Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) President and COO Steve Hill was named the new CEO of the organization, replacing longtime CEO Rossi Ralenkotter, who is retiring August 31.
Hill, Nevada’s former state Economic Development Director who joined the LVCVA as president and COO January 22, 2018, will assume the CEO role September 1.
“I am honored the Board of Directors selected me as CEO of the LVCVA,” Hill said via a press release from the LVCVA.” The Authority is an integral part of the Southern Nevada economy. I look forward to working with our tremendous team and our mission partners to innovate, improve access to and around the destination and drive growth to keep Las Vegas the number one choice for business and leisure travelers alike.”
Hill, a Las Vegas resident for more than 30 years, founded Silver State Materials in 1987, which supplied concrete and other building materials to many projects in the city.
Hill’s work with Nevada’s Governor’s Office of Economic Development, of which he appointed as its first director by Gov. Brian Sandoval in 2011, is credited as playing a critical role in bringing businesses such as Tesla, Apple, Solar City, Barclaycard, Amazon and Hyperloop One to Nevada, according to the LVCVA.
“As an entrepreneur, Steve Hill helped build many resorts on the Strip and as the inaugural leader of my Office of Economic Development he helped make Nevada an attractive place to build businesses, bringing some of the world’s most innovative companies to the Silver State,” Sandoval said in the LVCVA press release. “I know Steve will be equally successful at the LVCVA; he is the right person, at the right time to lead the organization.”
Hill said his leadership will only be part of the larger effort of the many tourism promotion entities that make Las Vegas a top tourism and meetings destination.
“I think what was really pointed out is the great team at the LVCVA, the resources that we have throughout the destination on the board, in the properties, with our partners,” Hill told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Rossi would tell you this too … this is not a one-man show. I think I can do a good job with the organization, but it’s a big group effort to make Las Vegas happen.”
Hill will become the ninth leader in the 63-year history of the LVCVA and was approved by a vote of 13-1 by the LVCVA’s Board of Directors. North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee cast the lone dissenting vote.
“I’m excited about what’s happening right now,” Hill said in the Las Vegas Review Journal interview. “We’ve got the stadium, we’ve got the LVCVA [convention center] expansion, Resorts World is moving, the Drew is looking like it’s going to start as well, so there’s real momentum and growth, which, frankly, we haven’t had in about a decade.”
Ralenkotter had recently come under scrutiny following an audit of the LVCVA that found that the organization purchased $90,000 in gift cards from Southwest Airlines with more than $50,000 of the cards unaccounted for and more than $16,000 of the cards used for personal travel by Ralenkotter and his wife.
