Development authority still looking for leader

An executive committee of the Northern Nevada Development Authority's board of directors is preparing to hire executive director Kris Holt's replacement from among at least 25 applicants.

Holt steps down next week from the post he has held since 1988 to pursue a career at Carson City-based Shaw Construction, where he will work in business development.

Since Holt announced his departure Jan. 10, the authority has received approximately 25 resumes through word of mouth, as well as newspaper and Internet advertising, said Sandy McCleary, development authority office manager.

Ed Shaw, Holt's new employer and development authority board president, said the hiring committee has been satisfied with the variety of applicants so far, and will likely close the application deadline in the next two weeks.

"There are already some excellent applicants," Shaw said. "We toyed with the idea of having an interim executive director, but decided we could probably put somebody qualified in place.

"Hopefully we will have somebody in there by mid-March."

Holt's last day of work at the authority is Feb. 15. The next week he starts in his new position at the Shaw Construction office at South Meadows in Reno.

"I was ready for a new challenge," Holt said of his decision to leave. "Shaw has been around since 1955. Sixty percent of the industrial construction in Carson City they did, so since 1988 we've been involved with each other on many projects."

During Holt's 13 1/2-year -tenure, the capital region grew at an unprecedented pace. Manufacturing increased from approximately 100 companies, to 300 companies in Carson City, Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties. Some notable companies that have shown staying power include, Chromalloy, Sierra Mold Corporation, Harley-Davidson Credit, California Gear and Instrument and Amway Corp. In addition, Starbucks will open a coffee roasting plant in Douglas County this year.

"You work with these companies as they prepare to locate, so you get to know them personally; you get to know their families," Holt said in January. "Three or four years down the road, they are established and making money. And doing things like donating money to the community college.

"That's what I have liked about it. That's what you like to see. It's fun to be around strivers and people who are successful."

Holt has presided in three NNDA offices. The agency started in the building currently occupied by the Nevada Department of Transportation at the base of Spooner Summit. Offices were then relocated to the Bank of America building. After seven years in a small office building at the corner of Curry and Fourth streets, the development authority moved last year to a plush office on Nye Lane, just west of Carson Street.

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Northern Nevada Development Authority

www.nnda.org