West Valley Hot Topics

West Valley Hot Topics

Location: The Starpointe Residents' Club - 17665 W. Elliot Road, Goodyear, AZ

Nikki Taylor

Destination Sales Manager

City of Avondale

Since 2021, Nikki has showcased the City of Avondale with passion. Whether spearheading a sales and marketing campaign or selling the City's event space, Nikki positions Avondale as "the" place to visit, play, live and prosper. Nikki Taylor brings more than 20 years of hospitality and tourism industry experience to the City of Avondale, most recently coming from Visit Mesa. She plays an impactful role in building the City's Destination Marketing Organization, Discover Avondale. She develops and implements tourism generating programs to promote Avondale as a premier conference, event, and tourism destination and helps generate bed tax for the City. Nikki comes to Avondale with a Bachelor's degree from New Mexico State University.

Mike Bean

Chief Executive Officer

Desert Diamond Casinos

Over the course of the past 28 years, Mike has served in senior management positions at the largest and most reputable gaming operations in the country, including Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Harrah’s Entertainment and Boyd Gaming.

Over the course of more than a decade, Mike played an integral leadership role in the successful opening, operation and development of Mohegan Sun Pocono, Pennsylvania’s first casino and Mohegan Sun’s first commercial casino. As President of Mohegan Sun Pocono, Mike developed and executed an intricate company strategy, establishing a guest experience centric organization while maintaining focus on financial performance, leadership and positive mentoring of team members. Originally an aged racetrack, Mohegan Sun Pocono became a dynamic casino and hotel operation including over 2,300 slot machines, 91 table games, 21 bars and restaurants, shopping, entertainment and conventions with more than 2,000 team members.

Mike led an advisory team in Washington State that materially mitigated the impact of impending competition on the business and provided expertise to the hedge fund owner of a property that faced challenges in an uber-competitive market in the northeastern United States market.

Mike served as Chief Executive Officer of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe’s Gaming Enterprises and most recently was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Desert Diamond Casinos & Entertainment in Arizona.

Mike has always worked closely with local business leaders and non-profit organizations. He has served on numerous boards of directors including chambers of commerce, the United Way, YMCA, Volunteers of America, non-profit media organizations and community college foundation boards.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bryant College and a Juris Doctorate from Vermont Law School.

Bridget Binsbacher

Executive Director

Cactus League

Bridget Binsbacher has been recognized as a respected leader in both the public sector and professionally. She serves as the Executive Director of the Arizona Cactus League Baseball Association supporting Spring Training, which is one of Arizona and Peoria’s largest economic drivers.

Bridget has been recognized as:

AzBusiness Leaders – Top Five Tourism Leaders of Arizona, 2021
AzBusiness Leaders – Most Influential Women in Arizona, 2019
Arizona Who’s Who – Top Five Women in Business Leaders of Arizona, 2016
She is also a Paul Harris Fellow recipient and a West Valley 24 Mover and Shaker

Chantel Carlson

Sr. Director, Business Operations

Phoenix Raceway

Chantel Carlson joined Phoenix Raceway as Senior Director of Business Operations in June 2023. In her role, she leads the community engagement strategies for Phoenix Raceway and NASCAR at the local level. Through these initiatives, Chantel has spearheaded multiple new programs that have helped to attract new and diverse fans to NASCAR. This has led to the creation of field trip programs and partnerships with local schools and universities to integrate NASCAR and motorsports into curriculums.

Aside from youth initiatives, Chantel also champions Phoenix Raceway's business development strategy, focusing on the track rental program and bringing new business relationships to NASCAR. This has led to the creation of B2B strategies that allow professional groups to utilize Phoenix Raceway’s facilities for networking events and tours, allowing Greater Phoenix Business professionals to gain access and knowledge of Phoenix Raceway and NASCAR.