Meeting minutes and memoranda for the Nevada Development Authority Washington Congressional Committee, 1985

ORGANIZATION The Nevada Development Authority is a non-profit organization with the goal of expanding and diversifying the southern Nevada (Las Vegas Metropolitan area) economy. Organizational leadership is provided by a cross-section of community leadership representing the diverse interests and economic sectors of the local economy. Financial support for organization activities and professional staff is provided by a combination of public and private funding. Over the past year there has been a concentrated effort by the NDA organization, through its "Washington Congressional Committee," to establish constant and ongoing dialogue with key contacts in the Washington DC area. This has primarily taken the form of scheduled trips to Washington by a small group of Committee members who, with the cooperation and assistance of Nevada's Congressional and Senatorial representatives, have gained entre' at the executive level to some of the nation's largest corporate organizations. The intended, and in fact achieved result, has been the decision by such executives to seriously consider southern Nevada as a viable site location for future facilities. PROPOSAL While the approach described above has been effective, it is felt that now is the time to proceed to a second and more aggressive program; a program through which NDA can leverage to the fullest extent the opportunities, political and otherwise, that currently exist. A cornerstone of this second generation of Washington involvement is the selection of a firm or representative to be located in Washington DC. This representative would be expected, within the confines of the budget and agreement that is reached, to develop and execute a program which would, in general: * Establish personal contacts, and on-going regular dialogue with Nevada Congressional Representatives Key Congressional Staff Department of Energy officials Department of Defense officials Other contacts as necessitated Coordinate trips to Washington DC and various corporate headquarters, as well as trips to southern Nevada by corporate representatives. Generally maintain a positive Nevada presence in the nation's capital. The above are merely sited as what appears to be obvious steps in achieving the ultimate goal: ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DIVERSIFICATION FOR SOUTHERN NEVADA. REQUEST Given the stated goal, we ask that your firm prepare a strategy plan on how you feel this can best be achieved within the budget available. You are asked to develop a strategic statement, a reasonably detailed approach, and a corresponding budget. Included should be background data on individuals who would be involved in this effort; a primary contact is to be designated. A selection decision will be based on the firm or representative who most appears to have fully grasped the intent of this effort, and who has presented a reasoned approach to actually accomplishing the goal. MEMORANDUM DATE: April 16, 1985 TO: File 1 FROM: Mark Fine RE: Washington Congressional Committee I met with Jerry Dondero this morning to review the activities that he was performing in connection with Washington. The following items were discussed and will be followed-up accordingly: 1. We would agree to meet monthly to review all activities in this regard. We would create a team of Jim Cashman and two other Washington members and myself, plus the NDA director. This working group would help maintain and establish new goals for this program. We will try and have our first meeting sometime after May 6. 2. We will set up a group in Washington that will meet monthly. It will be comprised of senior staff members from our delegates' offices and other key Nevadans in Washington; to keep them up-to-date of our activities and try and get them to provide additional contacts for us to follow up on. 3. Jerry will be working with the NDA staff on a cooperative basis in order to maintain a high level of communication. 4. We discussed the possibility of re-examining the organization of the committee in order to expand it to include non-active members, to get more involvement, and decided we would discuss this at our first meeting in May. 5. A press release centered around Dondero's representation of NDA and the Washington Congressional Committee's activities would be appropriate in NDA'S newsletter and perhaps some general media exposure at the same time. In summary, I felt we achieved the basis for a good working relationship in a short period of time if we can start putting some of these suggestions into effect, and Jerry's activities continue with the same momentum. MLF/ma cc: Jim Cashman Al Dague MEMORANDUM TO: Mark Fine Jim Cashman Al Dague Jerry Dondero Carla Leveritt DATE: 4-04-85 RE: Washington Congressional Committee A meeting was held on April 3, 1985, at the office of Chairman, Mark Fine, at 4:00 P.M. Those in attendance were Mark Fine, Al Dague, Jerry Dondero, Carla Leveritt and Karen Marshall. Mark indicated that he felt it time to reactivate our Washington program. Mark had talked to Jim Cashman and Jim was unable to be in attendance. Mark will update Mr. Cashman next week. Al advised Mark that he had received a call from Cheryl Dye in North Las Vegas. She indicated that Tim and Mike Dyal had previously discussed having a representative from North Las Vegas on the Washington Committee and she wanted to propose Ed Nigro. Mark feels that the Committee is quickly becoming too large to be effective. The original intent was to form a small, key group of community representatives who have an active involvement in NDA. The need to have participation from particular entities is not specifically desired or deemed necessary. Mark was not inclined to add another member and felt that Mr. Nigro, or any representative from the community, should advise us if he is going to be in Washington and we would utilize the opportunity to have him call on contacts if appropriate. Mark did indicate that Mr. Nigro would be welcome to participate in the next visit made to Washington. Carla suggested that those interested in the Washington Committee who aren't involved with NDA should first participate in NDA fund-raising. Mark also advised that General Creech had visited with him this date. Admiral Ingen, head of the FAA, will be visiting Las Vegas. Mark offered NDA's services to make arrangements for his visit. General Creech has volunteered to host a cocktail party for him to meet the community. This is in line with our desire to introduce high level government officials to Las Vegas and NDA. The action item list was reviewed. It was determined that most of the contacts on the list are not active. All of the contacts have been put on the NDA mailing list for the newsletter and staff will see that a letter and new Perspective are sent to each. Routine quarterly follow-up should be maintained, but the list needs to be culled to eliminate all but the current active contacts. FROM: Karen Marshall Page 2 A1 suggested that it would be extremely helpful to be made aware of government contracts that may be up for bid. Jerry indicated that the congressional delegation should be able to obtain this information. Jerry advised that Sam Ballenger would be a good contact to aid us in this regard. Jerry said the key contacts he is currently working on are: 1) Sperry - follow-up on: A) Sensing device B) Aerospace division C) Encourage Laxalt contact with Sperry president 2) Martin Marietta - Jerry will follow-up and encourage a visit to Las Vegas 3) Avco - arranging Las Vegas visit for first part of May A) Litton Industries - he would like to have them visit Las Vegas in late May or June. IBS (International Business Services), a small computer firm, is working with Litton. Senator Laxalt's office should assist with this contact. 5) Univoc - seeking a 8-A setaside contract 6) Teledyne - contact through Sam Ballenger. The firm is in an expansion mode 7) Gould - will follow-up 8) Lockheed - will follow-up Mark asked what kind of a plan has been developed to canvas the list and develop real leads. Mark would like to see at least ten active companies within the next sixty days and asked if we could get ten quality companies. He stressed the need to build a program and working list. Jerry indicated that his goal is to schedule as many companies to visit Las Vegas as he can. He indicated he felt the ideal situation called for additional staff to assist the Washington effort. Perhaps mass mailings and personal calls from Committee members should be considered. It is apparent that no plan has been created to effectively formulate and follow-up leads in Washington. A1 was under the assumption that Jerry would handle all of the Washington clients utilizing staff assistance when necessary. Mark reiterated the necessity of formulating a working plan and the need for better Page 3 communication between Jerry, Al, Mark etal. Jerry suggested that he come to the NDA office to spend several hours working with staff to develop a list of ten or more clients on which to begin working. Jerry also requested that staff advise him of the 100+ clients they are currently working to assure no duplication of effort. There being no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 5:18 P.M. NEVADA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY WASHINGTON CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE February 12, 1985 PRESENT: Mark Fine ABSENT: Jim Cashman Al GUESTS: Dave Vlaming General Bill Creech STAFF: Conrad Ryan Joe Brown Kenny Guinn John Goolsby Sherman Miller Charles Ruthe William Siart Tom Wiesner Jerry Dondero Carla Leveritt Karen Marshall A meeting of the Washington Congressional Committee was held on February 12, 1985, at 8:00 A.M., at First Western Savings Assn., 2700 W. Sahara Ave., Las Vegas, NV. The meeting was called to order by Chairman, Mark Fine, at 8:10 A.M. Mr. Fine noted that the last committee meeting was over two months prior. Since then two new committee members have been added, General William Creech and Conrad Ryan. Bill Siart has resigned from the Committee because of his relocation to California. Chuck Ruthe will be asked to resign as he has been unable to participate in the meetings and the Washington visits due to scheduling conflicts. Mr. Fine reviewed the goals and objectives of the Committee. We intend to continue to utilize our Congressional delegation when appropriate and hope to expand our visibility with the Federal Government agencies. Jim Cashman advised that the NDA Executive Committee has agreed to negotiate a one year contract with Jerry Dondero to be the NDA staff person in Washington, D.C. Jerry advised the Committee of the success of the recent Las Vegas visit by Dr. Larry Korb, Assistant Secretary of Defense. Jerry and staff are following up with Korb to encourage technical DoD personnel to visit Las Vegas. Jerry has a tentative visit scheduled in March and Ty McCoy is expected to visit Las Vegas in April. A goal is to have one visit per month from a government resource. Jerry also would like to arrange one visit per month by a corporate client. Jim Cashman cautioned that corporate visits should be carefully pre qualified to avoid unnecessary expenses. Mark noted that we should encourage members of the Science and Technology Committee to visit as well. Chairman Don Fuqua has indicated he would consider holding a hearing in Las Vegas. We should request Harry Reid obtain a hearing agenda for us to enable us to request a selected hearing be held in Las Vegas. Washington Congressional Committee February 12, 1985 Page 2 The check list for corporate visits was reviewed. A set guideline for visits should facilitate arranging meetings and functions. Mark also noted that dinners held in private homes have been very successful and impressive to visiting clients and should be continued. The Action Item List was reviewed. The Committee was advised that Avco currently has an expansion program and has provided us with ten criteria for a munitions plant. They have made no decisions yet but have indicated that they will visit the area in March or April. Berlyn Miller advised that he attended a recent meeting with Avco in Senator Laxalt's office. Avco was very impressed with what Nevada has to offer and he felt that they will definitely consider Nevada for their new facility. Other very active contacts are Martin Marietta, Sperry, Motorola and Boeing. Zack Taylor advised that he has invited Frank Marriott of Westinghouse to make a presentation to the Economic Development Commission. Fred Gibson updated the Committee on EG&G. Fred has talked to the Governor and expects him to host a private party for Dean Freed. We hope to receive a significant contribution ("meaningful gesture") from them to the School of Engineering. Mark received a letter from Dr. George Kozmetsky inviting us to his next conference that will be held in Malibu. It was agreed that we should have representation at the conference and encourage the Governor to attend as well. The list of attendees is very impressive and many good corporate contacts can be made. Mark proposed that Richard Bunker and Peter Thomas be added to the Committee. It was felt that any individuals interested in participating on the Committee should be considered as there are so many meetings scheduled during the Washington visits that the more participants the better. These individuals will be invited to join the Committee. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 A.M. Respectfully submitted, WASHINGTON CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE PRESENT: Joe Brown Dick Etter Ed Fike Fred Gibson Berlyn Miller Bill Siart Dave Vlaming Mark Fine, Chairman Tim Carlson Vinita Trent Carla Leveritt March 10, 1984 (1:30 pm) ABSENT: Jim Cashman III Hank Costenbader Kenny Guinn Tom Hartley Sherman Miller Chuck Ruthe Fred Smith Tom Wiesner Opening discussion centered around Mark's recent trip to Washington, D.C. The following summarizes the meetings that took place: 1) Sperry Corporation - had a very successful meeting in Senator Laxalt's office with Sperry delegation. They invited key NDA members to visit their facility in New York; that will be incorporated into the next trip to Washington and New York. 2) Westinghouse Electric - have a facility at the Test Site; possible expansion plans. 3) Dow Chemical U.S.A. - should have follow-up contact by NDA staff, for activity updates. 4) Owens-Illinois - should have follow-up contact by NDA staff for activity updates. 5) General Dynamics - represented in Washington by Senator Cannon suggested NDA staff follow up. It was also suggested that Ted Lefevre, Washington rep for General Dynamics, and Bob Anderson, President, Rockwell, be invited to the upcoming golf tournament as guests. There was discussion as to who would pay and for what; Howard Cannon will be contacted as to his thoughts and Dick Etter will help with any arrangements. Mark noted that the invi-tation has a two-fold purpose: (1) it will give the guests an opportunity to tour Las Vegas and be briefed on activities; and (2) obligate Howard Cannon with regard to future contacts and activities. 6) Congressional Representative's staffs - the meeting with staff members was attended by approximately 25 people; "Las Vegas Perspective" tapes and other materials were left for their use. It was suggested that the NDA staff contact the staffs with regard to their attendance at the upcoming Republican Convention, May 3, 4, 5, here in Las Vegas; that would be an opportune time to give them a tour of the area in con-junction with an update of activities. Washington Congressional Committee Page Two 7) Lockheed Corporation - has a facility in Las Vegas; Mark and Tim are to plan a trip to visit David Crowther at their Los Angeles facility. 8) Aerojet General - Joe Brown and Berlyn Miller attended a meeting in Washington, April 5, in Senator Laxalt's office with Ed Allison, Sam Ballenger, and the President and Executive Vice President of Aerojet; Ed Allison indicated that Laxalt's office would assist in any way to help Aerojet with regard to expansion plans in Nevada; a luncheon was held with the Nevada Congressional reps in attendance and executives from Aerojet. Aerojet executives are visiting the Las Vegas April 11; their expansion plans center around the production of rocket canisters, with mostly high tech and machinists in their employ; eventually, 200-400 people will be employed. Aerojet has also indicated their willingness to participate in the continuing education program in southern Nevada. 9) Ford Aerospace - they are interested in expansion of various divisions of their company; the Committee should meet with them on the next trip to Washington. 10) Martin Marietta - Frank Shattuck referred the name of Frank Menaker, General Counsel of Martin, to us for contact and subsequent meeting between Laxalt and Chairman and President of Martin Marietta. Mark noted that he had had meetings in Washington with various others: Senator Cannon, Bill Phillips, Bob Broadbent and Hal Furman, Jim Ritchie, Jim Hamernik, John Autry, and Congressman Reid. He updated everybody as the current activities of NDA and other pertinent information. Mark commented that at each meeting he had with corporate executives, the main thrust was on education. That led to discussion as to the role of NDA with relation to creating an educational committee for the purpose of a school of engineering and high tech training. The following points in relation to that are as follows: 1) It is clear that a program needs to be developed immediately to present to the 1985 Legislature 2) At the present time, there is no real leadership or program; and was recommended that NDA take the lead It was recommended that the Executive Committee of NDA, at their scheduled meeting on April 18, (1) adopt a leadership role for the continuing education and school of engineering program; and (2) recruit a coordinator for the program who would report directly either to the Executive Committee or to a special committee created for this purpose. Washington Congressional Committee Page Three It was noted that NDA1s function would be as it was with Citicorp: political; they would assist in adopting a plan to present to the Legislature and be instrumental in seeing that it is supported. It was suggested that Bob Gore, Summa Corporation, could be contacted as a possible coordinator. Fred Gibson suggested Bob make a presentation to the Executive and Washington Committees as he had to the Summa Board of Directors outlining an engineering school program. Bob has spent a great deal of time on this and Summa has indicated their willingness to contribute Bob's time (salary) and clerical support. (NDA cannot manage this project internally due to lack of staff and additional time requirements.) If the Executive Committee approves the suggested role for NDA, it is imperative that the coordinator be selected soon, so the program can be implemented. The final item for discussion was the next scheduled trip to Washington and New York. It was decided that the tentative dates of the week of May 14-18 will be considered. The first day would be spent in Washington to accomplish (1) meetings with the Congressional reps, (2) meet with the President of Ford Aerospace, and (3) meet with the Chairman and President of Martin Marietta. The second day would entail meetinqs in New York with the executives of Sperry Corporation tied in with visiting their facility. The meeting adjourned at 2:30 pm. MLF/cl MEMORANDUM TO: Washington Congressional Committee FROM: Mark L. Fine, Chairman RE: Activity Update DATE: February 8, 198 4 The following is a summation of activities and meetings that have taken place since our last Committee meeting. 1) Congress-woman Barbara Vucanovich visited the area on January 9; she was given a tour of various areas of the community including the North and West Las Vegas areas; identified the Foreign Trade Zone sites; and a tour of the GTE facility in Henderson. Discussion centered around issues in Nevada, and those particular to southern Nevada, including new companies, along with the rapid employment growth. 2) Congressman Harry Reid was in the So. Nevada area on January 20; met with him and discussed the various types of companies that have located in the area and gave a slide presentation depicting those facilities. A key issue of discussion with the Congressman was the contacts he gave us regarding the EPA and Lockheed facilities; along with identifying other organizations of this calibre in the southern Nevada area, for future client contacts. 3) Lockheed Management Services - (contact from Congressman Reid) had a very enlightening meeting with local representatives; they currently employ approximately 145 people (mostly scientists and engineers). They indicated they would like to become in-volved in the community as well. Their basic function in Las Vegas is to provide services to the EPA facility located here. They are also exploring expansion of an additional facility here in the southern Nevada region. NDA staff is continuing to track this lead. 4) EPA - (contact from Congressman Reid) the southern Nevada facility is one of three centers in the United States and employs approximately 350 people (mostly scientists and engineers). This facility appears to be a tremendous resource for expansion in light of President Reagan's State of the Union address where he prioritized EPA issues and increased funding. 5) Ford Aerospace - contractor at Nellis Air Force Base, primarily providing maintenance services to the Air Force; employ approximately 400 people (technical engineers); their contract with the Air Force is up for renewal in 1985. They have indicated an interest in building a facility here in order to create a greater presence in the marketplace. The President, Bill Donovan, and Vice President, Dom Panacio, were here February 7; preliminary discussions took place regarding their proposed facility. A luncheon with Senator Laxalt is being planned in the near future Washington Congressional Committee Page Two to meet with the principal players of Ford Aerospace. 6) Aero-jet General - Contacts have been made through Bob Broadbent's office (Hal Furman), with Joe Brown following up by setting a meeting scheduled for February 15, in La Jolla, CA, with members of the Board of Directors of Aero-jet. A trip to Washington is planned for March, to accomplish the following: a. Jerry Dondero is arranging meetings with company representatives from Sperry and IBM, to possibly include Senator Laxalt. b. Meetings with the Congressional Representative's staffs to discuss the goals and objectives of NDA, the Washington Congressional Committee, along with a presentation of "Las Vegas Perspective". c. Re-contacts will be made with Frank Fahrenkopf, Bob Broadbent, Reese Taylor, along with Jim Santini and Howard Cannon, . The planned trip is not an official Committee situation, but if you would like to participate, please let Tim or me know. Your input at any of these meetings, or suggestions you might have for our agenda, would be very helpful. (As the dates are finalized, we will contact you.) In the meantime, if you are planning on being in Washington, it would be helpful to Tim and myself if you apprise us of any contacts you make with regard to the goals and objectives of the Committee. If you have any questions, please call me. MLF/cl