FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gregory Bortolin,
Director of Communications
grbortolin@goed.nv.gov (775) 687-9917
October 10, 2023
CARSON CITY, Nev. – Kyeema Peart has been appointed as the Director of the Office of Entrepreneurship in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).
“We are delighted at the opportunity to engage Kyeema in this role, and believe her unique background offers great value to Nevada’s entrepreneurial efforts in spearheading these new operations,” said GOED’s Executive Director Tom Burns.
The Office of Entrepreneurship reinforces Governor Lombardo’s commitment to empowering individuals and growing young companies. It is also a first nationally, with Nevada being the inaugural state to endorse such ‘Right to Start’ legislation, which underwrites the economic and vocational force that entrepreneurs represent for our communities in diversifying jobs and enhancing the resilience of key business sectors.
“Nevada’s young business community will benefit from the catalytic coordination to come from the Office of Entrepreneurship, and from Kyeema’s particular expertise in leading these efforts,” said Karsten Heise, GOED’s Senior Director of Strategic Programs and Innovation, who will oversee its operation. “The office’s initiatives for strengthening entrepreneurship will span both small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as innovation-driven enterprises (IDEs), and act as a force for stronger tactical alignment in order to remove barriers for those businesses and putting founders first.”
Peart brings more than 20 years of International and U.S. experience to the role, most recently aiding entrepreneurial activities at the Nevada Center for Applied Research (NCAR) at the University of Nevada, Reno. Throughout the rest of her career managing innovative research and commercialization, she has spearheaded technology strategies for energy and mining, product development for public-private partnerships in food and health, entrepreneurship education for students, and multi-million-dollar grants for other sectors of economic importance, as well as managing national technology platforms and events.
After an initial statewide consultation period, the office is expected to coordinate a robust support network assisting businesses in operation for five years or less. It will both refer and track entrepreneurial activity, in pursuit of reporting and recommendation goals stipulated in the guiding legislation of AB77 that was passed into law with the bill signing on July 20th.
Through the Office of Entrepreneurship, the state will gain a truer picture of entrepreneurial activities at play across Nevada, and areas of need where these can be strengthened for greater impact. The office will foster entrepreneurship and economic growth in a highly harmonized and integrated approach that advances business opportunities as a civic priority, where every Nevadan has the right to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
“I am truly excited by the power of innovation to enhance this state, as well as the commitment of Governor Lombardo to pursue such ecosystem expansion through GOED efforts,” Peart said. “It will be important to see where impacts can be strengthened for greater business growth and reduced barriers to economic diversification.”
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About the Governor’s Office of Economic Development
Created during the 2011 session of the Nevada Legislature, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development is the result of a collaborative effort between the Nevada Legislature and the Governor’s Office to restructure economic development in the state. GOED’s role is to promote a robust, diversified and prosperous economy in Nevada, to stimulate business expansion and retention, encourage entrepreneurial enterprise, attract new businesses and facilitate community development.