Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date:  July 20, 2009

Brian Rice Graduates from Leadership Las Vegas

[LAS VEGAS, Nev.] - NV July 20, 2009 – Ten Months ago, Brian Rice Partner at Acuity began the Leadership Las Vegas Program. A division of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Las Vegas provides community members with a unique insight to the Las Vegas Valley, and the issues the community here faces. Since it was established in 1986, more than 900 Las Vegas community leaders have graduated from the program. Now, Brian Rice and his 43 classmates are among them.

Having heard about the program from a previous graduate, Rice went through the application process. It began with a significant written application, followed by an interview where he met with previous graduates. As part of the final group, he had to commit to the 10-month long program, which included at least one day a month of community-based education.

This education program included on-site visits, each day focusing on a topic, and its specific application in Las Vegas. Topics included Education, Criminal Justice, Gaming & Tourism, and Government Politics & Media, among others beginning with a “Gateway” session where applicants learned about each other. The program ended with a closing retreat that the class planned themselves, allowing them to re-visit what they learned over the course of the year, “This was my favorite,” says Rice.

After the closing retreat, the 44 members of the class were asked to organize a group project. “I didn’t think the class could make an impact as fast as we did, or work as cohesively together,” says Rice, “When we started to organize the ideas, there were 44 people with their own favorite charity or pet project. Even after consolidating our ideas, we had 29 potential projects.” The class was able to agree upon the creation of SLIP – the Scholarship and Leadership Integrity
Program. They will be funding a member of each subsequent class of Leadership Las Vegas… and will work on other projects as well.

Within 2 weeks of graduation, the 2009 Class of Leadership Las Vegas had already completed 2 projects on their list – the Redecoration of the Child Haven lobby, and a donation to the education fund for Le Cordon Bleu, supporting students in competitions and conferences outside of the standard curriculum. The class plans to continue collaborating on future projects as well, including working with Teach for America.

When asked about the time commitment involved in the 10-month Leadership Las Vegas program, Rice says, “it was difficult to make up front, but worthwhile at the end… some of the days were very involved, and when I left, I felt worn out. But, I can’t imagine the experience would have been the same had I not made that full commitment.”

To anyone considering applying for the Leadership Las Vegas program, he adds, “Good luck with the process… it will change your life.”

Acuity Solutions is a technology consulting firm specializing in accounting and business management software in Nevada. Acuity Solutions’ mission is to assist businesses in transmitting vital information from their front-end systems into their financial applications, providing increased reporting capabilities, and empowering the business to make informed business decisions.

# # #