Chip Bowlby

Managing Partner of Reno Land Development Company. An expert in financing, land acquisition, product design, product re-positioning, and marketing of residential projects, Chip Bowlby is one of RLDC™s two managing partners. Previously, Bowlby served as the director of sales, marketing, land acquisition and product development for New Cities Development Group, a large residential real estate developer. Bowlby also served as president of Bowlby and Company, Inc., and regional vice president of property management operations and acquisition for a national single-family and multi-residential builder. Bowlby is based in Reno, Nevada.

Jeff Bryant

Jeff is the Founder of the Polygrarian Institute, an agricultural non-profit focused on cultivating community based food systems through education, research & civic engagement. Working with next generation farmers, the Polygrarian Institute specialized in creating unique agricultural experiences for young professionals through national service while enhancing economic opportunities in our local food system.

A native Nevadan, Jeff grew up in a small military town in the desert and completed his B.S. in Secondary Education with a minor in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Nevada- Reno. After college, Jeff spent time in the Sierra Nevada’s with California State Parks and worked in environmental conservation throughout Nevada with the Great Basin Institute before building local nonprofit Urban Roots, a small teaching farm that focuses on k-12 education through day camp programs and works with dozens of schools throughout northern Nevada.

Jeff currently serves on the Renown Health Community Advisory Committee, Nevada Food & Agriculture Council, and is a founding board member of Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation and was a recipient of the Young Professionals Network Twenty Under 40 Award in 2013. For his work and service to the community, Jeff was recently recognized as the Reno Gazette Journal’s™ 2015 Citizen of the Year.

Ron Knecht

The State Controller, Nevada’s Chief Fiscal Officer, administers its accounting system and may recommend to the Governor and Legislature plans for support of public credit, for promoting frugality and economy, and for better management and understanding of state fiscal affairs. He’s responsible to settle claims against the state, collect debts owed to it, process and record its financial transactions, conduct the final audit and ensure compliance with Nevada’s constitution and statutes and federal laws. He provides the citizens, legislature, governor and others extensive, accurate and impartial financial information and works to assure the citizens money is spent efficiently and cost-effectively. The Controller serves on Nevadas Board of Finance, Executive Branch Audit Committee and its Department of Transportation Board of Directors. Ron Knecht, an economist, financial and policy analyst, and Professional Mechanical Engineer (registered in California), became Controller January 5, 2015.

Before being elected Controller, he divided 44 working years between public service and entrepreneurial small business, all in senior professional and managerial positions, testifying often as an expert witness. He’s been a founder, executive or director for 12 firms, charities, community-service and public-interest groups. Ron was elected to the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education in 2006 and re-elected in 2012. He was elected to the Nevada Assembly in 2002, representing Carson City and Washoe City. A graduate of the University of Illinois in Liberal Arts and Sciences, Stanford University in Engineering Economic Systems, and the University of San Francisco Law School, he and his wife Kathy have a teen-age daughter Karyn.

Eric Edelstein

Eric is currently the President for the Reno Aces, Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona.

Diamondbacks and Reno 1868 FC, the future professional soccer franchise to be affiliated with the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. Owned by SK Holdings, with real estate magnate Herb Simon as managing partner, he supervises all business, baseball, and soccer operations of the franchises at Greater Nevada Field in Reno.

In his first two seasons at the helm, the Aces have achieved franchise records in the important revenue streams of sponsorship sales and group events. In addition, the Aces have launched a significant non-baseball events plan, with a haunted house, ice rink, and numerous other plans set to expand use of Greater Nevada Field into the future. Last March, Edelstein announced a landmark naming rights agreement, signing a 15 year deal with Greater Nevada Credit Union to put the first ever name on Reno’s downtown venue.

Edelstein, 38, joined the Aces in June, 2013, after 10 years with the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, working in Wichita and Northwest Arkansas under the ownership of Rich Products Corporation. Prior to the 2008 Naturals inaugural season, Edelstein orchestrated a smooth transition to Northwest Arkansas by overseeing the construction of the ballpark, sales, marketing and community relations.

Before moving to Wichita, Edelstein served as General Manager of the Jamestown Jammers in Jamestown, NY. The team’s parent club, the Florida Marlins, won the World Series in 2003, earning Edelstein a World Series ring. While with Rich Products, ownership sponsored the Bedlington Terriers Football Club in Northern England, giving Edelstein an opportunity to spend two months consulting with the club during the fall of 2011. He advised on all areas of the operation including event presentation, sales and marketing, and organizational structure. In the fall of 2014, Edelstein continued consulting internationally with the Durham County Cricket Club in Northern England.

A native of Cleveland, OH, Edelstein earned a degree in sport organization management and a minor in marketing from Bowling Green State University. He started his career in professional baseball in high school as an intern for his hometown team, the Cleveland Indians. Over the course of his career, Edelstein has filled many rolls for several professional sports teams including the Buffalo Bisons and the Cleveland Lumberjacks Professional Hockey Club.