Gaming association holding strategy planning session

Thursday, Dec. 30, 2004 | 10:51 a.m.

BILOXI, Miss. -- The Mississippi Gaming Association, one of two trade organizations in the state, will hold a meeting next month as part of a "strategic planning process," said incoming president Duncan McKenzie.

The planning session also comes after the withdrawal from the association of Beau Rivage, MGM's showplace in Mississippi and one the organization's biggest financial contributors.

Jeff Dahl, the president and general manager of Beau Rivage, said in a statement this week that the casino would be in a better position "to address issues affecting our company rather than being a member of an association made up of many and divergent interests."

Beau Rivage, however, is not the only casino to opt out of membership in the state association. Imperial Palace and the Copa Casino don't belong to the group.

McKenzie, the general manager of Grand Casino Biloxi, said the Mississippi Gaming Association will be better once agreements are reached at the strategy meeting.

"We hadn't been through a strategic planning process in a few years," McKenzie said. "We thought it was prudent in today's age of casino company consolidation.