Golfer-turned exec finds casinos and hotels, not holes and tees, suit him to a T

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Yale Rowe’s experiences as a golfer led him to a love of the hotel industry.

As a teenager, the Louisiana native’s interest in the hospitality industry was piqued as he stayed in hotels while playing in junior golf tournaments around the South.

He transferred to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for his senior year after spending three years at the University of New Orleans, 150 miles east of his hometown of Abbeville, on a golf scholarship.

He soon realized his true calling was not on the greens.

“I became a less-than-average collegiate golfer, quickly realizing I wouldn’t make any money on that route,” he said. “After three years there I decided I’d better focus on my career and I transferred out to UNLV to finish.”

Rowe’s true education in the Las Vegas casino industry began right after college.

Hired in 1992 as a housekeeping executive assistant for the under-construction Luxor by Scott Menke, the 27-year-old nephew of casino pioneer Bill Bennett, Rowe ended up working for the Bennett family for 12 out of the next 15 years.

The south Strip property was being built by Circus Circus Enterprises, where Bennett was chairman.

Rowe followed the family to the Sahara in 1995 when Bennett bought the property after resigning from Circus Circus’ board and selling his stock in the company.

He also spent a few years at Paragon Gaming, which operates primarily in Canada and is owned by Bennett’s daughter, Diana Bennett.

Tired of the constant customs checks traveling in and out of Canada, Rowe started talking with Silverton President Craig Cavileer about a job in February. By July, he was hired to guide the property’s day-to-day operations and its nearly 1,000 employees.

Cavileer had decided to relinquish daily control to concentrate on a $180 million bank loan, an expansion project and future development of the property’s 110 acres.

The Silverton is owned by Los Angeles-based real estate developer Ed Roski Jr., who took over operational control of the struggling Boomtown in 1997, changing the name to Silverton.

Question: What brought you away from Paragon to the Silverton?

Answer: I really left Paragon because of lifestyle. My travel schedule was so intense. I was on the road 250 days a year. Our corporate office was here but once we got the operations going in Edmonton, (Alberta), and bought the existing operation in Vancouver, (British Columbia), I just toggled between the two. After 41/2 years of going through customs every week I was looking for something different.

Question: Is the Silverton your first opportunity to run the day-to-day operations of a property?

Answer: Yes. I was running four operations for four properties by hiring general managers. It started with a small property in Palm Springs, (Calif.). Then we developed a major casino outside Edmonton, Alberta. We then bought one in Vancouver and were developing a third in Edmonton when I left.

Question: How did you come to be hired by the Silverton?

Answer: Craig (Cavileer) was looking for a general manager. Craig’s been the number one operations guy from day one 10 years ago. With the advent of this ($130 million) expansion, and for the first time really having to pay attention to a pretty sizable bank loan, Craig’s focus became construction, development and master planning. It quickly became apparent that he wanted to identify someone who could oversee the day-to-day operations.

Question: Were you familiar with the Silverton before talking with Mr. Cavileer in February?

Answer: When I started talking to Craig I was certainly familiar with the Silverton. I had visited frequently to see the Bass Pro Shop and how it made sense with the casino environment. It was something I was considering doing in Edmonton, building a casino with a Bass Pro Shop. I wasn’t familiar with the expansion plans. When Craig walked me through them, talked about the future and showed me the new 20-story tower he wanted to build, the parking structure, the spa, the new pool; it was a different environment and really a project that interested me because it was small enough that I could really focus on one thing here.

Question: Was your family in the hospitality business?

Answer: No. My father was an attorney and my mother raised us as kids. My father had always been interested in the business. When I came out to UNLV my father went through, for lack of a better description, some kind of midlife crisis. He packed up the family and came out here. We went to school together at UNLV. He got his fifth degree, which was in hospitality management. When he finished his degree he became a hotel law professor at UNLV.

Question: How did you get hired on so quickly out of school?

Answer: I met Menke while he was doing cursory interviews at UNLV. He asked me what I wanted to do. I said, ‘I want to be a general manager of a hotel division and I figured the quickest way to get there is learn the biggest division. So I want to get into housekeeping.’ He said, ‘You can start tomorrow. No one wants to get into housekeeping.’ He told me he had just interviewed 15 guys who wanted to do sales and marketing. He called me the next day and said, ‘Are you in or are you out?’ My second day on the job I zipped off to Reno with him for the shareholders meeting and got a quick introduction into the life and times of Scott Menke and Bill Bennett. I was turned on instantly to the industry.

Question: Were you close to the Bennett family?

Answer: My last three years at the Sahara I probably spent an hour or two with Mr. Bennett every morning. He enjoyed my company, I guess, and he enjoyed my opinions on different ideas with the operation and development and construction on the racetrack in North Las Vegas. I traveled around the country for him going to different races talking to NASCAR and Indy.

Question: Was it a personal loss when he and his wife died? (Bill Bennett died in 2002 followed by his wife, Lynn, in December 2006).

Answer: Yes. However, I was young, 27, 28 years old, when I had this great opportunity to spend every morning with a legend. A real pioneer in the business. At the time it was fascinating. But when we had some disagreements on how the business should be run from a marketing standpoint I got pretty frustrated and turned off to the business. Now I look back on it for the past few years after he’s passed away, it was pretty immature when I think about what I was exposed to and the opportunities I had. The frustration I let overwhelm me back then eroded our relationship at the time. I stayed close to Mrs. Bennett until she died. I still talk to Scott once a week and Diana periodically.

Contact reporter Arnold M. Knightly at aknightly@reviewjournal.com or (702) 477-3893.