05/22/2007

Garden State Business Briefs

A veteran of the circus and other top family shows will run the Prudential Center in Newark, the building's management group announced yesterday.

After conducting a national search, Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek and AEG New York/New Jersey President Nick Sakiewicz, whose company will manage the building, hired Dale Adams as Prudential Center's general manager to run day-to-day operations.

Adams has run several other large entertainment facilities, including Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, the Pontchartrain Center near New Orleans and the Mullins Center complex at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

However, as the Prudential Center tries to lure events from the Continental Airlines Arena, Adams' connections to industry giant Feld Entertainment may be his most valuable asset.

Adams spent six years as an executive with Feld, overseeing touring productions of Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, Disney On Ice, Goosebumps, Grease On Ice, and various other theatrical properties. Feld will stage more than 50 shows at the Continental Arena, but managers of the Prudential Center have said they will try to lure some of that business to Newark in the coming years.

"How do you not get excited about a building like this?" Adams said. "It's got great access to the city and the entire state."

-Matthew Futterman