Trustees for IP Casino owner honored
Two IP executives are honored
NEW ORLEANS - W. Owen Nitz and Jeffery M. Cooper were named the 2006 Gaming Executives of the Year on Thursday by the International Masters of Gaming Law.
The men are two of the three trustees for the Ralph and Betty Engelstad Family Trust, which owns the IP Casino in Biloxi. The third trustee is Betty Engelstad.
Nitz and Cooper arrived in Biloxi the day after Hurricane Katrina struck.
“For the 122-day time period between the hurricane and the grand reopening of the hotel and casino on Dec. 22, Owen Nitz and Jeff Cooper were in Biloxi practically on a daily basis,” said Britt Singletary, the casino’s lawyer. “They decided to rename Imperial Palace IP after the reopening.”
The property has been completely revamped since the hurricane and improvements continue.
The casino under Nitz’s and Cooper’s leadership also provided help to Coast residents by donating money, equipment, clothes and wheelchairs.
“Nitz and Cooper had the optimism and determination to not merely rebuild IP, but to devote even greater financial resources to make it a premier property able to compete with any gaming facility in the state of Mississippi,” Singletary said.
Source: Sun Herald