Encore Boston Harbor President Brian Gullbrants will move on from his role as president of the Everett resort casino at the end of July, and current Encore Executive Vice President of Operations Jenny Holaday will take over as the next president of the casino on Aug. 1.
Holaday, an East Boston resident, has been the EVP of Operations since 2019 and has excelled before and in the re-build as the pandemic lifted. She will become the third president of the Encore Boston Harbor since its inception.
Boston Harbor on Aug. 1, with current President Brian Gullbrants moving
back to work in the operations in Las Vegas again. Gullbrants has been at the
helm almost two years and steered the resort through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Holaday has been in her current role since 2019.
In her current role, she leads all marketing functions, including advertising, direct and database marketing, casino marketing, analytics, promotions, special events, entertainment, player development and Wynn Rewards, the company’s loyalty program. Additionally, she is responsible for overseeing all casino operations for the resort.
Gullbrants is reportedly headed back to the operations in Las Vegas, after having a good run at Encore that began in October 2019 when former President Bob DeSalvio was suddenly ousted from the position. Gullbrants had been the EVP of Operations since coming to Boston in 2017 and beginning to make the pre-opening rounds in May 2018. He had transferred employment to Boston from Las Vegas at the time.
During his tenure, Gullbrants was able to begin to better-tailor Encore to the Greater Boston market – and according to several investor calls over the last few quarters, that has been a success.
Holaday joined Encore bringing an extensive background in the casino industry to her role.
She has lived and worked in eight separate gaming regions from the East Coast to Nevada and many places in between. She started her career in loyalty marketing before moving to large scale retail marketing, and eventually into senior-level property operations. She has held executive positions for companies such as Harrah’s, Caesars and Mandalay Resort Group and launched two enterprise-wide casino player programs. In 2016, she left the gaming industry to follow a new career path as a marketing and operations consultant, helping millennials with professional development. However, she was drawn back into the gaming industry in 2019 when she began her tenure at Encore.
When she isn’t on property, Holaday said she enjoys cooking and golfing. She said she loves to spend time and catch up with her two adult children and currently lives in East Boston with her dog, Snoopy.
In the coming weeks, she will be meeting with members of the Everett City Council to start a new, and according to the Council, better relationship than they had with Gullbrants.
Council President Wayne Matewsky was quite critical at Monday’s Council meeting of the absent relationship between the Encore president and the City Council members. He said they had a productive and great relationship with DeSalvio during his time at the helm, but no members had really ever met Gullbrants, he said.
“Nobody here was formally introduced to the President of Encore, Brian Gullbrants,” he said. “I feel that’s very unusual that the largest employer and property owner in the community hasn’t reached out to the City fathers and mothers. I feel it’s strange.”
Matewsky said he took a poll of the members, and not one of the 11 had been introduced or knew Gullbrants. He said he hopes that the new president can get off on better footing with the Council.
“We always heard from Mr. DeSalvio and he reached out to us on a monthly basis,” said Matewsky. “Even a small restaurant here in the City has a little more savoir faire than what we’ve seen…We’re going to have a different relationship with Ms. Holaday and I’m going to make sure of that.”
He said the Council has scheduled a meet and greet with her in late June at the property.