ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Aaron Gomes, who helped run Resorts Casino Hotel after the death of his father, Dennis, the casino’s co-owner, is leaving to take a job with an Australian casino company.
Gomes told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he’s leaving on Friday to become managing director of Echo Entertainment’s Jupiters Gold Coast Casino in Australia. He will be in charge of running the casino and leading it through a $625 million renovation.
In his role as vice president of operations, the younger Gomes, 30, helped keep Resorts running following the sudden death of his father during dialysis in February. Co-owner Morris Bailey recently reached a deal with the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority to run the day-to-day operations of Resorts and open a $35 million Margaritaville restaurant complex.
The Mohegans, who operate Mohegan Sun casino-resorts in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, had asked Gomes to stay on in Atlantic City.
But Gomes said he had wanted an opportunity like the one he now has in Australia even before his father’s death.
“I am leaving behind a casino that I and my father have put so much heart into, as well as leaving employees and a partner in Morris Bailey that I do not consider co-workers or employees, but rather consider my friends and family,” Aaron Gomes wrote in an email to staff on Wednesday.
Gomes also noted the pain of the last year, including the deaths of his father and his brother Douglas within weeks of each other last winter.
“It has been the roughest year of my life with losing not only my brother but also my best friend and business partner, my father, Dennis,” he wrote to Resorts’ employees. “If it was not for all of you, the employees I have been so blessed to work with, I am not sure I could have gotten through the year, so thank you.
“I am not looking at this move as leaving Atlantic City, as my heart will always be here, but instead that I am making a decision that will not only help my career but will also help me tremendously in the emotional healing process,” Gomes said. “I am not leaving solely for the job, but rather for the adventure that I have so desperately craved after going through what I have this past year.”
Gomes will report to Echo’s managing director, Larry Mullin, who used to run the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City.
Gomes said it has long been his dream to own a casino of his own someday.
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Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC.
