Title: Director of Casino Operations
Workplace: Dover Downs
Age: 38
What do gambling, jazz and higher education have in common? They all need team players like Anthony DeFrancisco, who wears three hats as the director of casino operations at Dover Downs, director of public relations at the Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival and as a professor at Delaware State University.
DeFrancisco’s eclectic mix of experiences include his recent promotion at Dover Downs, where he has guided the table games department through the tumultuous times of casino gaming during a pandemic.
He knows firsthand that taking care of employees is paramount to success, starting off as a casino dealer himself. With his team on the front-line of customer service, dealing with new challenges from the pandemic behind the protection of face masks and shields, DeFrancisco has led with empathy and an openness to swift adjustments.
With many businesses struggling to find or keep employees, DeFrancisco knew he had to support his team on every level in order for them to be successful. That attention to care has paid off – DeFrancisco’s dealers are now making more money than they have before, exceeding even pre-pandemic numbers.
DeFrancisco is a team player on and off the clock. Through the “All In” committee at Dover Downs, he has helped with toy drives, local clean-ups, Adopt-A-Highway events and also Code Purple events. When he’s not working for Dover Downs, he also works to raise as much money for the Jazz Festival and its beneficiary, the Beebe Medical Foundation, as possible.
On top of that, he also combines his love of giving back and golfing by playing in up to a dozen fundraising golf tournaments every year.