The recently revamped Nevada Tourism Commission has sent the names of three finalists for its vacant director’s position to Gov. Brian Sandoval.
In a teleconference meeting this morning, the commission unanimously recommended forwarding the names of:
• Larry Friedman, acting director of the Tourism Commission, where he has been employed for 20 years. He has managed international and domestic sales efforts, representing the state at trade and domestic shows and led tours of Nevada.
• Frank Nocera, who served as a senior executive at Visit Florida, a nonprofit that promoted tourism. He has 30 years of public and private experience in destination marketing and management.
• Claudia Vecchio, president of Destination Integration in Dallas, which promotes tourism and economic development for midsized communities. From 2003-2006, she was director of the Ohio Division of Travel and Tourism.
Under a consolidation approved by the Nevada Legislature earlier this year, the director will oversee the newly formed Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, which Tourism, the Division of Museums and History, the Nevada Arts Council and the Nevada Indian Commission. The state’s Department of Cultural Affairs is being eliminated in the consolidation.
Commissioners initially reviewed eight candidates for the job Aug. 22. They agreed to forward the names of Friedman and Vecchio, but deadlocked on the third finalist between Nocera and Michael Fischer, director of the Department of Cultural Affairs, who has been a board member and chairman of the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority and the Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering.
Commissioners agreed then to research the backgrounds of the remaining candidates. Meanwhile, Sandoval appointed two new commissioners when terms ended for rural representative Bruce Dewing and a Las Vegas representative, Eric Bello. They were replaced by Elko resident Don Newman and Las Vegan Mike Vaswani, president of Southern Nevada’s Asian American Group.
The new makeup of the commission shifted the vote in support of Nocera.
Sandoval’s office is expected to announce his selection by Oct. 1, the date by when a new director is scheduled to take office.
Friedman was appointed interim director of the commission in November after the departure of Dann Lewis.