Rick Smith, Chairman Elect

RDS and Associates
With over twenty-five years experience in the California and Nevada commercial real estate markets, Richard D. (Rick) Smith is President and Chief Executive Officer of RDS Associates, LLC, a Southern Nevada commercial real estate firm specializing in investment, development, marketing and brokerage services.

During the late 1990\\\'s, Smith led commercial development and transactional activities as Vice President of American Nevada Corp., developer of the 8400-acre Green Valley master-planned community in Henderson, Nevada. Smith\\\'s prior real estate experience includes senior management positions with Emkay Development Co. in Newport Beach, developers of major office, industrial and mixed-use business parks in the West, and IDM Development, builders of the World Trade Center in Long Beach, California. Prior to relocating to Southern Nevada in 1995, Smith owned and operated RDS Associated, Inc. in Southern California. More recently, Smith developed and co-owned the Mexican-themed restaurant/sports bar, Cabo Rico Cantina & Grill.

Smith has served as speaker, panelist and commentator in numerous real estate venues and is frequently quoted in local and regional business and real estate publications. As Keynote Speaker at the \\\"2001 North Las Vegas State of the City Conference\\\", Smith defined and helped launch the City\\\'s international award-winning \\\"Cheyenne Technology Corridor\\\", wherein RDS/Insight developed that City\\\'s first mixed-use business park, the 40-acre Cheyenne West Corporate Center.

Smith\\\'s trade and civic associations are numerous. He is former Chairman of the National Mixed-Use Development Forum for the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) and is a past President of the Southern Nevada Chapter of NAIOP. Smith also serves on the Executive Council of the UNLV Lied School of Real Estate Studies and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Henderson Chamber of Commerce. He was the first ever to complete both, the Las Vegas Chamber\\\'s \\\"Leadership Las Vegas\\\" program, and the Henderson Chamber\\\'s \\\"Leadership Henderson\\\" program.

Smith received his B.A. from the University of Texas and M.B.A. from Pepperdine University. Rick and his wife Geri, a Marriage and Family Therapist, are active in a variety of community activities, including St. Thomas More Catholic Community, where they serve as lectors, and at St. Viator\\\'s Catholic School. Along with daughters Ellie and Amy, they make their home in the Green Valley area of Henderson.