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Dean Jordan Resigns As President Of Gale Force Holdings

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RALEIGH — Dean Jordan survived arena construction delays and awful ticket sales in Greensboro, but it finally caught up with him in Raleigh on Tuesday when he resigned as president of Gale Force Holdings, which runs theCarolina Hurricanes.

People familiar with all the parties involved say this was not a voluntary resignation.

Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos praised Dean Jordan for his work, but said it was time for the Hurricanes to move on.

Jordan joined Gale Force Holdings in April 1998. People who worked with him said he was a tough boss.

Those who sat at the negotiating table with him said he made some good decisions for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Jordan made all the final decisions on arena parking and traffic control. Bottlenecks around the arena, especially on Hurricanes' opening night and a motivational seminar, were worse than anyone expected.

WRAL called five members of the Arena Authority, and all five members were surprised to hear the news that Jordan was gone.

One person close to the situation told WRAL that Gale Force was set up like an "I" formation in football.

He said too many people were lined up doing the same job, and it caused infighting.

Gale Force Holdings' Chief Financial Officer Jon Kennedy and Sims Hinds, vice president for arena management, are also without jobs Wednesday.

Hinds will be replaced by Davin Olsen, Gale Force's director of arena operations. Kennedy will be succeeded by Mike Amendola, vice president of finance and administration.

Karmanos, who lives in suburban Detroit and runs Compuware Corp., will now be in Raleigh two or three days a week to take over daily oversight of the company.

Karmanos will now personally negotiate withN.C. Stateon the naming rights to the arena. From staff and wire reports

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