Malerba says Mohegan Sun has learned from recession

Mohegan - A "smarter" Mohegan Sun will emerge from the recession, Lynn Malerba, chairwoman of the tribal council that doubles as the casino's management board, told a business group that met at the casino Friday morning.

By all accounts, that can only bode well for southeastern Connecticut.

"We live here, we work here," Malerba said, referring to the Mohegan Tribe's 1,800 members. "We're acutely aware that the decisions we make … affect the entire region."

Both host and the featured speaker of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut's monthly business breakfast, Malerba said the decision to avoid layoffs at the casino last year had been the "right strategy," and that it was important that Mohegan Sun continue to "freshen" its offerings.

"We'll emerge from all this smarter," she said of the recession's challenges. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

In 2009, Mohegan Sun imposed an across-the-board rollback of salaries, with top management absorbing greater cuts, percentage-wise, than hourly workers.

Just as important, Malerba said, the casino preserved employees' health benefits. Later, she said the tribe handles more than $1 million a week in medical claims.

Amid cost-cutting, the casino sought to maintain its level of service, training employees to fill whatever positions were open. She said management looked everywhere for potential savings, a process she recommended companies pursue regularly.

And, despite the conditions, Mohegan Sun upgraded its Casino of the Wind, introducing new restaurants and enclosing the so-called Winter Entrance.

"Our team doesn't stand still," Malerba said, noting that in 2010 the casino hopes to add another new restaurant and nongaming "entertainment options" requiring a minimum of capital investment.

The casino is also seeking to partner with a developer on a new hotel tower, which was to have been the centerpiece of an expansion project suspended in 2008.

Malerba, recently named chief of the Mohegan Tribe, will step down as council chairwoman in August.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com