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Gardner S. Gurney
Executive Deputy Director of the
New York State Gaming Commission &
Acting Director of the Division of the Lottery
Gardner was appointed to the position of Acting
Director New York State Gaming Commission’s Division of the Lot-
tery in February of 2013. In fiscal year 2013–14, the Lottery generated
over $7.3 billion in traditional lottery sales and over $2.25 billion in aid
to education (a 3.5% increase over fiscal year 2012–13). Overseeing
the largest lottery in the U.S., Gardner is responsible for the key busi-
ness drivers of the organization’s marketing and operations, assessing
key performance indicators and strategic initiatives, and providing day
to day directional guidance for the entire organization.
Gardner started with the New York Lottery in 1988. He has served
during those nearly 27 years in its Internal Audit, Financial Manage-
ment and Operations areas and as its Executive Deputy Director.
Gardner has been the procurement lead and an active member of
the evaluation committees of many requests for proposals, including
those involving the procurement of the video gaming central sys-
tem, video gaming terminals, instant tickets, external auditors and
the traditional lottery central system. Gardner also oversaw the Lot-
tery’s side of replacing a total lottery system, including conversion of
all network communications from a statewide controlled network
to a substantially more efficient lottery contractor-provided system
which has saved millions of dollars over the past five years and driven
those savings into funds for aid to education in New York.
Gardner has also worked collaboratively with other state lottery
leaders to manage and improve multi-state games like Powerball,
Mega Millions, and Cash 4 Life.
Gardner applies his leadership skills, discernment, and guidance
abilities to accomplish goals despite an ever increasing number of
challenges. He is continually curious about what aspects of an or-
ganization’s processes are working or can be improved and a strong
believer in research, testing and analysis to make the best decisions
and bring the underlying business strategies to fruition. He finds
the consumer-driven aspect of lottery industry very rewarding—it
is quickly apparent if a product or marketing program is hitting the
mark since consumers respond every day with their discretionary
income spending decisions. It is also very rewarding to see staff and
managers work together and grow (even when that may mean they
leave the New York Lottery to further their career development).
Gardner is a U.S. Air Force veteran, has a Bachelor’s Degree in
Business Management from Husson University, Bangor ME and
continued post graduate work in New York’s capital district. He re-
sides in Altamont, NY with his wife Kim and has three daughters.
■
Larry Loss
Executive Vice President, Iowa Lottery
Legacy Employees: The ones who have made
our industry successful year after year. That de-
scription fits Larry Loss, Executive Vice President
of the Iowa Lottery and one of the 2015 recipients of the PGRI
Lifetime Achievement Award. This year, Larry celebrates 30 years
in the lottery business and is among a handful of Iowa Lottery
employees who have worked at the lottery since its start in 1985.
Larry has worked in nearly all aspects of the lottery business,
beginning his career as a lottery district sales representative mak-
ing weekly sales calls at lottery retail locations in northwest Iowa.
His understanding of retail issues, sales leadership, and growing
knowledge of the lottery industry led to his promotion to re-
gional sales manager after just four years. In another four years,
Larry became a member of the Lottery’s senior management
team when he was promoted to vice president of sales. He held
that position until 2012, when he became the second in charge
at the Iowa Lottery as executive vice president and vice president
of sales and product development.
The Iowa Lottery has achieved a number of industry firsts dur-
ing Larry’s career, and his skills as an innovative problem solver
and field-management expert have contributed mightily to the lot-
tery’s long-term success. To cite just a few recent examples, Larry
led the lottery team that developed the Iowa Lottery’s first game-
book offering, an instant-scratch product with several games con-
tained in a multi-page booklet. That product became one of the
Iowa lottery’s biggest sales successes and went on to win the Best
New Instant Game award in 2013 from the North American As-
sociation of State and Provincial Lotteries.
Larry also led the team that developed the Tech the Halls con-
cept, a wildly popular holiday promotion featuring electronics
as prizes. The lottery offered that promotion for a few successive
years, and it went on to be copied by several other U.S. lotteries
who took note of Iowa’s success.
Larry has also spearheaded solutions for important issues applying
to our industry as a whole. In 2006, he helped develop the Lottery’s
voluntary self-exclusion program, which can be utilized as a tool
in recovery for those dealing with problem gambling. Similar pro-
grams modeled from Iowa’s concept have been introduced by other
lotteries around the country. He also was instrumental in the de-
velopment of the Iowa Lottery’s “Gold Star” retailer compensation
program, which utilizes increasing sales commissions to encourage
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// PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // September/October 2015
Major Peter J. O’Connell Lottery Industry
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients
Continued on page 57