New Yorker to take reins of Las Vegas chamber

He wrangled conservative television commentator Sean Hannity into a debate with liberal political pundit James Carville.

He's interviewed two former presidents and a one-time British prime minister.

And he runs one of the nation's few health insurance exchanges for small businesses.

Now, New York businessman and attorney Matthew Crosson, 60, will turn that diverse experience toward leading the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber announced Tuesday that Crosson will become the group's president and chief executive officer on April 26, when he's scheduled to replace longtime head Kara Kelley.

Crosson comes to the chamber from New York's Long Island Association, a business group with more than 5,000 members. Crosson has served as president and chief executive officer of the association since 1993.

Kristin McMillan, chairwoman of the chamber's board of trustees, said the chamber wanted its new leader to possess proven experience managing a large membership organization, as well as someone well-versed in public policy and advocacy.

"We are very enthusiastic about our choice and believe that Matt Crosson brings exactly the right combination of leadership experience, business and political acumen, and vision to his new role," McMillan said at a Tuesday media conference inside the chamber's Town Square headquarters.

Crosson joins the chamber as it prepares for a 2011 legislative session that could mean new taxes on business. The group has been a key opponent to new levies, including a gross-receipts tax proposed in 2003, and its leaders have long argued for reform in public-sector pay and benefits, which often outpace overall compensation in the private sector.

David Damore, a professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, called Crosson's hiring "a bit of a surprise."

"It's so incestuous here. Usually, you're bringing in someone's cousin," Damore said. "They're actually bringing in an outsider."

And not just any outsider, said Damore, but an outsider from a higher-tax state that's "night-and-day" different from Nevada in its revenue structure. That could require some adjustment, not only in understanding the state's tax climate, but also in what Crosson might expect of government services, Damore said.

"But my guess is, he was hired because his views are pretty much consistent with the chamber's," Damore added.

Some chamber members who left comments online said they preferred a local hire.

But members who spoke with the Review-Journal on Tuesday afternoon didn't seem to have an issue with Crosson's New York provenance.

Phil Carlino, owner of Fremont Coin Corp., moved to Las Vegas from New York nearly 50 years ago.

"I'm a member of the United States. There are 50 states, and we should all be one," Carlino said. "In this situation, I think a person from his background will be of greater benefit to the state of Nevada than (the people) we have now."

Jack Rubenstein, sales and marketing director of Jackpot Printing, said he would wait to see how Crosson does before he would form an opinion.

"But if there's no one local, what are you going to do?" he added.

Before joining the Long Island Association, Crosson was chief administrator of the New York State Unified Court System. His background includes a decade as an assistant district attorney in New York County, where he became deputy chief of the Frauds Bureau. Crosson also worked as assistant counsel to former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.

As head of the Long Island Association, Crosson has focused on efforts related to technology development, economic diversification, work force development, the relationship between business and education, and work force housing. He also runs the LIA Health Alliance, a regional health insurance purchasing plan for small businesses. He brought luminaries, including former presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and political personalities Hannity and Carville to the association's luncheons and meetings. He also hosts TV news programs, and his editorial writing in Long Island magazine has won him Folio Awards.

Crosson said the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce position appealed to him for two reasons.

First, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce is one of the nation's most respected and best-known chambers in the United States, with a committed board of trustees and a "highly effective" leadership and staff, he said.

Second, despite its acute recessionary woes, Las Vegas remains one of the country's most promising economic regions.

"Las Vegas has everything in place today to be one of the leading economic forces in the United States," Crosson said. "It's a very exciting professional opportunity, and worth coming across the country to take advantage of."

The chamber began its search for a new chief executive in September, after Kelley said she planned to retire in April to pursue other opportunities. Los Angeles executive search firm Korn-Ferry International led the search for her replacement in a process that drew more than 80 candidates from across the country, including some local prospects.

Chamber officials wouldn't disclose Crosson's salary, but Kelley earned about $275,000 a year, according to a February 2009 newspaper advertisement placed in the Review-Journal by public employee unions.

Crosson's wife, Elaine, is vice president for legal affairs and general counsel for Long Island University. They have a son, Daniel.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.