Connecticut Lottery initiates CEO search amid ongoing challenges as President Greg Smith’s retirement looms

Amid ongoing challenges, the Connecticut Lottery Corporation has begun the search for a new chief executive as its current President, Gregory Smith, is planning to retire in 2024.

As reported by CT Mirror, board members have been aware of Smith's plans for several months, with the inclusion of "Discussion of Executive Compensation and Succession Planning" on their public agenda in June. However, both Smith and the board have refrained from publicly disclosing his plans.

Since assuming the role of the lottery's president in 2018, Smith has been perceived as a stabilizing force, especially during a period marked by low turnover, internal discord, and credibility challenges at the state Capitol for the quasi-public agency, CT Mirror reported.

The quest for a new CEO coincides with a time of numerous challenges for the company. These challenges encompass an erroneous invalidation of winning tickets due to a new point-of-sales system, the departure of its sports-betting vendor in just the second year of a 10-year agreement, and the delayed launch of an iLottery, which was initially promised years ago.

The omission, coupled with the ticket-verification issue and other concerns, sparked speculation on Thursday when the lottery's board made a decision with minimal explanation to initiate a search by entrusting the responsibility to its executive committee, the report said.

Rob Simmelkjaer, the board's Chair, clarified in a brief interview after Thursday's meeting that Greg Smith remains the CEO, and the vote did not signify an imminent departure.

“He’s going to retire at the end of 2024. It’s a planned retirement. It was a technical thing. We had to make the executive committee be the search committee,” Simmelkjaer was quoted as saying in the report.