Power 20: Joe Weinberg

Company: Cordish Cos.

Title: President, gaming and lodging division

Age: 49

Weinberg says power is: “…doing the right thing and inspiring others to do the same.”

Joe Weinberg fancies himself a conductor.

Only the orchestra numbers in the thousands, the audience is comprised of state legislators and officials, and the crescendo is sounded with the rattling of coins rather than Timpani drums.

“I’m the conductor, I’m the one who is putting all the pieces together,” said the nephew of philanthropist-developer Harry Weinberg. “The most rewarding part is when we complete the project and we open the doors and we’re able to experience what the customer experiences.”

Weinberg is president of Baltimore’s Cordish Cos., where he heads up the company’s small but growing gaming and lodging business. While company chairman David S. Cordish is often seen as the face of the development firm, Weinberg is the one behind the scenes turning concepts into concrete.

Locally, he’s just gearing up on what is to become Maryland’s largest gaming parlor at the Arundel Mills shopping mall. The company broke ground on the $500 million project Jan. 27. Over the next two years, Weinberg will be coordinating efforts to build Maryland Live!

The project is expected to generate hundreds of millions of tax dollars, fund tens of millions in infrastructure improvements and employ hundreds in Anne Arundel County. And it’s part of a growth industry for the third-generation firm. As states increasingly turn to gambling to shore up cash-strapped budgets, Weinberg is hoping to position the company as the go-to firm to help start and run those facilities.

It’s a relationship that pays off not just for the company and the governments but for the network of firms involved in designing, building and running the casinos. Among the early beneficiaries was Klai Juba Architects, a Las Vegas firm that helped Cordish design its first two casinos in Florida and has stuck with it through several others completed since or in the works now. It’s the firm that helped design Maryland Live!, and architect John R. Klai II said he’s enjoyed the relationship with Weinberg and Cordish over the years.

“To see Joe put his head down and go to work is inspirational to watch,” Klai said. “Joe is always encouraging us to think freshly.”

As head of the company’s gaming and lodging business, Weinberg directs a work force in the thousands and tries to give his employees as much autonomy as possible. But as Klai noted, he’s just as involved in the process as the people he oversees. He is frequently the point man brokering deals with government officials, working closely with architects and designers, and lining up financial packages to help fuel those ideas and designs.

Weinberg took an interest in the development business from his father, Nathan Weinberg. The elder Weinberg and his brother, Harry, helped grow the family business into what’s now known as the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, a philanthropic organization funded by the brothers’ successes in real estate.

But for the younger Weinberg, developing projects is more about turning dreams into bricks-and-mortar reality and sitting back to watch the impact of those projects on their communities.

“At the end of the day, you’ve got the physical, living structure that’s there every day and people are interacting with it every day,” he said.