Pinnacle Entertainment has named the senior management team for its $357 million Baton Rouge casino resort, under construction and set to open at the end of the year. Michael “Mickey” Parenton, a lifelong Louisiana resident, will serve as vice president and general manager of the resort. Parenton has 18 years’ experience in the casino industry, most recently serving as Pinnacle’s vice president of special projects. Before that, he held executive jobs with Harrah’s and was vice president of marketing for Grand Casino in Biloxi, Miss. Rafael Verde will serve as vice president and assistant general manager. Verde, a native of Venezuela who went to Southern University on a baseball scholarship, spent the last three years as general manager at Pinnacle’s former casino in Argentina. Pinnacle also named David Blitch as senior director of resort operations, Kevin Whalen as director of special projects and Kizzy Carter as director of human resources. As the casino gets closer to opening, Pinnacle has stepped up news about the unnamed resort. Just before Christmas, a teaser billboard about the resort popped up near the Interstate 10-Interstate 12 split.
Pinnacle announces corridor casino leadership team
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