SCOTT FISHER, PH.D.
Co-founding partner
Dr. Fisher, co-founding partner of Convergence Strategy Group and founding partner of Leisure Dynamics Research, has broad economic expertise which makes him incredibly adept with a wide range of analytical tools. He has performed feasibility studies, market analyses and economic impact assessments for casinos, hotels, theme parks, airports, arenas and convention facilities for clients in both the public and private sector throughout the world. Dr. Fisher frequently prepares operational audits of existing casinos and hotels for the purpose of consulting on departmental inefficiencies. He also performs various asset valuations to evaluate potential property sales, purchases and litigation processes. To determine the ultimate viability of a new property, Dr. Fisher’s analyses typically require the preparation of complex, detailed operating pro formas.
Dr. Fisher’s reports played a role in securing financing for some of the world’s largest gaming resorts, including the Wynn Resorts and Melco PBL developments in Macau. His global experience also includes gaming and resort feasibility projects in: Japan; Thailand; U.A.E; Australia; Cambodia; Canada; C.N.M.I; Cyprus; Germany; Hungary; Laos; Latvia; Myanmar; Philippines; Singapore; South Korea; Spain; Taiwan; U.K.; U.S.V.I.; and Vietnam. He has also been active in analyzing the feasibility of casino and resort developments in his regional home market on the Gulf Coast, including resort project feasibility analyses in the Lake Charles, suburban New Orleans, Biloxi and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi markets. These analyses projected gaming revenues, hotel demand and operating cash flow from operations, ultimately used for gaming license acquisition efforts and transactions such as project financing and M&A activities.
Dr. Fisher is a former co-owner of Riverwalk Casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi, former co-owner of Casino Monte Lago in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada, and was approved for an individual Nevada gaming license in 2009. Prior to forming Leisure Dynamics Research, LLC in 2009, Dr. Fisher was a partner of Innovation Capital, Innovation Project Development, and was Managing Director of the casino and leisure consulting firm The Innovation Group, a position he held from 1997 to 2009.
Dr. Fisher has a Ph.D. in Economics from Tulane University with a focus on International Trade, Industrial Organization and Public Finance and an MBA from the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University with a concentration in Finance, with Beta Gamma Sigma honors. Concurrent with the Ph.D. program, Dr. Fisher was an instructor of Public Finance, Law and Economics, Microeconomics and Macroeconomics.
Dr. Fisher serves on the Board of the Arts Council of New Orleans as well as the organization’s Finance Committee.
SUZANNE PERILLOUX LECKERT, AICP
Co-Founding Partner
Co-founding partner of Convergence Strategy Group, Ms. Leckert has been providing planning and analytical services to clients globally since 2003. Holding the American Planning Association’s AICP credential as well as a Certificate of Entrepreneurship from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program, Ms. Leckert is skilled in strategic planning and the use of analytical tools, including geographic information systems (GIS). She routinely performs market research, feasibility studies, financial analyses, planning studies, and competitive assessments, giving her clients in the private, tribal and public sectors the data and insights they need to make critical decisions.
Ms. Leckert has been widely recognized as a leader in the gaming industry and in strategic planning, having been an invited speaker at numerous gaming industry conferences and frequent author and commentator in gaming industry publications. Ms. Leckert was nominated as one of the Great Women of Gaming as a “Game Changer” in 2018, was awarded the LA-APA’s “Excellence Award” for the Shreveport Common Market Assessment in 2015, and was named by Global Gaming Business as an “Emerging Leader” in the casino gaming industry, 2013/2014. During her successful career, she has evaluated the practicality and feasibility of large and small-scale developments across the United States, Asia, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, and Africa. Her clients have included: casino gaming operators such as MGM Resorts, Wynn Resorts, Rush Street Gaming, Peninsula Pacific, Genting Americas, Caesars Entertainment, Saratoga Casino Holdings, Wilmorite, and Isle of Capri; governments and agencies such as the City of Danville, Virginia, State of New York, City of Waukegan, Illinois, City of Richmond, Virginia, Village of Tinley Park, Illinois, New Mexico Racing Commission, General Assembly of the State of Delaware, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, Government of Bermuda, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, Regional Planning Commission of New Orleans, Plaquemines Port Harbor and Terminal District, Lafourche Parish, and the City of Gretna, Louisiana; and Native American tribal entities such as Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde (OR), Cabazon Band of Mission Indians (CA), and the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana.
Ms. Leckert previously worked for TMG Consulting as Director of Gaming, Feasibility and Land Use Analysis, and was the Director of Development Analysis at The Innovation Group. Serving the City of New Orleans, Ms. Leckert was a City Planner and Special Assistant to the Planning Director. Her more than two decades of work experience includes a staff position with U.S. Senator John Breaux and one with the Tax and Estates practice of the law firm Jones Walker.
Ms. Leckert has a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of New Orleans, and a Master’s Certificate in Historic Preservation. In her graduate studies, Ms. Leckert assessed the economic impact of historic district designation, and made recommendations for the revitalization and redevelopment of historic neighborhoods and commercial corridors.
Ms. Leckert is a devoted family-woman, currently raising three young children with her husband. She also dedicates her time to mentoring young professional planners, as well as to her church, great causes and charitable organizations including Edible Schoolyard New Orleans and the Preservation Resource Center.
NETWORK OF COLLABORATORS
With over 45+ years of collective experience, Convergence Strategy Group’s partners have developed a robust professional network. Our strategic alliances allow us to draw from experts in: