• Ranson W. Webster, Chairman
• Fred D. Gibson, Jr., Vice Chairman
• George Balaban, Secretary/Treasurer
• Jim Bahan
• Rick Crawford
• Norman Dianda
• Deanna Forbush
• Marel Giolito
• Monte Miller
• Byron Mills
• Tom Powell 
• William P. Weidner
  
  
• Judy Cresanta, NPRI Founder

Ranson W. Webster, Chairman

Ranson W. Webster is the founder and a managing member of Evergreen Capital LLC, an early stage investment company that focuses on and invests in start-up Internet, service-oriented and biotech companies.  

A successful and innovative businessman, Mr. Webster founded Computing Resources, Inc. (CRI) in 1978 as a general purpose service bureau specializing in automating accounting functions.  Over the years, Mr. Webster's vision allowed CRI to gain national recognition as the nation's fourth-largest quality payroll services provider, servicing over 32,000 businesses nationwide.  In March of 1999, CRI announced it had agreed to a merger with Intuit, and Mr. Webster served as Chairman and CEO of Intuit's payroll division (CRI) until March 2000.

Mr. Webster currently serves on the boards of Heetronix, Inzap Inc, Athena On-line, and hCell Technology Inc.  Other investments include Salu.net, Sand Hill Capital II, Customer Link, Turbo Coverage, Sierra Sciences, Bridge Bank of Silicon Valley and Heritage Bank of Commerce.  A resident of Reno since 1972, Mr. Webster is currently Chairman of the Board for the National Automobile Museum - The Harrah Collection; a past Chairman of the Financial Advisory Board for the city of Reno; an Artown board member; and the Governor's appointee for The Commission On Education Technology.

Fred D. Gibson, Jr., Vice Chairman

Fred D. Gibson, Jr., a resident of Nevada since 1929 and of Las Vegas since 1936, is a former chairman, president and chief executive officer and a current director of American Pacific Corporation.  A native of Colorado, Mr. Gibson graduated from the Mackay School of Mines at the University of Nevada, Reno.  He was employed by the Pacific Engineering and Production Co. of Nevada and American Pacific Corporation for more than 41 years.

Mr. Gibson currently serves as chairman of the Nevada Taxpayers Association and of the State Commission on Mineral Resources, and is a member of the executive committee and a past chairman of the Nevada Development Authority.  He is a trustee of the University of Nevada Las Vegas Foundation, a member of the board of fellows of Southern Utah University, and a director of the NTS Development Corporation.

Mr. Gibson was named a Distinguished Nevadan by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1985, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Nevada, Reno in 1999, a Distinguished Public Service Medal by the National Aeronautics Space Administration in 2002, and the Desert Research Institute President's Medal in 2004.  Mr. Gibson is also a director of Cashman Equipment Company.

George Balaban, Secretary/Treasurer

George Balaban is the president of Desert Cab Inc., a company originally acquired by his father in 1964 with only one taxi.  The company had grown to nine taxis when Mr. Balaban took over in 1979, and now has 150 taxis.  The business is owned equally by Mr. Balaban, his brother and his sister.

Mr. Balaban was born in San Diego, Calif., in 1958.  He moved to Las Vegas shortly after that, but moved back to San Diego, where he lived from the ages of seven to 13.  After spending his high school years in Wisconsin, and then heading back to San Diego for college, he moved back to Las Vegas in 1979 and has lived there ever since.  He attended both San Diego State University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Mr. Balaban is a member of the Keystone Corporation, the Las Vegas Country Club, the UNLV Golf Foundation, the UNLV Football Foundation and the UNLV Educational Foundation   He and his brother also started On Demand Sedan and Limousine Company 10 years ago, and the business has grown to approximately 100 vehicles.

Jim Bahan

Jim Bahan was born in Hollywood, Calif., and grew up in Southern California working in the family-owned dairy business.  After he graduated from St. Mary's College with a degree in business, Mr. Bahan and his wife, Mary Ellen, moved to Reno in 1973.

That same year, Mr. Bahan and his brother, Tom, purchased Anderson Dairy, and in 1977 they purchased Model Dairy and merged the two companies.  In December 1996, they sold Model Dairy to Dean Foods.  Mr. Bahan served as president of the company until his retirement in 2000.

Mr. Bahan has been active in many charities over the years and currently serves on the board of directors for Heetronix and the board of regents of St. Mary's College.  He previously served on the boards of directors for St. Mary's Hospital, Pioneer Bank and the Foundation of Bishop Manogue High School.

Rick Crawford

Rick Crawford is the president and founder of Midjit Market, Inc. (DBA Green Valley Grocery), a chain of convenience stores located throughout Clark and Nye counties in Nevada.  The first Green Valley Grocery opened on September 1, 1978, in Henderson, and today there are more than 30 stores in operation.  Mr. Crawford is also the president and founder of Crawford Oil, Inc., and Crawford Coin, Inc.

Mr. Crawford is active with numerous civic and charitable organizations.  He is the immediate past chairman of the Southern Nevada YMCA of Las Vegas, chairman of the Nevada Retail Network Self Funded Group, and a member of the board of directors of the Shell Oil National Wholesalers Council.  He formerly served on the board of directors of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), is a former board member of the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America and of the National Advisory Group, and is a former chairman and board member of Secret Witness.  He is a also a former chairman of the Retail Association of Nevada.

Mr. Crawford has lived in Las Vegas since 1971.  Born in Winnipeg, Canada, and raised in San Diego, Calif., he became an American Citizen in January 1971. Mr. Crawford is married to Jeri Scudder Crawford and has four children and five grandchildren.

Norman Dianda

Norman Dianda is the president of Q&D Construction, Inc., which he founded in 1964, and which through the years has built a wide variety of facilities, including hospitals, hotel-casinos, retail centers, manufacturing facilities, office buildings, highways, bridges, and infrastructure for planned communities and subdivisions.  Mr. Dianda also founded Artéfice by Dianda, a cabinet and millwork facility, in 1979, and All-Lite Aggregate, a rock, sand and asphalt supplier, in 1987.

Regular recipients of contributions from Mr. Dianda include the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the March of Dimes, the American Cancer Society, the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Saint Mary's Hospital, Western Industrial Nevada, Junior Achievement and the Nevada Discovery Museum.  He is also a generous supporter of local education. He supports Bishop Manogue High School, where he has done numerous capital improvements for the school at little or no cost over the years, and where he led the construction of a new school delivered in 2004.

Mr. Dianda is also the recipient of numerous awards, including the President's Medal from Joe Crowley, president of the University of Nevada, Reno (1992); the S.I.R. Award from the Association of General Contractors (1993); the American Lung Association's Honor Award (1997); and the Distinguished Service Award from the Boys and Girls Club of Truckee Meadow (2005).  In 1999, the University of Nevada Regents named him a Distinguished Nevadan.

Deanna Forbush

Deanna Forbush is the Las Vegas office managing partner of the Fox Rothschild law firm, representing employers throughout the United States in all areas of employment and labor relations matters.  Before joining Grotta, Glassman & Hoffman, which later merged with Fox Rothschild, she served as associate general counsel at the Venetian Resort∙Hotel∙Casino.

In 2007, Ms. Forbush was appointed by State Supreme Court Justice Cherry to Nevada's blue ribbon Article 6 Commission, formed by the Nevada Supreme Court to study all aspects of the Nevada Judiciary, and to take a broad look at Nevada's Justice System and report back to the Legislature and Court with recommendations for improvement.

She is also very involved in the community, serving as counsel to the board of the Dr. Miriam & Sheldon G. Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment & Research, and serving on the boards of Junior Achievement, Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, and the Nevada Neuroscience Foundation.  She received her J.D. from the University of Utah's College of Law in 1991.

Marel Giolito

Marel Giolito is the president and chief executive officer of Credit Bureau Central, Inc., which she joined in 1979 and which provides credit reporting and accounts receivables services.

Ms. Giolito is also serving a third term as President of the Nevada Collector's Association and is a national director for the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals. She is a board member and officer for Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Southern Nevada.

She serves as an officer of the Nevada Society of Professional Investigators, and is also a licensed private investigator with the state of Nevada.  She holds collection agency manager's licenses in six states.  She is the immediate past chair of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Nevada, and a member of the board of the Las Vegas Executives Association, as well as numerous other industry-related associations.

Monte Miller

Monte Miller, chief executive officer of KeyState Corporate Management, has over 40 years of investment management and trust banking experience.

Prior to founding KeyState, a Nevada holding services company, in January 1991, he served as SVP and trust division manager for Valley Bank of Nevada (currently Bank of America Nevada) and serviced over $4 billion in assets.

Mr. Miller holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno and received his M.A. in Economics from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  He serves on the board of directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and as a commissioner for the Nevada Commission on Economic Development.

He also serves on the executive committee of the board of trustees of the Nevada Development Authority, and on the board of directors of the Community College of Southern Nevada Foundation.

Byron Mills

Byron Mills is a partner and managing member of Mills & Mills, one of the most well respected family law firms in Nevada, and has become well known in Clark County as a top litigator in the local courts. A fifth generation native of Nevada, Mr. Mills started working at his father's law firm in 1987 as a runner, and upon graduating law school in 1998, joined the firm, then known as Lamond R. Mills & Associates, L.L.C., as an associate.

While 95 percent of his practice is focused on family law matters, Mr. Mills also assists in the firm's civil cases, including personal injury, corporate and public utility issues. He has taken numerous cases to trial in both the Civil and Family Divisions of the Nevada Eighth Judicial District Court and has briefed and argued before the U.S. District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.  

Setting Mr. Mills apart from other attorneys is his degree in Business Management and Finance. This experience has helped him in representing clients that own businesses and have numerous assets, whether in divorces or other family matters.

Mr. Mills received his B.S. in Business Management and Finance from Brigham Young University and his J.D. from Creighton University School of Law in Omaha, Neb.  Mr. Mills is active in his community, as he is helping his hometown of Moapa Valley with several education initiatives, as well as possible incorporation.

Tom Powell

Tom Powell serves as the Chief Executive Officer at ELP Capital, Inc. as well as the Chief Investment Officer for its affiliated company, ELP Capital Advisors, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor. Mr. Powell is a highly regarded author and is also recognized in financial circles as an innovative money manager. His particular expertise is in debt and equity sectors of the real estate market as well as credit risk analysis and deal structure. He understands the practical application of money management in response to risk on both Wall Street and Main Street. Mr. Powell has made understanding and effectively maximizing money resources his life's work for more than 20 years, regardless of the direction in which the market's currents are running.

Mr. Powell holds a BS in Finance from Walden University, an MBA in Real Estate from Marylhurst University, and is a member of Harvard University's Advanced Management Development Program in Real Estate.

Mr. Powell has served on numerous industry and non-profit boards, is an avid supporter of children and education, is the author of Standing in the Rain, has co-authored the book series Real Life Habits for Success, as well as several industry articles, and is a widely sought after speaker and guest lecturer. He and his wife, Tonya, are the proud parents of four children and three dogs.

William P. Weidner

William P. Weidner is president and chief operating officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., having served in that capacity since December 1995.  A veteran hospitality industry executive, Mr. Weidner's responsibilities include directing all development activities of the company, including the planning, financing, construction and implementation stages.

Mr. Weidner has been instrumental in the planning, creation, and operation of all Las Vegas Sands Corp. properties, including The Venetian Resort∙Hotel∙Casino in Las Vegas, and the Sands Macao, located in Macao on the southeastern coast of the People's Republic of China.  Previously, he has served as assistant professor of Business Administration and Hotel Management at Paul Smith's College; vice president of hotel operations and marketing at Caesars in Atlantic City; executive vice president of the Greate Bay Casino Corporation; and president of the Pratt Hotel Corporation.

Mr. Weidner is currently a member of the board of directors for several Las Vegas Sands entities as well as a member of the board of the Clark County Public Education Foundation and the Dr. Miriam & Sheldon G. Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment and Research.  A native of Northville, Mich., Mr. Weidner earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Hotel Administration from Michigan State University.

Judy Cresanta, NPRI Founder

Judy Cresanta founded the Nevada Policy Research Institute in the early 1990s following a life-changing trip to the former Soviet Union to educate pro-democracy leaders about free markets and free elections. Her inspirations included Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation; Jeff Coors of Coors Brewing and the Castle Rock Foundation; Bill Bennett, former secretary of education under President Reagan; and Morton Blackwell of the Council for National Policy. Ms. Cresanta served as the Institute's president until 2001.

NPRI was established as Nevada's first free-market think tank, with the goal of confronting the state's many eroding institutions, including government, the education establishment, the media and academia, with straight-forward, well researched information that would keep the public armed with the truth. The absense of truth, Ms. Cresanta learned while in the former Soviet Union, allows the state to enslave its citizens. Under Ms. Cresanta's leadership, NPRI worked with some of the top individuals and organizations from around Nevada and the nation to perform compelling research and provide it to the Silver State's citizens and policymakers.

Ms. Cresanta has an undergraduate degree from St. Louis University and Masters Degrees in Public Policy and Public Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno.