ZZZ - GMG - VEGAS INC 2011-2014

March 4, 2013

VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more

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4 0 U ND ER 4 0 2 01 3 22A Ryan Growney Age: 32 General Manager South Point Hotel Casino B orn and raised in Las Vegas, Ryan Growney helps the South Point Hotel Casino Spa live up to its spurs as ���Vegas Cowboy Central,��� a destination with a hand in everything from the National Finals Rodeo to the World Series of Team Roping and NASCAR. ���I���m at work on a Sunday afternoon sitting on a horse, and I���m still at work at a casino on Las Vegas Boulevard,��� he said, literally in the saddle. Staying in the saddle means maintaining an awe-inspiring hub of western lifestyle events, including 36 equestrian events, not to mention 1,200 permanent stalls, a vet clinic, a feed store and an indoor practice arena, all attached to the hotel. ���By the time you put your horse away and park your car, your bags are in your room,��� he said. ���You come downstairs and everything is climate controlled and self-contained. Whatever you could possibly need for an equestrian event, we have, all right here in the building.��� Growney, who spent seven years as a kid working for a rodeo stock contractor, knows from experience that promoters like the idea of the hotel general manager outside loading cattle trucks, while discussing events. Whether it���s playing a hand of blackjack with a real Budweiser Clydesdale, a Dalmatian named Brady, and South Point owner Michael Gaughan in the casino at high noon, or assisting with Shania Twain���s rodeo romp down the Strip last year, Growney has done whatever it���s taken to attain his lifelong dream. ���Growing up, some people wanted to be a doctor,��� he said. ���I wanted to be the GM of a casino.��� ���G.R.D. 4 0 U ND ER 4 0 2 01 3 from the ground up for the last new Strip hotel opened in recent history was one motivating factor for leaving Caesars for the Cosmopolitan. ���I had some phenomenal mentors at Caesars. They have a very strong support structure that makes it very difficult to fail. It wasn���t a matter of salary, but about a gamechanging hotel in Las Vegas and the opportunity to show what I���m capable of doing,��� he said. Some unique VIP touches at Cosmopolitan include a full bar behind VIP areas, complete with mixology-trained staff. When guests arrive, hot chocolate replaces hot towels and a 24/7 butler staff is ready for just about any request. Cosmopolitan brass prides itself in doing everything but watch its competition. ���We really took the opportunity to get to know our guests and just ask them and not assume what they���d want,��� Lidey added. The executive has been involved with the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada since 2009. This year he plans to also work with the Human Rights Campaign of Southern Nevada. ���B.S. 40 UNDER 40 2013 Sharice Lance Age: 39 Managing Director Henderson International School A n accountant by trade, Sharice Lance knows how to play the numbers game. But unlike the traditional stereotype of the quiet, isolated ���numbers (girl),��� Lance is pretty handy with her people skills too. ���I haven���t been in accounting for a long time. I ���gured it was a good way to get into the business world and understand what people were talking about,��� she said. ���But I like to have my hand in a lot of different areas. I don���t like to ���xate on one thing.��� Before arriving at Henderson International, Lance worked for a for-pro���t university system with 80 schools worldwide. She opened her own campus for the company in Seattle as well. Fresh out of college, she was in the IT world and at one point worked her way out of a job for being too ef���cient. Today, Lance is literally on to greener pastures. A 440-student strong Hender1 The 20130304_VI01_I.indd 22 son International campus is in for an environmental face-lift in 2013. The school recently won an NV Energy grant to install solar panels at the school. Lance will also comb through the campus to make other environmentally sensible decisions, all the while integrating more student technology, even down to the preschool level, which she sees as key to student achievement. ���Technology really helps make learning fun. You may not even know you���re learning multiplication while you���re trying to win a bingo game,��� she added. Involved with the group���s 60-mile walks, Lance is also a supporter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. This year she is an event chair and will plan a new 2013 fundraising effort at Town Square Las Vegas tentatively titled ���Paint the Square Pink.��� ���B.S. Marcus Lidey Age: 32 Director of VIP Services The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas W atching his father run restaurants and nightclubs lit a fire under Marcus Lidey to get into the hospitality field. Starting in 2000, he spent 10 years with Caesars Palace, eventually rising to the director of luxury hotel operations position. When the ambitious Lidey started at Caesars, he immediately found himself in a supervisory role, even though he was still a student in UNLV���s hospitality program. Today as the director of VIP services at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Lidey oversees the butler department, concierge services, VIP services and guest experiences, all of them totaling more than 100 employees. The chance to build departments 2/28/13 3:03:53 PM

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