Ameristar Casinos Appoints Former Harrah’s CIO as its New President

Ameristar Casinos hired one of Harrah’s aces.  Ameristar announced yesterday that John Boushy will join the company as its president, reporting to Chairman and CEO Craig H. Neilsen, on August 31, 2006.  Boushy, 51, will be responsible for leading operations, finance, HR, marketing, IT, food and drink, administration, PR and entertainment. He’ll also play a strategic role in the company’s expansion and growth plans.  For that, he’ll earn a base salary of $730,000, according to the SEC filing.

Boushy brings a lot of valuable experience to Ameristar’s table.  He held practically every conceivable position during his long tenure with Harrah’s.  He led IT for the company beginning in 1993 and was named CIO two years later.  In 1999, he added the title of senior vice president of brand operations and design and construction to his CIO role.  When Harrah’s acquired Caesars Entertainment in 2004, Boushy was put in charge of integrating the two companies and officially moved out of the CIO role, which is now occupied by Tim Stanley.)  Most recently, he was executive vice president of project development, design and construction in charge of efforts to develop master plans for Harrah’s casinos around the country.

Also yesterday, auto paints and coatings distributor FinishMaster elected Mark Boxer to its board of directors.  Boxer is EVP and CIO of WellPoint.