Premier Partners

Bill Kearney is ready to do a whole lot of

work, but he doesn't expect to make a dime

for it at least, not directly.

Kearney, an ebullient retired cell-phone

executive who got tired of playing golf,

spends most of his time

selling real estate

in Reno.

Still finding

himself with energy

to spare, he started last

week to make the calls

to put together a network of business owners

who want to get their names in front of

people who just moved into homes.

The network Kearney calls it Premier

Partners of Reno has two facets, each

fairly simple:

On one hand is a book listing the name

of businesses and professionals new residents

need everyone from the owner of a

dog kennel to a family physician to an estate

planner.

Kearney will take applications from firms

that want to be listed making sure it

doesn't compete with an existing listing

and will publish a book that will be mailed

to every recent home buyer.

The cost of listing a business? Nothing.

The other facet of the proposal is this:

Businesses that participate in the directory

will be requested required, really to

participate in regular meetings at which they

exchange business leads and make referrals

to one another.

"The networking is the most important

thing," Kearney said in an interview

at his real estate office at Plummer &

Associates Inc.

He figures 10,000 people move into

houses in Reno each year. After three or

four years of collecting business leads

represented by new homebuyers, he

expects the network to be a powerful

generator of referrals.

Not just any business can participate.

Kearney plans to check them out

through the Better Business Bureau and

public records.

He expects to reach what he calls a critical

mass of businesses say, 50 to 100

within about 60 days. When that level of

participation is reached, the publication and

meetings will begin.

If Kearney isn't charging anything for the

directory, the networking or his time, what's

in it for him?

Referrals. He figures he'll generate a couple

of leads a year for his real estate business.

The profit from just one of those leads, he

said, would be enough to pay for the networking

project.

Plus, it's more interesting than playing golf.

(To contact Kearney, call him at

823-3352 or via cell phone at 544-3009.)