VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/31693
(TICK-TOCK) After the unexpected death of its promising leader last Christmas, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce is back at it again. RICHARD N. VELOTTA finds out if 2011 is finally the year the chamber finds its mojo. f ever there was a time for the business community to step up to the public policy plate, it’s now. Companies of all sizes have watched Nevada’s economy wither as much of the prosperity that was built over the past two decades was reclaimed by the desert. We’ve heard over and over that a big piece of the solution is economic diversification. But how exactly do you do that if you’re the owner of a small business? Entrepreneurs can design killer apps in their garages, but no one has designed an app that can overcome financial hard times. It’s going to take the mobilization of a large influential group to come up with a solution to such an enormous problem. The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce could be | 16 MAY 2011 | that group if it knows when to lead and when to compromise. Several back stories have begun to converge, and if they mesh just right, we all could be back on the road to prosperity. When longtime Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Kara Kelley announced she would step down nearly two years ago, chamber leaders put together a thoughtful plan to recruit a successor. Kelley gave plenty of lead time; her announcement in September 2009 included a departure date of April 2010. The chamber’s search led to the East Coast where Matt Crosson had spent 16 years leading the Long Island Association. You might think a longtime Long Islander would be a mismatch for the desert, but Crosson quickly adapted to his new home. He engaged small businesses and megacorporations. He made overtures to the education community. He launched an initiative with a catchy, Vegasy name—“Viva Las Business”—to put resources in local executives’ hands and encourage business-to- business commerce with local suppliers. Crosson was just starting to hit his stride when tragedy struck. He fell ill and required open-heart surgery. After being hospitalized, he suffered a stroke. He died Dec. 23 at age 61. It was an enormous shock to the business community that had found hope in Crosson’s optimism about a turnaround in the local economy. The 6,000-member chamber—one of the largest in the country and arguably the most influential business organization in the state—was once again without a CEO. 23