ALBUQUERQUE – The New Mexico Lottery board of directors today interviewed candidates for the position of chief executive officer and voted to offer the position to Interim CEO David Barden.
If Barden accepts the board’s offer, compensation would be subject to contract negotiation.
“We interviewed four exceptional candidates and each one could provide the leadership and innovation that the New Mexico Lottery needs in an entertainment marketplace where players have lots of choices,” said Dan Salzwedel, chairman of the lottery’s board of directors. “In the end, we selected David Barden because we believe he has the ability to hit the ground running and to make high-impact changes that will result in a higher profile for the lottery, better sales and more revenue for the Legislative Lottery Scholarship program.”
“Leading the New Mexico Lottery is an exciting opportunity for the exact reason that there’s so much potential for the New Mexico Lottery to do more,” David Barden said.
The board hired Barden as the lottery’s interim CEO on Dec. 4. Barden’s work experience includes serving as vice president of the Arkansas Lottery Commission between 2009 and 2011 and as senior attorney and then director of marketing and product development for the South Carolina Education Lottery from 2001 to 2009.
Barden graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of South Carolina and a juris doctor degree from the Ohio Northern School of Law. He is married and has two children.
Salzwedel said the board received 20 resumes from which it selected 10 finalists and ultimately interviewed four candidates. The four candidates completed background investigations. The board’s decision to offer the position to Barden was unanimous.
The other three candidates were: John A. Martin, assistant director for lottery and executive staff at the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency; Dale McDonnell, a lottery industry consultant and former assistant director and general counsel at the Minnesota State Lottery; and Tom Trella, director of portfolio strategy and analysis at the Connecticut Lottery Corporation.
The New Mexico Lottery has 55 employees. In FY 2013, the Legislative Lottery Scholarship program received a record $43.7 million from net ticket sales of $141.8 million.
Legislative Lottery Scholarships
The sale of all New Mexico Lottery games funds a college tuition-assistance program. Since its inception in 1996, the New Mexico Lottery has raised $593.4 million for education and more than 90,000 students have attended college on Legislative Lottery Scholarships. More information about Legislative Lottery Scholarships is available at www.nmlottery.com.
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