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While the committee that chose Sonco Gaming New Brunswick Ltd. to build a Magnetic Hill casino had lots of information the public doesn't have, the decision was no doubt swayed by the involvement of The Navegante Group in the winning bid.

The company is led by Larry J. Woolf, a well known and highly respected figure in the gaming industry.

After working his way up from the bottom of the casino business while still a university student, Woolf achieved the pinnacle of his Las Vegas career as the president, chairman and CEO who oversaw the construction of the 5,000 room, billion-dollar MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in 1990.

Deciding that was a feat impossible to beat, Woolf retired at age 51, quickly got stir crazy, and started Navegante with his son Larry Woolf Jr.

They founded the company to go after their first project, a story that is a bit of a legend in the gaming industry. When the province of Ontario put out a request for proposals for the creation of Casino Niagara in the mid-1990's, Navegante got the nod, beating out 27 other proposals, among them one from Donald Trump and several from large, publicly traded companies.

Navegante won the bid in June of 1996 and had the casino open by Christmas, a task that among other things meant taking 300,000 job applications, interviewing some 30,000 applicants, and hiring and training 4,000 of them to work at the massive casino. Navegante itself now employs 3,500 people around the world and has brought casino gaming to Asia. The company owns, leases or manages 10 casinos in Nevada, and for the past year has been hired on to turn around the fortunes of The Sahara, a Rat Pack institution (the original Ocean's Eleven was filmed there) but now a faded glory.

Choosing the Latin word for "navigator" as the company's name, the Woolfs do just that, help corporations and governments navigate the business of building, opening and running casinos.

Woolf Sr. seems to have also carved a niche by understanding the casino model you would find on the Las Vegas strip just isn't for everyone. Anyone worried he might try to force his 5,000 room, $1 billion style of thinking into a Moncton context probably need not worry.