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Photo by Michelle Alalmo
Rodney Ferguson is Spirit Mountain Casino's now chief executive officer.
Ferguson took the job in October after a successful five-year run at Isleta
Pueblo seven miles south of Albuquerque, N.M.
Rodney Ferguson's varied
experience includes
working for 'The Donald'
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Rodney Ferguson, new chief
executive officer at Spirit
Mountain Casino, looks
southward out his second-story
office windows the week before
Christmas and envisions what
the property' might look like in a
few years under his experienced
supervision. !
A spa and swimming pool facil
ity, and an 18-hole golf course,
are among the additions Ferguson
sees in Spirit Mountain's possible
future, transforming it into a desti
nation resort for gamers and their
families alike
Ferguson, 52, was named chief
executive officer in October after a
successful five-year stint at Isleta
Pueblo seven miles south of Albu
querque, N.M.
"I'm happy I came here," Ferguson
says. "It's a very nice property. The
employees are extremely friendly.
Probably the friendliest employees
I've worked with."
What drew him?
'The position and the opportunity
to help further enhance what is
here," he says. "I saw the potential
when I first came out here a few
years ago and then when I came
out for the interview, they had
just expanded. I thought, 'They're
very progressive and there's the
potential of a few more things that
can be done to enhance the overall
amenities here.' "
Ferguson graduated in 1978
with a bachelor of science degree
See FERGUSON
continued on page 4
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Cm.'. Signals editor
A n Arctic blast that
moved into the Pacific
-Northwest the week
ttJbre Christmas buried the
Grand Konde area beneath
several blankets of snow and shut
down the Tribal campus between
Friday, Dec. 19, and Friday, Dec.
26.
Although AccuWeather.com re
ported almost 17 inches of snow and
more than an inch of rain, mostly
freezing, falling in Grand Ronde
between Dec. 18 and Christmas
Eve, most of that snow (15.5 inches)
fell between Dec. 20-22. Many area
See SNOW continued
on pa;es 6-7
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