Massachusetts College Appoints a President Experienced in Casino Training

Coming from a background in casino operations, Patricia Gentile heads North Shore Community College in Massachusetts.

North Shore Community College in Massachusetts gets a new President – Patricia Gentile, who brings her extensive casino experience with her. Naturally, such background is a bit unusual for a college president, but considering the ongoing changes to American gambling laws, this could be just what the state needs.

Massachusetts is one of the states considering legalizing online gambling within its borders following the footsteps of pioneers: Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware. Besides working in the casino industry, Gentile contributed greatly to writing the book on casino training.

Gentile background

Prior to occupying the president’s office at North Shore, Patricia has been employed at Atlantic Cape Community College. This school is located close to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and serves as a training ground for the East Coast’s casino industry. She was overseeing the corporate education services, which also included Casino Career Institute.

This particular institute came into being after casinos were legalized in Atlantic City back in 1978. Besides training the casino industry workers directly, the school has established a great curriculum, used by other colleges as well.

The Massachusetts Casino Careers Training Institute – a consortium of community colleges in Massachusetts, has already agreed to use the curriculum in order to prepare workers for the state’s planned land-based and online casinos in the United States.

Casino industry in Massachusetts

Currently, casinos and other gambling establishments are yet to be established in Massachusetts. One of the first things on the agenda is a slots parlor, scheduled to open its doors somewhere in 2015 and located in Plainville. The state will also see at least three big resort casinos attract visitors, but no certain dates have yet been set for them.

Of course these plans depend on whether the 2011 law, which made gambling legal in the state, will be overturned or not. The state is planning to host a ballot question on the matter.

However, industry experts agree that casinos will come to Massachusetts. Moreover, the industry will not be limited to land-based gambling, online establishments including online poker sites in the United States are also expected to be legalized and regulated soon.

Comments from Patricia Gentile

The new president is confident the casino industry will make its way to the state. She says it will be a big advantage for the state to have their own casino workforce once the gambling establishments’ doors finally open. From the workers’ point of view, their training will allow them to move up the industry career ladder even beyond the state.

North Shore Community College appoints casino-oriented president

• Casinos are expected to appear in the state in the near future

• The president boasts extensive industry experience under American gambling laws

• Casino-specific educational and training classes are planned for the college

The college Gentile now heads, has already hosted an informational session, sponsored by the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority. The event has gathered over 100 visitors. And although it seems kind of premature to host a casino career expo in the state now, but the Indian operators are already competing hard for the Boston-area casino license with Wynn Resorts. That is if the ballot question plays out in favor of casinos.

According to Gentile, Mohegan is right to start early. Should the casino plans be upheld there will never be enough time to prepare employees for the jobs required once the gambling licenses are given out. Gentile opined that big casino operators are aware of the fact that if they have inexperienced employees on the floor, they will be more vulnerable to cheaters and scammers.

The North Shore Community College hasn’t included any casino-oriented classes yet. However when it’s 100% certain that the Boston-area license will be awarded, the college will be able to meet the growing demand for casino educational and training classes.