NCET

David LaPlante, Chair *

David LaPlante is CEO of Twelve Horses, a Nevada-based marketing technology company with operating locations Reno-Tahoe, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Atlanta and Dublin, Ireland. Twelve Horses was named “Business of the Year” in 2005 by EDAWN and recently named “Technology Company of the Year” for 2007 by the Technology Business Alliance of Nevada.
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Chuck Alvey *

Chuck Alvey, CEcD*, is President and CEO of EDAWN – The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, a position he has held since September of 1998. EDAWN is a not-for-profit corporation, a private-public partnership committed to recruiting and expanding quality companies that have a positive economic impact on the quality of life in the western Nevada region.
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Scott Frost, Immediate Past Chair *

Scott Frost served as the founding Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Smart City Networks (formerly known as US Telcom) when the company moved its headquarters to Las Vegas in 1998. During his tenure the company more than tripled in size and became a leader in the industry. In November of 2001, Mr. Frost founded Desert Frost Ventures, a business development and capital-sourcing firm with its headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Bob Goff, Chair Emeritus

Bob Goff’s background is a blend of managing high technology growth companies and venture investment-related activities. He has more than 30 years of marketing and senior executive experience in managing the rapid and profitable growth of (3) semiconductor product companies ranging in size from start-ups to 1000 employees with annual revenues ranging from 0 to $100 million that resulted in multiple strategic mergers and IPOs.
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Darik Volpa *

Darik Volpa is the Founder and CEO of Understand.com.  After nine years in the medical device industry, Darik Volpa witnessed a huge disconnect in communication between surgeons and patients. Most of the time doctors were too busy or lacked the skill set to communicate well with patients, and patients were usually confused with strange terminology or too nervous to ask the right questions. These opportunities led Mr. Volpa to found Understand.com in 2003. Today, Understand.com has over 2,000 physicians licensing content and has served more than 5,000,000 patients in over 130 countries. Read more.

Dennis Wengert *

Dennis D. Wengert, has served as the Deputy District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Nevada district office located in Las Vegas, NV since March 2006. As Deputy District Director, Dennis assists the Director in administering all SBA programs and services including lender relations, government contracting, marketing, outreach, promotion, counseling, training and small business advocacy. Read more.

Frank Yoder *

Frank T. Yoder, has served as President and CEO of Advanced Information Systems, Inc. (AIS) for the past 23 years. During his this time, Frank grew the company from a one man startup to a highly respected IT consulting company with offices in the UK, and in across the US. Frank’ scope of professional expertise includes corporate strategic planning, operations, business development, and project management. Read more.

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* Members, NCET’s Executive Committee