Mayor Lee received the honor September 26 at the LVGEA Annual Awards Dinner at the Aria Resort & Casino. More than 600 business and community leaders from across Southern Nevada gathered to honor several award winners who are leading the charge for economic and community development in the region.
"I am humbled and honored to receive the Chairman's Award from the LVGEA, and I am extremely proud of our City Council and employees for helping North Las Vegas succeed," Lee said.
Under Mayor Lee's leadership, North Las Vegas has progressed from a city two weeks away from losing its charter and on the brink of bankruptcy to a thriving, economically-diverse community, with Fortune 500 companies like Amazon, Sephora, Fanatics, The Honest Company and Bed, Bath and Beyond staking a significant presence in the city. Mayor Lee told attendees that city staff has worked extremely hard over the past six years to realize the Council's vision of transforming North Las Vegas into a city where people and major companies want to do business.
“Mayor Lee and his team in North Las Vegas deserve tremendous credit for turning the city around to the point where it’s now considered an economic powerhouse,” said Derrick Hill, LVGEA Chairman. “He provided critical leadership to guide the city through a series of economic hurdles and onto a path for success that has renewed and expanded interest in the community.”
The city's growth has been key to Mayor Lee's strategy of "grownomics," or expanding the tax base to increase revenues, diversify the economy and improve the quality of life for citizens. As a result, the city's bond rating has improved a combined 12 steps, from junk status to 'A' investment grade with the three major national credit agencies. North Las Vegas has also grown to be the third-largest city in Nevada, with an estimated population of roughly 252,000 as of January, 2019.
"We decided we would compete a little harder, streamline systems, get rid of bureaucracies and reduce red tape, and the results have been unprecedented," Mayor Lee said.
With several new master-planned communities under construction, thousands of new jobs created and tens of millions of square feet of commercial and industrial space in development, North Las Vegas is a leading destination where people choose to live, work, invest and play.
"You can hide and watch, North Las Vegas is going to be huge, North Las Vegas is going beyond being a bedroom city, we're going to be the breadbasket of Southern Nevada," Lee said. "More new money will be made in North Las Vegas than anywhere else in this region in the next 20 years because this is where it's going to happen."