

What role do you see Hard Rock playing in that vision?

GG: Well, this is really a public/private partnership to achieve these goals, and whether it is, federal, state, county local, politicians, community leaders coming together. And I really think that - we have been assisting the city and advocating and bringing different coalitions together to put forth this vision. I think that's number one. I think we need to lobby and encourage, for better city management, lower real estate taxes. There are real estate taxes that have certainly driven away developers and people, residents in Atlantic City, and I think, through different policies and that type of thing we can advocate for that.

And then what we do now is we engage in the community for quality-of-life issues which I think that Hard Rock globally is absolutely excellent at, and in Atlantic City, we're quite good at as well. And these are improving, so we don't have food, scarcity, or we improve our homeless issue or education or safety, and all of those things.

I think Hard Rock will continue to play an important role in that vision for a safe, walkable, clean entertainment district that expands out to other parts of Atlantic County. But I think that's certainly how we could play a part in that.

JB: Yes, Hard Rock certainly has been a leader in the community, and also among your employees. I remember during COVID Hard Rock was one of the first casinos to be out there giving gift cards to the employees, and trying to help everyone get through that difficult time. All of our students that work at Hard Rock feel that sense of - that the company really does care about them. So, kudos to Hard Rock for that.

GG: Jane, it was - I wasn't at this property, but I was with Hard Rock and standing out on the employee team member, drive, drop off circle with our masks on handing out gift cards and food, and it was so rewarding. Really proud to be a part of the organization.

JB: Okay, shifting gears a little bit. What advice do you have for people interested in a career in the casino resort industry?

GG: Well, first and foremost, I find it to be the most incredible and rewarding and wonderful industry in the world, depending on how we're defining it now, whether it's entertainment or hospitality, or restaurants, or hotel or casino, or what have you? And it's been very good to me and my family.

I would say two things. I think conceptually concentrating on optimism and looking at the world as a glass half full, really provides a lot of creativity when you bring that to the table. And it opens up possibilities, and gets coalitions to yes versus why we can't do something. Why, we can do something.

And the second one is change. We are in an incredible generation of change, whether it's through IT, or marketing, or human resources, or finance or competition, operations, whatever that might be, and to learn how to accept change. Lead change, communicate change, adapt with change. I think, is a very important piece to our industry. Quite frankly, probably any industry.

I would also say, associate yourself with high-quality brands, and find a mentor and advocate that you can work with. It will accelerate your professional career. Choose those mentors as someone who will hold you to a higher standard, if you will.

And, choose challenging thorny, difficult, complex projects that nobody else wants, and sink your teeth into them. And work hard, ask questions, find a mentor, give more than is expected, and this is an industry where you can start off as a dishwasher, and the sky's the limit.

JB: Awesome. That is great advice. Great advice.

I was just at a mentoring breakfast, where mentors were being honored for their contribution, and it really is such an important part of the industry, and it really does help for you to have a strong mentor. So, thank you for that.

Anything else you'd like to comment on that I didn't ask about, or that's on your mind?

GG: I think we pretty much covered it. I will, just close by saying, it's a great time to be in the casino business, with all the proliferation and internet gaming and sports, wagering and bricks and mortar. It's a great time to be in Atlantic City. I think there's a lot of upside ahead of us. It is a great time to be at Hard Rock, for sure.

Live with an attitude of gratitude and work hard.

JB: Well, thank you so much, George. This has been really inspirational to hear your career and your vision, and I really appreciate you sharing your time with us today.

GG: My pleasure, Jane, thank you.