Attended the Startup Grind at the mansion formerly owned by Mike Tyson (and Wayne Newton) which is now owned by Equiinet to hear Rick Duggan of Rolltech and Vegas Tech community leader talk. Mike Terpin, founder of the Las Vegas Startup Grind and owner of Social Radius, started the meeting by interviewing Rick on his career, the Vegas
Tech community and Rick's new position. When Rick worked for Zappos, he volunteered to help develop the Las Vegas Tech community. One of the first things he started to work on were the downtown Jellys which brought coders (programmers) and startup companies together. The Jellys started slow in 2011 but after a couple of months, the room, over the Beat Coffee house was jammed to capacity. It was truly the start of the Vegas Tech scene. After a couple of years the Jellys were discontinued due to their success. Several groups sprang out of the Jellys and are still meeting. Rick was also advising several companies as a consultant of which Rolltech was one. Rolltech is focused on bringing useful apps to bowling. Bowling is a $6 billion market with millions of dedicated players. Rick decided to become the CTO for Rolltech. At the event were Ruth Hedges of Crowd Funding Roadmap, George Moncrief of the Vegas Tech Fund, Sonya Levy, giga fiber activist; Dan Hugo of Intel and technologist, Steve Mason of Brand Mason, Matt Waymire CPA and Startup Strategist, Stu Waymire, Entrepreneur; Ross Newman of Innovate Health Research and many other leaders and entrepreneurs. Over 70 attended the meeting.
Attended the Medical Marijuana hearings at the Clark County commission hearings. The aim of these hearings was to review the applications for cultivation, production and labs. Most of the applicants had been seen by the commissioner at the previous dispensary hearing two weeks ago. Most of them were applying for cultivation and production. Two companies were seeking labs. Over 100 applicants were on the agenda. Because the state has not put a limit on these licenses, the county approved all of the applicants.
Attended the Southern Nevada Economic Priorities meeting. The meeting is primarily run by Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante Adams. This meeting's focus was on the opportunities for Southern Nevada in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones). We had several speakers including Tom Piechota, PhD from UNLV talking about the minor in UAV systems available at UNLV. Over 40 people attended included Assemblyman James Healy, Arnold Lopez from NV Energy, Bob Coyle from Republic Industry and lobbyist George Ross.
Stopped in to review the proceedings of the Legislative Interim
Finance Committee. The interim finance committee reviews budget issues that affect that state's finance. Since the legislature only meet every other year, the interim finance committee keeps track of the items that affect the budget. The meeting was taking place in Carson City but those interested could watch it from the 4th floor at the Grant Sawyer Building. A number of changes were occurring to the budget. One of the key changes was the loss of $70 million of projected tax revenue from mining. About 30 people attended the talk, mostly government workers and a few lobbyists.
Met with Scott Fraser, CEO of Empowered Products. Scott's company manufactures a number of products for the Sexual Wellness market. He moved the company to Las Vegas to avoid the taxes, regulations and challenges of California. He has set up an impressive manufacturing facility and has his products in over 30,000 locations.
Met with Father Max Oliva, Joe Brown and Steve Curtis for cigars and drinks at Binions. Father Max has finished his book on the ten commandments and was the reason we were celebrating.
Attended the CEO-CFO Group mixer at the Art Bar at the Grand Hotel Downtown. Over 70 attended the mixer. John Guedry, President of Bank of Nevada spoke briefly about his involvement in education and that answer to help fund education, the Gross Margins Tax, would not help and would be devastating to businesses in the state.
John Lau
Met with Al Trivelpiece who was the former director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratories. Oak Ridge is one of the top national laboratories in the United States focusing on energy research with over 4,000 employees. Dr. Trivelpiece was also the director of the Office of Energy Research at the Department of Energy. In that position he began funding what later became the human genome project. The human genome project started in DOE because NIH at the time didn't believe that creating a database was important. As soon as NIH saw that it made sense, the project was taken over by NIH. Al and I talked about his ideas (which were talked about at the Sci-Tech meeting on May 30, 2014) to follow the science development model that Tennessee followed. When Al was at Oak Ridge he helped developed a science development program with the state to help develop science-based companies. Al has offered to lead a delegation to Tennessee to meet with the governor and other leaders.
My wife and I had dinner with Sangha and Souresh Basu at the Weera Thai restaurant on Sahara and Valley View. Sanga is anesthesiologist (Sans Pain Clinic) and Souresh is a computer programmer.
Ran the NevBio luncheon featuring Dr. Nabil Sakkab, former director of Research & Development for Procter & Gamble. Don Snyder, President of UNLV welcomed the group and Dr. Sakkab to UNLV and noted that
UNLV is focused on innovation and that his topic fit well with the goals of the university. I thanked Dr. Tom Piechota, VP of Research & Economic Development for his help with arranging the meeting. Dr. Tim Porter, Dean of the College of Sciences, introduced Dr. Sakkab. Nabil talked about Radical Innovation which was opposed to incremental innovation. Radical Innovation was disruptive and created new products and industries. He believes that the United States and businesses need to have a focus on creating Radical Innovation. He gave stories about how Procter & Gamble's revenues had flattened and that they needed to new ideas. One of the ideas was to reach outside of the organization for ideas - not just contract research - but developing prizes for anyone with a breakthrough. One example was that P & G wanted to write trivia questions on their Pringle's potato chips; after spending close to $100 million, they set up a prize of $25,000. A baker in Italy came up with a way to make it happen. He stressed that Radical Innovation is how companies survive - that it's the new products that build the future. He noted how Netflix has evolved where Blockbuster Video and Hollywood Video did not. Netflix first started sending movies in the mail, moved to online movies and now has created its own movie series - House of Cards. These were bold steps but the company continues to survive. Dr. Sakkab said that innovation requires constant changing as new information is learned - many times. In the startup world it's called pivoting. Dr. Sakkab's talk was the basis of an article has submitted to the Harvard Business Review. Over 50 attended the talk including many inventors in Las Vegas - Dr. John Lighton & Robbin Turner of Sable Systems, Terry Howlett of Skinvisible, Joe Vicente and Dr. Geoffrey O'Neill of CorCell, Dr. Jason Burke of Hangover Heaven, Craig Miller of Pictographics, George Moncrieff of the Vegas Tech Fund & Raster Media, Dr. Oliver Hemmers of GP Micro and others. A number attended from UNLV including Dr. John White, Provost; Dr. Carl Reiber, Vice Provost; Dr Chris Hudgins, Dean of Liberal Arts, Justin McVay of the Startup Center and other faculty and students. Jonas Peterson of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance and Bob Potts from the Governor's Office of Economic Development also attended.
Attended the CPA Education breakfast (open to everyone) that is sponsored by High Tower Advisors. Jeffrey Barr, Esq. of Ashcraft & Barr talked about tax aspects of medical marijuana including the fact that "Ordinary and Necessary" business deductions are not allowed for medical marijuana. In 1982 Congress pass a law disallowing deductions for illegal activities (medical marijuana is still a schedule 1 drug and is illegal). Cost of goods sold was still allowed and dispensaries will need to properly allocated overhead costs to
inventory. He also noted that the state is charging a 2% excise take
on growing, 2% on production of edibles and 2% on the final sales on top of the sales tax.
Laura Thalacker of Lionel Sawyer & Collins talked about how to deal the employees that are using medical marijuana and the reasonable accommodations that are required.
Attended the CEO-CFO luncheon featuring David Chavez of Assured Strategies. David talked about he had started Assured Strategies to help businesses improve their success. He noted that when he ran a CPA firm he was bringing in consultants to help him but it never stuck. Once the consultant left, his firm would slide back. After selling his CPA firm, he found that the Gazelles method of business consulting to be highly effective. There are four decisions that are critical to success: 1. People Decisions, 2. Strategy Decisions, 3. Execution Decisions and 4. Cash Decisions. David also noted that the CEO-CFO Group members will now have private access to the Gazelles's website of books, speakers and videos on managing your business - strategy, selling, people and execution - an $800 value at no cost. The meeting was held at Simon's at the Palm Place and over 30 CEOs attended the meeting.
Attended the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce Business Expo at the World Market Center. Several hundred businesses has booths at the event. It's a good opportunity to meet and talk to people. I visited the following booths: Turntable Health, Hightower, Neuropathy & Pain Centers, MistAmerica and several restaurant booths. I ran into a number of people including Ray Garza of the I Love LV brand, Greg St.Martin of Sun Commercial Centers, Allan Palmer & Kathleen Frantz of the Atomic Testing Museum, Peter Bhatt of SolveBizProblems.com, State Senator Barbara Cegavske and many others.
Joined Dr. Francis Tsang of Global Medical Isotopes (GMIS) at his facility to show Dr. Al Trivelpiece their progress. GMIS is developing medical isotopes using depleted uranium instead of a reactor which will lower costs and increase the supply of medical isotopes. GMIS has purchased a company in Tennessee. Dr. Trivelpiece ran the Oak Ridge National Laboratories in Tennessee. Besides talking about the people they knew in common in Department of Energy, they also talked about supporting the connection between Nevada and Tennessee.
Attended Bob Ellis's Deli Day which brings together politicians, political activists, governmental affairs people and lobbyists together for lunch. At this lunch were Joe Hardy Jr. (running for Judge), former Senator Richard Bryan, political activist, Chuck Muth; Bob Coyle of Republic Services, former Mayor of Henderson Jim Gibson, assemblyman Lynn Stewart and others.
Met with Dr. Bob Odell and Lianne Nishida-Costello of Senator Reid's office at the offices of Neuropathy and Pain Centers of Las Vegas to discuss how Senator Reid can help the clinic. One of the patients at the clinic was an airman from Nellis who had had his foot crushed by a Humvee. He told Linnane that he'd been to many doctors but Dr. Odell was the only that was actually helping heal his foot. He asked if Senator Reid's office could make Dr. Odell's therapy available at Nellis and the VA hospital. The airman had been worried that he would've been discharged if he foot didn't get better; however, with the progress that he's making now, he'll be able to return to active duty. Dr. Odell's treatment uses pain blocks and electro-therapy to help the nerves regenerate.
John Laub
Attended part of the State of Nevada Economic Forum which was created by Nevada State Senate bill 23 in 1993 to review the forecasts for the state of Nevada's budget. These hearings last all day and are an up-to-date review of state's tax revenue and expenses. Each even-numbered (2014) year the forum is required to provide their forecasts of the state revenues by December 3rd. The December forecast is used by the Governor in preparing the budget recommendation for the legislative session. The Economic Forum is run by 5 appointees of which none can work for state government. See the list here. The highlights of the meeting were that Medicaid has expanded under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and the state is required to pay for a portion of the newly eligibles - single men. In addition the normal Medicaid roles have expanded. Mike Wilden, NV Director of Health & Human Services, the second largest budget area for the state, after education, would only guess at amout of the increased expense but did say he expected the state portion of expenses to increase several hundred million. (This will further squeeze the budget for other programs such as funding doctor residency programs, GME, and a UNLV Medical School.) The other forecast that should affect the state is the mining tax which is expected to decrease by $70 million (it was projected to be $90 million). See the state budget here (it's several thousand pages). Only a handful a people attended the meeting.
Met with Greg St Martin for lunch. Greg was the founder of the Green Chamber of Commerce. He is now working as commercial realtor for Sun Commercial Real Estate Services. Greg wanted to thank me for serving as a reference. (He bought lunch which is a nice way to say thanks). Cathy Jones is the founder and president of Sun Commercial. She has been active in United Way. Cathy and I worked at Deloitte many years ago. She is very sharp.
Attended the UNLV Intellectual Property committee which reviews research at UNLV that could be patented and promoted for licensing or creating spin-off companies. As an outside member I bring a private industry experience to the committee. Zach Miles, Esq. runs the committee. He's also the university's director of Technology Transfer. Zach is looking at making the entire process more efficient and effect which the creation of a committee of outside investors to help evaluate the technology. Zach has previously worked at the University of Utah which had a very successful technology transfer program. The committee meeting was attended by the UNLV VP of Research, Tom Piechota; Dean of Sciences, Tim Porter; Dean of Engineering, Rama Venkat; Director of Entrepreneurship, Andrew Hardin; Robert Nielson, UNLV Economic Development; Jim Thompson, Special Advisor to the UNLV President and Dr. Robert Schill.
Met with Barbara Atkinson, MD, Planning Dean of the UNLV School of Medicine. Barbara was interested in understanding the State of Nevada, its people and the politics. Carl Reiber, UNLV Associate Provost, also joined us in the meeting for a discussion on Graduate Medical Education commonly called residency programs for doctors. We also talked about the beneficial effect that medical school would have on Las Vegas and the state including, increasing the number of doctors, medical research, trials, medical tourism and increasing the quality of healthcare. Barbara had built the University of Kansas Medical School into a powerhouse. She appears to be the right person and the right time to make that happen in Las Vegas. We are fortunate to have such a leader. She also mentioned that the current UNLV President, Don Snyder, was critical in her decision to take the position.
Attended the Las Vegas HEALS Medical Mixer at the Capital Grill. The location was spectacular with a view of the strip and the Wynn Hotel. The drinks and appetizers were first class, especially the roast-beef carving station. Over hundred people attended the mixer. It's one of the best mixers, judging from the quality of people and the ability to talk with the attendees.
Attended the hearings on the Medical Marijuana licenses at the County for three days, over 80 applicants made presentations. All of the applicants were required to strong finances, experts to help the process, a viable business plan and a concern for the community. One third of the consultants came from Colorado, another third from California and the other third was from Arizona. A number of prominent individuals and attorneys were at the hearings: Brian Greenspun, John Ritter, Larry Scheffler, Frank Spady, Otto Merida, Randy Black, Steve Byrne, Robert Ellis, Rory Reid, Jay Brown, Joe Brown and many others. After all 80 applicants had been heard, the commission went through the process of selecting the winners. The process took several hours and was done in front of a packed audience of applicants. The final 18 had dispensaries that were geographically dispersed throughout the valley and represented some familiar names in Las Vegas: John Ritter, Troy Herbst, Adam Corrigan, Jane Tobman, Camille Ruvo, Rich Abajian, Chad Christensen, David Goldwater, Mark James, Jonathan Fine, Otto Merida, Richard Perkins, Hank Gordon, Brian Padgett and others. Some that did not make the cut include Brian Greenspun, Sig Rogich, Gary Primm, Renaldo Tiberti, Ed Bernstein, Irwin Molasky's stepchildren (Michael, Gary & Robert Frey) and others
Attended the Governor's Hire-a-Veteran forum at City Hall. The governor wants to make Nevada the most military and veteran friendly state in the country. Caleb Cage, Director of Military & Veterans Policy for the State of Nevada, talked about the Green Zone Employer Program which is a drive to make it easier for companies to hire veterans and for veterans to find those companies. About 100 attended the meeting including attorney Joe Brown, Military Support Alliance; Gian Brosco, Nevada Community Foundation; and Terrence Thornton, Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance.
John Laub
Joined Oliver Hemmers, PhD for lunch. Oliver is running UNLV's Linear Accelerator Center. The center was setup after the donation of several accelerators from Varian Medical Systems, the M-6 and a K-9. Senator Harry Reid assisted with the donations. A linear accelerator is similar to the unit in a micro-wave oven except many times stronger. This center can be used for research, training and working with companies. Oliver attended the American Nuclear Society meeting - Las Vegas chapter, last Thursday. The speaker was a Dr. Jerry Cuttler, Past President of the Canadian Nuclear Society. He talked about how a certain low level amount of radiation will engage the body's immune system which will help it fight off disease. He gave an example of an apartment building in China that ended up being built with steel that was radioactive. When the Chinese authorities discovered the problem, they wanted to understand the magnitude of the problem. What they found was that the incidence of cancer was lower at this apartment building as compared to apartment buildings around it. Oliver is also working closely with the Nevada Alliance Foundation which is focused on converting research into commercialization.
Stopped by Pictographics and visited with Craig Miller, the president. Craig was hosting the Vegas Inventors Group for their monthly meetup run by Daniel Braisted. Pictographics takes digital images and puts them on anything and everything in a very spophistaced and colorful way. Much of their work is seen around the valley; some examples - party in the pint graphics on Fremont Street, Coca Cola bottle on the side of the Coke building, pictures of rock starts in the Hard Rock hotel, various building and vehicle wraps and numerous booths at conventions. At the time I was visiting they were preparing for the licensing convention. Above all else, Craig and his crew, are inventors. They have numerous projects from indoor GPS for indoor UAVs, friend or foe sensors, sophisticated identification software and many other items.
Attended the Startup Grind featuring George Moncrief at Raster Media. The Las Vegas chapter of Startup Grind was founded by Michael Terpin. Michael also had his own successful startup called Market Wire, which was the first company to use the internet for press releases. Michael specializes in public relations for tech companies and has worked with 500 to 600 startup companies: companies like Earthlink when it had three employees or Motley Fool when it had two employees. Besides tech companies, he is now working with bitcoin companies and is the President of Bitcoin Angels. Michael knows startups and he is always the one that is interviewing the guests at these events.
George Moncrief was the guest tonight. He was one of the co-founders of Raster Media, along with Micheal Smith, in 2000. They were working on websites, user interfaces, CRM and other areas. In 2008 they went full force into Mobile apps - I-phones, androids, IOS and became a mobile development shop, the first in Las Vegas. In March 2014 the Vegas Tech Fund asked George to be their Entrepreneur in Residence. His job is to help evaluate companies. The Vegas Tech fund only looks at companies that have gone through a business incubator and have been referred to them by someone else. Even with those restrictions, they have more companies to look at than they can handle. The Vegas Tech Fund is looking for companies that have products that people will buy or use. George said too many inventors make products and then look for customers. He stressed that inventors need to get feedback from potential customers as they make the product in order to make changes that the market wants. One of the goals of the Vegas Tech Fund is to create a tech eco system in Las Vegas. Part of that process is to make Las Vegas a stimulating and fun place to work. He noted that the Downtown project breaks down each month into four weeks: 1st week - Art and Music with First Friday, 2nd week is technical with speakers from Tech Cocktail plus workshops, 3rd week is Fashion - Stitch Factory speakers and the 4th week is creative with mini-Ted talks.
Over 50 attended the meeting, including Sonya Levy, Andy White, Anthony Hurtado, Michael Smith, Brea Silva, Steve Miller, Nathan Rowe and others.
Attended the Lunch & Learn at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health featuring Dr. Dylan Wint on Brain Imaging. Essentially, brain images help doctors make a better diagnosis. Dr. Wint covered three types of imaging. The first was CT Scans - Computed Tomography which is based on x-rays and creates an image like a detailed X-Ray. The next was Magnetic Resonance Imaging - MRI. This technique reads characteristics of tissue - hydrogen atoms. The images are captured in three dimensions. The system uses high powered magnets, up to 30,000 gauss (earth has .5 gauss). Some of the problems with MRIs are that the magnets might turn off one's pacemaker, it takes time and one has to be very still. The third type of imaging was nuclear medicine imaging. Radiation is injected into the body and then measured from the outside such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) or Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT). PET & SPECT give the best resolution of imaging. The challenge is that patients have to be injected with medical isotopes which can be in short supply at times. About 40 attended.
Attended the Father Max Advisor panel meeting with Mike Bonner, Gian Brown, Michael Buckley, Susan Sullivan, Jeanne Hamrick, Marlene Richter, Bob Brown and Father Max. This board assists Father Max with his ministry in Las Vegas. Father Max gave us a brief talk on his activities including classes, services and his writing. Bob Brown suggested that Father Max lead a men's retreat. It will follow Father Max's book, The Masculine Spirit, which can be found on Amazon. Father Max is finishing a book on the Ten Commandments. Father Max Oliva has a website called Ethics in the Marketplace.
Attended the Turnaround Management meeting at the Las Vegas Country Club. The event featured a panel presentation and discussion from three prominent Nevada-based economists, John Restrepo with RCG Economics, Bill Anderson, State of Nevada DETR and Marcus Conklin, Strategies 360 and formerly of the Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies at UNLV. Bill Anderson talked about how the state has been adding jobs since the recession: 11,000 in 2011; 19,000 in 2012; 30,000 in 2013 and an expected 40,000 in 2014. He said that the governor had promised 60,000 new jobs by the end of his term. John Restrepo said that the economy is not that strong and that wages in these jobs are lagging below their previous rates. Many of the new jobs are retail jobs which generally lower paying jobs. He said that consumers need to have money to buy things which creates demand which then pushes the creation of supply. Marcus Conklin was the great simplifier. He brought things down to earth on issues and trends that were effecting people and the economy. It was a lively meeting with lots of questions to the panelists. Jason Thomas, CPA is the president. Leonard Wright, CPA and commentator on Financial Fridays was there along with Bruce Isaacson, Richard Hanseen, CPA; Debra Baez and 50 others.
Left to attend the Funding Post event at UNLV; unfortunately, I could not find the room at UNLV. My phone had died and I could not pull up the email with the room number.
Joined Bob Ellis for lunch. He always invites a lot of people to lunch. At this lunch was Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen, UNLV Alumni Director, Jim Ratigan; former UNLV Athletic Director Jim Livengood, former Mayor Jim Gibson; Senator Majority Leader, Mo Dennis; State Senator Rubin Kihuen, County Commission Candidate Michael Schneider, Scott Lien, Constable Earl Mitchell, former US Senator Richard Bryan and many others.
Attend the Up Global luncheon at the InNEVation center. Adam Kramer of the Innovation Center was hosting a group from Up Global. Up Global supports entrepreneurship around the world and in the US with events such as the Startup Weekend. In attendance was Dave Williams, Rob Nielson, Mike Mehr , Warren Whitlock, Daniel Braisted and many others. Ran into Michael Walsh and Chris Zunis of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance on the way in and on the way out, talked with Jonas Peterson of LVGEA.
Attend the SciTech Mixer at Nacho Daddy featuring Al Trivelpiece, former director of Oak Ridge National Laboratories. Ran into Robin Cresiski, NSC; Zach Miles, UNLV; Rich Helfrich, Rob Nielson, UNLV; Danny and Kathy Bax of Elutin, Chandler Mars, Jeff Saffer and Vick Burnett of Quertle; Allan Palmer and Kathleen Frantz from the Atomic Testing Museum and many others.
Met with Dr. Robert Odell and Dr. Richard Singer of the Neuropathy and Pain Centers of America. Dr. Odell has a PhD and MD from Stanford University. He has developed a new way to treat neuropathy and chronic pain along with Richard Sorgnard, PhD. He uses a combination of a local anesthetic and an electro-magnetic device that delivers Medium Frequency (MF) current without the electrical charge. The device also delivers frequency-modulated and amplitude-modulated electrical cell current in the MF range. The new treatment appears to reach deeper into tissues structures. The treatment combines a local pain killer and the electrical currents to create a chemical and electrical pain blocks that have shown clinical success. One should read their article on the clinical success, especially, if you or someone you know has neuropathy or chronic pain. The article is "New Technique Combines Electrical Currents and Local Anesthetic for Pain Management" 'Combined electrochemical nerve block reduced pain in 80% of patients with neuropathies and 50% of patients with intractable back pain' by Dr. Robert Odell and Richard Sorgnard, PhD, in Pain Management, June 2011. It is great to see this technology and treatment available in Las Vegas.
Ran the Nevada Biotechnology & Health Science Consortium (NevBio) meeting featuring Dr. Renee Coffman, President of Roseman University. Dr. Coffman and Dr. Harry Rosenberg started Roseman over 15 years ago, which was the first stand-alone pharmacy school in more than 50 years. Besides just starting the school, they decided to build a school that worked better for all students. They had the belief that no student attends school to fail and that it is their job to help that student to succeed. They developed a method of teaching which has became known as the "Roseman Method". First, all classes are taught in blocks. A student takes one class at a time, 6 hours a day, for five days a week. Typically, the class runs for two weeks but can be several weeks depending on the difficulty of the subject. The second key element is the "Assessment-Feedback-Reassessment Process". Students received formal and informal assessments during the day to gauge their understanding. Assessments are given as individuals and as peer groups. The tests and results are discussed, challenged and learned. Every two weeks, a formal assessment is given. Students are required to achieve 90% on all tests to pass the class. Roseman does not have grades per se, just a 90% pass or fail. Students must achieve a deep understanding of the subject. Third, to help students understand the content, Roseman employs a number of teaching methods - lecture, hands-on, experimental, real-life and peer group sessions. Students are encouraged to ask questions and the classes are long enough to accommodate a vigorous Q & A. Fourth, students are encouraged to work together in groups and help each other learn. Roseman has high first-time passing rates for Board Licensure Examinations: DMD Programs 97.5%, ParmD Program 97.9%, BSN 100% and Orthodontic Residency 100%. Over 50 attended the meeting including Dr. Barbara Atkinson, the planning dean of the UNLV Medical School; Tim Porter, Dean of the UNLV College of Sciences; Dr. Joyson Pekkattill, Comprehensive Cancer Centers; Dr. Ron Fiscus, Roseman University; Dr. Martin Schiller, UNLV College of Sciences; Dr. David Cohen, Elutin; Dr. Constance Brooks, Nevada System of Higher Education; Dr. Liam Leavitt and many others.
Met with Mark Goldfogel, President of C4Ever Systems. Mark's company has developed a cash kiosk for the Medical Marijuana industry. Currently, banks are not allowed to work with medical marijuana businesses. C4Ever Systems has develop a way to take in the cash - through the kiosk and give credit to the dispensary with full complete tracking of the cash. He has also signed a local bank, First Security Bank, to handle the cash.
Attended the Nevada Business Aviation Association (NBAA) meeting. I missed the first talk from Ken (Chip) Thompson on the Nevada Test and Training Range which is used by Nellis for the Red Flag events in which the US and Allied Forces fly simulated combat situations. According to Nellis Air Force base, typically, in a year, more than 1,200 aircraft fly 20,000 plus sorites while training more than 27,000 personnel.
Sunrise High School's Aviation Club was also being honored at the meeting for coming in first, out of 79 schools across the country in a airplane design, build & fly competition (the future UAV workforce). Reza Karamooz, President of the NBAA, also worked with the aviation club. About 40 attended the meeting which was held at the Aviation Institute of Maintenance (train individuals to repair and maintain airplanes).
Attended the Technology Business Alliance of Nevada (TBAN) which featured Randon Hansen of K2 Energy (a battery plant located in Henderson, NV).
The title of Randon's talk was, "Tesla's Giga Factory. Is Nevada the Next Battery Technology Hub". Randon made a compelling case that if the Tesla Giga Battery factory comes to Nevada (Reno has a better shot than Las Vegas), the whole state would benefit from it. The most obvious companies that would relocate to Nevada would be the suppliers to Tesla but also other companies that develop batteries for other purposes would move here. The $6 billion Tesla factor would hire over 6,000 employees. Tesla can reuse its car batteries. Once they have been used in their cars, they can be reused as backup for solar panel systems. Companies such as Solar City can use the batteries. Randon believes that Nevada had a very good chance of landing the factory. Randon also talked about his company, K2 Energy, which started out of a garage in Henderson and now has its own building. K2 Energy sells Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries which have an advantage over other lithium batters in safety, environmental friendly, long lasting and power. Their markets ranges from flashlights, medical devices, cordless drills, scooters, back-up power systems to electric cars. Over 120 attended the meeting.
Attended the SXSW V2V meetup at the bar atop the Inspire Theatre. These meetings are a build-up to the V2V conference in Las Vegas at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, July 13th -16th. Talked with Nathan Rowe of Full Spectrum Laser. The company has received numerous awards as the top startup in Las Vegas for its 3D Printer which uses lasers. Also met Brea Silva from Stratus Werkz, an IT consulting firm. Later, talked to Michael Terpin of Social Radius and founder of Startup Grind (next meeting Tuesday, May 27, 2014).
Took the back stairs out which led to the Downtown Cocktail Room, the bar that helped start the movement toward downtown. On the way out, stopped at Michael Cornthwaite's new bar, The Scullery, at the Ogden, which was having their grand opening. Ran into attorney Dayvid Figler and Jonathan Warren, Honorary Consul of Monaco. Great jazz band in the back.
Attended the Asian Chamber of Commerce Meeting which featured Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller. Ross talked about the success his office has had in the 8 years since he was elected. One of his achievements was setting up the Silver Flume website, a one-stop portal to set up businesses in Nevada. His office has also created a free service to help customers set up LLCs. Customers can create operating agreements and conduct meetings on line through the service. Nevada is the only state in the country with that capability. He also talked about his office's work to keep the elections clean in Nevada, noting how his office prosecuted ACORN for voter registration violations. Over 200 attended the meeting.
Met with UNLV President, Don Snyder, UNLV Vice-President of Research, Tom Piechota and Dr. Francis Tsang, Co-founder of Global Medical Isotope Systems (GMIS). The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the UNLV president to one of the preeminent nuclear physicists in Las Vegas. GMIS has developed a system in which the company uses a neutron generator and depleted uranium to create medical isotopes. Most medical isotopes are in short supply in the world and must be made using aging nuclear reactors. This method would be a huge breakthrough in the development and supply of medical isotopes. GMIS is working with UNLV's radiation chemistry department and plans to renew their contract with UNLV.
Dr.Tsang made the point several times with stories, examples and personal experience that in order to have a robust research program at UNLV, the university must not micro-manage the researchers. Researchers need to have room to experiment and change courses, similar to a new business. Dr. Tsang is very supportive of UNLV's goal of a Tier 1 institution and agreed to work with the university in any way that he can.
The UNLV accelerator project was also discussed. Varian Medical Systems donated two linear accelerators to UNLV, an M-6 and a K-9, which are the basis for the new linear accelerator center. Dr. Tsang has worked with linear accelerators and the co-founder of GMIS, Zane Wilson, worked on linear accelerators at Varian. Dr.Tsang said that he would bring to UNLV some of the top researchers with linear accelerators to advise UNLV.
We also talked about the upcoming NevBio luncheon at UNLV's Stan Fulton Building on June 10th at which the former director of Procter and Gamble's Researcher & Development department will talk on "Radical Innovation". Don Snyder wants to make sure that this luncheon was on his calendar and agreed to help encourage key people to attend. Dr. Tom Piechota, Vice-President of Research, is leading UNLV's involvement with the luncheon. He said that if fits perfectly with our direction of a Tier 1 research based institution.
John Laub
Attended the Arizona State University 2014 graduation of my son, Scott Charles Laub, who graduated with a double major, Accounting & Finance, summa cum laude. Scott is the one on the left, his brother Mike is on the right. He had several job offers and chose to work with a Phoenix valuation firm. He'll start his new job on June 1, 2014. His mother, Karen and his brother, Mike, also attended the graduation. We are very proud of his accomplishments.
Attended the Southern Nevada Economic Priorities meeting. This group is focused on legislative issues that support the economy of Southern Nevada. Assemblywoman Irene Bustamante-Adams is the primary facilitator. The three top priorities as voted on are the UNLV Med School, infrastructure and UAVs.
UNLV Provost John White was the first speaker.
John talked about the UNLV Med School and how it will help with the need for more doctors in Nevada. He is also on the Governor's Graduate Medical Education (GM) Task Force, a group that is working on a plan which requires some state funding for doctor residencies. He believes that GME and the UNLV Med School will help with doctor shortage in Nevada. UNLV President Don Snyder also spoke about the importance of the UNLV Medical School to the economy, UNLV and the health of Nevadans. Vance Farrow, Healthcare Specialist with the Governor's Office of Economic Development, spoke about the national and state problems of not enough residencies for doctors which will be exacerbated as med school enrollments are increasing across the country. In attendance were NSHE Regent, Kevin Page; Dean of the Roseman Medical School, Dr. Mark Penn, Luis Valera of UNLV, Barbra Coffee, City of Henderson; Debbie Gallo, Southwest Gas; Steven Curtis, DRI; Scott Muelrath, Henderson Chamber; Michael Vannozzi, LVGEA and many others.
Attended Robert Ellis's Thursday deli lunch. Bob sponsors a lunch every two weeks at which politicians, candidates, lobbyists and friends attend and talk. This week's luncheon had Governor Brian Sandoval, former Governor, Richard Bryan; State Senate Minority Leader, Michael Robinson; State Senator, Joyce Woodhouse; State Senator, Mike Manendo; Assemblyman, Lynn Stewart; Valley Bank president, James York, former mayor, James Gibson and many others.
Adam Laxalt spoke at the Republican Mens Club. Adam is the grandson of Paul Laxalt, former governor, senator and presidential candidate. Adam has an impressive military background as a JAG officer and has served in Iraq. As a JAG officer he was the in-house counsel for a military base which is analogous to a small city - with all of the same problems. Adam is running for Attorney General. He spoke how the attorney general is the top law enforcement person in the state. Their job is to enforce the law, not decide which laws to enforce. He believes that the office cannot slip into picking and choosing which laws to enforce. Everyone must be treated fairly. It's the job of the legislature to correct the laws if they are not serving the needs of Nevada. Over 200 attended the luncheon including a number of candidates, including Joe Lombardo and Robert Gronaur (Bobby G), both running for sheriff.
Michael Leven, CEO of the Las Vegas Sands spoke to a free pubic lecture at the UNLV Artemas Ham Hall at 1 pm to a large crowd of mostly students and some business people. Michael was interviewed by Arte Nathan, the former Human Resource Director of the Bellagio and Wynn Hotels. Mike said that his job as the CEO is to simplify, to bring clarity to complex situations in order to move forward. His job is also to create and meld his leaders into a team. Everyone has a role and must execute it well so that the whole teams succeeds much like a a football team. His advice to the students was to do the right thing all of the time and to work hard. In his first job he leaned that process, a clear system and the discipline to the follow that process was important. He first sales job was for a hotel which required him to arrive in the morning, make sales calls, meet a prospect at lunch, make more calls and visits and write a summary each day. Afterwards, his supervisor would read his summary and talk to him about that day's progress. The system helped him to develop the discipline to be successful. He talked about the time when he was the President of the Days Inn, a job that he really liked. When the new owners came in, they began to act unethically. After telling them several times to clean up their act, he finally had to resign. He said it was tough. The owners ended up in prison but it was the right thing to do. When his subordinates meet with him, he expects them to be ready, to have thought out all of the issues. He expects employees to be upfront and to get to the point quickly. He appreciates people that disagree with him. He uses the Socratic method of asking questions to find out the information he needs to know.
Sheldon Adleson, Chairman of the Las Vegas Sands, also spoke to the same audience at UNLV after a short break at the conclusion of Michael Leven's talk. Don Snyder, President of UNLV and Stowe Shoemaker, Dean of the Hotel College both welcomed Sheldon Adelson. Again, through an interview process, Sheldon talked about growing up poor in Boston, His father moved to the United States from Lithuania and drove a cab for a living. Sheldon first job was selling papers on a corner. At that time you had buy your corner or pay the owner a percentage of the sales. Sheldon decided to buy the corner. He had to borrow $200 from his uncle. His uncle required him to make monthly payments of principal and interest. That helped him develop credit and discipline. When he later bought a candy vending business, he had to borrow $10,000 which his uncle loaned him. Sheldon started over 50 businesses in his career such as a court reporting business, a charter business, a convention business (Comdex) and the hotel business. He believes that if you are going to start a new business, it must be different; it must change or challenge the thinking of the status quo. He believes that risk and rewards go hand in hand. To make the reward, you must take the risk. He said that you have to be determined and be ready to retry your ideas and refine them but not to give up. He saw the need in Las Vegas for a convention center as part of a hotel as part of an integrated resort when he was hosting his Comdex convention at eight different locations. He also believed that rooms, food, beverage and retail could create revenue for the hotel which was the basis for developing the Venetian which had shopping (Grand Canal Shops), a convention center and Chef-based restaurants. Everyone thought that he was going to go bust but he didn't and now every hotel in Las Vegas has convention facilities and shopping. He developed the Cotai Strip in Macau which was mostly swamp or land underwater. Everybody told him that it was foolish. He built up the land which now holds the Venetian Macau and other casinos. It's been one of his biggest successes. He also stressed the notion of critical mass which is that things have to be a certain size to attract people. If things are big enough, people will come. He talked about the Marina Bay Sands Hotel which has achieved tremendous success and has garnered numerous awards. The Marina Bay Sands had, besides the highest and largest rooftop pool in the world, over 1 million square feet of shopping, a risk that has paid off. Sheldon is now looking to build his integrated resorts as iconic buildings - buildings that are so crazy that the architectural firm has thrown them away. He wants those crazy and unusual designs. He constantly returned to identifying to challenge the status quo and finding ways to do things new and different.
Later that afternoon, UNLV held a reception for former UNLV President Carol Harter. Carol was the first UNLV president to begin research programs at UNLV which at the time was controversial (might still be). The bottom line is that research brings money into the university, helps subsidize the school and engages the students in work that they will be doing in the real world. Research is a win-win for the university - for the money and teaching opportunities and it's a boon for economic development for a community. Congresswomen Dina Titus spoke on behalf of Carol as did many others. Over 100 attended the event, including a number of the regents.
Don Snyder, President of UNLV spoke to Joe Brown's 1st Wednesday Luncheon at the Las Vegas Country Club. Prior to Don speaking, Father Max Oliva, a Jesuit Priest, as is the custom of this group, talked on the value of ethics. Don believes that every great community has a great university and for Las Vegas to become a great community, we need to develop UNLV into a great university. That path to greatness is becoming a Tier 1 university. Don talked about his four detailed action strategies that he had for the university. Number 1) is to develop a Medical School at the university. He announced that Medical School Dean had been hired. Her name is Barbara Atkinson and she is from the University of Kansas. Number 2) is to develop the research at the university. It needs to increase to $100 million and ultimately to $400 million to be a Tier 1 university. Number 3) is to focus on students and improving their success and helping them graduate on time. Number 4) is to create more of a residential campus for students, to increase the number of students living on campus. He sees the stadium as a critical part of creating an improved campus environment. It is all part of the campus master plan. He wants to add another 500,000 square feet of research (currently UNLV has 650,000 square feet and is bursting at the seams). He sees a great partnership with UNLV and Switch. Switch has been working on developing more fiber optic core. Switch has a strong relationship with Intel. Intel is talking about developing a Cherry Creek Super Computer at UNLV which would be 10 times faster than the current Cray Super Computer that's on campus. Don sees a great future for the UNLV and Las Vegas. At the end of the meeting, Dr. Jack Brown, an expert in body language, gave 5 minute talk and presentation on body language. He said that what you are thinking and feeling will be projected onto your facial gestures and body language. Over 100 attended the lunch.
Attended the Las Vegas HEALS monthly medical mixer at the Palazzo's Dal Toro Restaurant and Exotic Car Showroom. The mixer was sponsor by Roseman University of Health Sciences and Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Doug Geinzer, President of Las Vegas HEALS made a few quick announcements; otherwise, the rest of the evening was available for mingling. Over hundred attended the event including a number of doctors, medical personnel, assistant sheriff, Joe Lombardo; Barbra Coffee, Economic Development Director of Henderson, Kevin Gullette, Clark County Economic Development and many others.
Attended the UNLV College of Sciences Advisory Board meeting. Russel Frank attended who had just returned from Israel. He had spent time at a number of he universities including Technion. Google, Intel, Facebook and numerous companies have research centers at these campus. Israel recycles over 80% of their water which is better than other country, the next best is 19%. Russ plans to work with the UNLV College of Sciences to duplicate some of successes at the universities in Israel. As Chairman of the Board, I opened the meeting. Dean Tim Porter talk about how the school is starting a math day for high school students in October in which the students will meet professors, listen to presentations and engage in activities. The college is also supporting with its funds a project started by Dr. Martin Schiller to create a database of markers for diseases based on genetics. Tim also talked about meeting the new Medical School Dean, Barbara Atkinson, and how he was impressed with her vision and energy. The college is also actively working on Quantitative Health Sciences to create data around clinical trials. The project dovetails nicely with the medical school and is
funded by the State of Nevada's Knowledge Fund. Tim then introduced Dr. Hui Zhang who is now part of the college of sciences. He was previously at Harvard University and moved to Las Vegas to continue his research at the Nevada Cancer Institute. Hui talked about cancer stem cells. Cancer can be killed with chemotherapy and radiation but if some of the cancer stem cells survive, the cancer will return. Hui has developed an anti-cancer stem cell treatment by targeting LSD1 and Sox2 regulatory pathways. He has several patents around this process, some of the patents are shared with Nevada Cancer Institute and UNLV. This treatment could help with many cancers including lung cancer which had taken the life of Hui's father.
The Las Vegas Downtown Project has a free weekly meditation class for business people that's on the beginning level. It meets each Thursday evening at 6 pm in Trailer 1 at the Learning Village. The group is led by Angi Covington of the Art of Attunement. She works with corporations and other groups to improve one's thinking. Over twenty people attended. Meditation is one of the best ways to clear the mind and to relieve stress.
The BYU Management Society Lunched featured Tom Thomas who is part of the Thomas & Mack Development Company. Tom has a law degree from University of Utah. Tom's father was called Mr. Las Vegas for his prominent role as the Chairman of Valley Bank when he was the first banker to finance casinos, including a young Steve Wynn. Tom gave an impressive talk on the
importance of entrepreneurship in creating jobs and sustaining a competitive economy in the world. Tom talked about the 4 things that entrepreneurs do that make a difference. He used Switch and Rob Roy, founder and President of Switch, as an example. Tom is on the board of Switch and is one of the early investors in Switch. Number 1) is to challenge the norms. Rob decided that data centers could be built better. Most data centers were cooled from a raised floor. Rob believed that there are inherent problems from cooling from the floor and began developing his center with a different cooling systems. Most of Switch 200 patents are on cooling - the biggest problem with data centers. One of the other innovations was to build a large open shell of a building for the data center so that portions of the center could be built when demand increased but all of the costly delays from building approvals, licensing, design could all be done up front - this method made Switch better at expanding quickly and gaining market share. 2) Take Risks. Rob Roy first risk was to set up a the data center. He also showed up in bankruptcy court in New York to bid on the assets of Enron's data center (he was the only one). Once he opened the data center, he constantly expanded, so much that his investors began to worry. However, Rob knew that Moore's law dictated that computing speed would double every 18 months and that it would require more storage. 3) Bring the innovation to the market. Rob Roy and Switch had a novel way to reach the market. Switch never advertised but what it did do was work with engineers in the industry. Pretty soon the engineers would talk about Switch and their innovations and through word of mouth, Switch has constantly had more business than it could handle. 4) Never hear the word no - it's just not yet. Rob Roy never saw an obstacle. It was always matter if not now, then it will be later. He never gave up (sounds like Sheldon Adelson's description of entrepreneurs - never to give up). Tom's broad point is its entrepreneurs that have helped the United States lead the world's economy and as a country, we need to do everything to encourage entrepreneurs and reduce the amount of regulations and obstacles. Over 50 attended the luncheon, including Dan Hamilton, Dean of the UNLV Law School, and Jim Crockett, candidate for judge.
Attended the National Atomic Testing Museum Board of Trustees meeting. The museum attendance and exhibits have been growing. The museum is a stop for several tour busses. The museum director has a weekly show on Saturday, KXNT, 840, in which he talks to guests about Area 51, UFOs and the Atomic Testing Museum. The museum is looking for ways to involve students and student field trips into the museum. The members believe its a great way for students to get excited about STEM education. This Saturday (May 17th) the museum will have half priced admission, speakers, radio interviews for the celebration of the re-opening of the Area 51 exhibit.
Interviewed on the Las Vegas International Press Club radio program on 1230 AM (KLAV) by Frank Spady, President of the Press Club and Leonard Wright, CPA of the Financial Fridays radio program, on the various events that take place in Las Vegas that are mentioned on the NevBio calendar. Frank Spady, is also president of the Canada Nevada Business Council. He envisions the press club as an opportunity to create a national press club in Las Vegas in which prominent business luminaries and politicians will hold press conferences and briefings. The radio program is the part of the process to making that vision happen. The program is every Friday at 4 pm to 5 pm on KLAV 1230 AM.
John Laub
