Brian R. Gamache Chairman of the Board and CEO
Brian R. Gamache, 51, serves as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of WMS Industries Inc. He rejoined WMS in April 2000 as President and Chief Operating Officer and was named President and Chief Executive Officer, along with his appointment to the Board of Directors, in June 2001. Mr. Gamache became Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in July 2008. Under Mr. Gamache's leadership, WMS was named one of the fastest growing companies in the United States in 2007 by Fortune magazine. Additionally, in February 2008, The Wall Street Journal ranked WMS among the Top 20 publicly traded U.S. companies for compound annual shareholder return for the 10-year period ended December 31, 2007.
Mr. Gamache brings a deep understanding of organizational development, financial management, brand management and sales and marketing to WMS. He has focused the company around product quality and integrity, ensuring WMS' unmatched reputation for innovative game development continues. Mr. Gamache encourages the kind of passion and innovation that are essential facets of WMS' heritage. His focus on sustaining WMS’ “Culture of Innovation” coupled with strong fiscal discipline has led to strong operating and financial results and, through year-end 2009, WMS’ stock price appreciated at a rate greater than that of the S&P 500 for the last five years. With a year-end 2009 market capitalization of over $2 billion, WMS’ capitalization has increased approximately 10-fold during Mr. Gamache’s tenure since April 2000.
Prior to rejoining WMS, Mr. Gamache served as President of Wyndham International's Luxury and Resort Division where he managed the hotel organization's 31 luxury properties. Before Wyndham, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of WHG Resorts and Casinos, Inc., a subsidiary of WMS Industries. Mr. Gamache previously held various executive positions with Marriott Hotel Corporation and Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Mr. Gamache also serves as a board member of the American Gaming Association, a Trustee of Lake Forest Academy and a director of KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation. Mr. Gamache graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Business Administration.
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Orrin J. Edidin President
Orrin J. Edidin, 48, is President of WMS Industries. Prior to becoming President in July 2008, Mr. Edidin served since 2001 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of WMS.
Mr. Edidin, who has been with WMS since 1997, has driven WMS's expanding global footprint, reflecting strong organic growth that has been supplemented by acquisitions, including Orion Gaming based in The Netherlands in July 2006 and Systems in Progress based in Austria in July 2007. Under his leadership, WMS has continued its international expansion in Asia, Australia, Europe and Latin America, as well as continued to grow its North American business.
Mr. Edidin's vigilant focus on creating and expanding WMS’ portfolio of intellectual property and expanding and strengthening the Company’s strong tradition for innovation, has led to the broad expansion of WMS’ differentiated product portfolio and global market share gains.
Prior to joining WMS in 1997 as Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel, Mr. Edidin was Associate General Counsel for Fruit of the Loom, Inc. and Farley Industries. From 1986 to 1992, he was Senior Attorney with the Chicago law firm of Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenman. Mr. Edidin also is a Trustee of the International Association of Gaming Advisors and is Vice President of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers.
Mr. Edidin earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Illinois in 1983, and received a Juris Doctorate Degree, Cum Laude, from the University College of Law in 1986.
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Scott D. Schweinfurth Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Scott D. Schweinfurth, 56, was named Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of WMS Industries in April 2000. Mr. Schweinfurth, a Certified Public Accountant, directs the global management of WMS’s finance, accounting, facilities and investor relations functions.
Under Mr. Schweinfurth’s fiscal guidance, WMS through December 2009 has achieved a consistent track record of improved margins, increased capital efficiencies and higher financial returns.With a sizeable cash position and little debt, WMS has a strong balance sheet and a financial position that rates as one of the strongest in the gaming industry.
Prior to joining WMS, Mr. Schweinfurth served as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Las Vegas-based Bally Technologies. At Bally, Mr. Schweinfurth also served as Managing Director of the company's Berlin-based Bally Wulff subsidiary. He began his career as a Staff Accountant at Ernst & Young in Chicago, and was promoted to Partner in 1988. Mr. Schweinfurth received a bachelor of science degree in Accounting from Miami University.
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Larry J. PaceyExecutive Vice President, Global Products and Chief Innovation Officer
Larry Pacey, 45, serves as Executive Vice President, Global Products and Chief Innovation Officer of WMS Industries Inc. Mr. Pacey leads WMS’ global marketing and product strategy, with responsibility for game development, engineering, advanced R&D activities, product management and marketing. Before being promoted to his present position, Mr. Pacey was Senior Vice President for Product Development.
Mr. Pacey's leadership and strategic vision has helped build and reinforce WMS' reputation as a foremost innovator of game content and gaming products. His ground-breaking approach in product development has led to the creation of entirely new categories of game play that are revolutionizing the global gaming industry. Under Mr. Pacey, WMS helped transform slot machine play from a passive experience to one that players find interactive and engaging. During his tenure, Mr. Pacey helped create first-of-a-kind technologies that are shaping the future of the networked casino, including WMS’s Bluebird® and Bluebird2 gaming cabinets, its CPU-NXT®2 operating system and the WAGE-NET® server-based, networked gaming system solution. In addition, his teams created and introduced the first-of-their-kind revolutionary Transmissive Reels®, Community Gaming®, Sensory Immersion, and Adaptive Gaming® platforms that have positioned WMS as a technology innovator and leader.
These efforts have resulted in numerous top innovation, technology and product industry awards and honors for WMS from Casino Enterprise Management magazine and Casino Journal, as well as being recognized as the most innovative company by Citigroup in 2007. Additionally, Mr. Pacey was recognized in 2009 as one of the industry's Top 10 technology leaders by Casino Journal and one of the Top 20 visionaries by Global Gaming Business magazine.
Mr. Pacey's background is steeped in video games and interactive entertainment. Prior to joining WMS in 2001, he was an Executive Producer for n-Space, Segasoft and Atari.
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Ken Lochiatto Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Kenneth Lochiatto, 47, serves as WMS' Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the Company's business process development and global commercial operations. Mr. Lochiatto leads WMS’ commercial sales operations and customer service efforts, its production, manufacturing and materials planning functions, and the Company’s sourcing and global supply chain. Prior to being promoted to his present position in July 2008, Mr. Lochiatto was Senior Vice President of Sales Operations.
Mr. Lochiatto’s unique combination of technical expertise and work experience has helped to improve WMS’s customer relations, production processes and led to the strengthening of the Company’s profitability and competitive positioning.
Mr. Lochiatto joined WMS in 2006 as Senior Vice President of Sales Operations, bringing a wealth of commercial and operational experience from his 22-year career at General Electric. Mr. Lochiatto's responsibilities at GE included assignments in engineering, finance, marketing and manufacturing, as well as general management.
An engineer by training, Mr. Lochiatto holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master's degree in industrial administration from Carnegie Mellon University.
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