Resorts AC exec to chair Stockton gaming institute

Daniel J. Munoz//February 19, 2021

The chief executive officer of Resorts Casino Hotel Atlantic City Mark Giannantonio has been tapped as chair for the advisory board of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality and Tourism (LIGHT), an academic institute in Stockton University.

Giannantonio will succeed the outgoing chair Mark Blum, a former publisher at the South Jersey newspaper The Press of Atlantic City, Stockton announced on Feb. 19. Giannantonio’s work now will focus on “advancing public policy regarding the gaming, hospitality and tourism industries in New Jersey.”

The appointment of Giannantonio as chair comes at a time when the state’s gambling industry navigates troubled waters, slammed by the COVID-19 pandemic and intense business restrictions that have eaten away at most income sources for the casinos and local Atlantic City economy.

“It has been a challenging time and I hope LIGHT, working with Mark and the board, can be a light that helps guide the industry to new prosperity,” reads a statement from Jane Bokunewicz, the LIGHT Institute’s coordinator, who frequently provides insight and expertise on the state of New Jersey’s gambling industry.