Bob Goff may be laboring far from cities' bright lights, but he's not working in obscurity.
Goff, the founder of the Sierra Angels at Lake Tahoe and a mentor to angel investment groups across the nation, last week was honored by the Angel Capital Association with its first Hans Severiens Award.
The announcement came during the annual summit of the association at San Francisco, an event that drew representatives of 80 angel investment groups as well as representatives of venture capital firms.
Goff, a resident of Incline Village,was nominated by colleagues in the Lake Tahoe region and throughout the country.
"Bob is a pioneer in angel investing," said Maureen Conners, a member of Sierra Angels.
"His leadership has been instrumental in achieving a bigger objective than supporting entrepreneurs.His purpose is to help the economy grow and diversify."
Marianne Hudson, executive director of the Angel Capital Association, noted that Goff created one of the first angel investment groups outside of a major metropolitan area, ensured that it would support entrepreneurs in the Lake Tahoe area, then served as a mentor to other angel groups across the nation.
"His commitment to ensuring that promising entrepreneurs have the financing and mentoring they need to grow is exceptional," said Hudson.
Sierra Angels has made early-stage investments in more than 25 companies ranging from banks to health-care and technology businesses.
It focuses on businesses in the Sierra region of Nevada and California.
Goff has more than 30 years of experience in marketing and senior executive positions with three semiconductor companies.
Along with his work with Sierra Angels, Goff chairs the engineering advisory board at the University of Nevada, Reno, and serves on the advisory board of the university's college of business.
He's the chair-elect of the Golden Capital Network, a venture capital organization, and president emeritus of the Nevada Technology Council.
The award is named after Dr.Hans Severiens, who in 1994 created one of the first angel investment groups in the nation.
