Emerald Queen Casino appoints Yale Rowe as CEO and Peter Chu as COO
They succeed Frank Wright and George Robinson at the Fife and Tacoma casinos in Washington.
US.- The Emerald Queen Casino (EQC), owned by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, has named Yale Rowe as CEO and Peter Chu as COO for its Fife and Tacoma venues in Washington. They succeed Frank Wright and George Robinson, who saw the EQC grow from a riverboat casino. The 310,000-square-foot casino in Tacoma opened in 2020.
Rowe managed Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas before becoming president of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe. Chu worked at Hyatt International Hotels in Asia and later and various hotel groups in the US. He became involved in gaming with Pinnacle, where he was part of the development and opening team for the first integrated casino resort in Vietnam. He has also worked for Boyd Gaming Corporation.
Puyallup Tribal Council Chairman Bill Sterud said: “It’s going to be an exciting new time in the casino industry on the Puyallup Reservation. We’ve brought in two people to manage and move forward in this new age of gaming we’re in competition with. I welcome them aboard. It’s an exciting era for the Tribe.”
Rowe commented: “I had no intention on getting into the gaming business, but I happened to be in Las Vegas going to college. I started in housekeeping and to this day it is still probably the best learning experience I’ve had. … I’m good at trying to get everybody on the same sheet of music and moving toward a common goal, whatever that might be.
“It’s an exciting time to lead the Emerald Queen Casinos. What this Tribe has accomplished with the casinos over the last 30 years is special, and I look forward to guiding the operations to new heights.”
Chu added: “We have all the components for success at Emerald Queen Casino, great and passionate team members, premium products, and a supportive Tribal Council.”
Chairman Bill Sterud thanked Wright and Robinson. He said: “They did an outstanding job and I want to thank them for their time and what they put into it. We started with nothing and we brought in a riverboat out on the waterfront. It worked out well. With the size constraints we had to move over here with tents, but that’s totally making another casino. That’s two casinos they were a part of. The third had to start from scratch during Covid. They did an outstanding job during Covid. They are my friends.”
