Bo Cassel, who earned a B.S. in history from Stony Brook University, began working at Hometown Health in 2014.
Courtesy Photo
Who are you?
Name: Bo Cassel
Age: 34
Profession/Title: Senior Account Executive at Hometown Health
Years in Reno/Northern Nevada: 10 years
EDITOR’S NOTE: This past November, the Reno-Tahoe Young Professionals Network announced the winners of its 14th annual Twenty Under 40 Awards. With the region’s economic future in mind, we are conducting interviews with each of the 2020 winners, to be published throughout 2021.
Q: What do you see as the top one or two biggest economic development opportunities for Northern Nevada in 2021 and beyond?
Bo Cassel: I think the biggest opportunity for our city is showcasing our region’s quality of life and access to the outdoors. I believe Renown Health has already begun this by continuing to attract top doctors and medical professionals to our region. All of this has helped create a robust high-wage job market, with an emphasis on employing UNR grads, and then also bringing in top talent from Silicon Valley. And it’s the same for tech companies coming to the Reno area from the Bay Area.
Q: Why is it important for younger professionals to have a seat at the table when it comes to the business community in Northern Nevada?
Cassel: The young leaders are going to be the future of the community. Every generation has its own perspectives and quirks. Our youth can definitely learn from their mentors and the current leaders, but at the same time we want to keep the traditions alive here in Northern Nevada, while putting their own spin in the ever-changing business community.
Q: What under the radar industries have the biggest opportunity for growth in Northern Nevada?
Cassel: I’m a big, big advocate for nonprofits in our community. With the growth our city has seen over the last five years, our nonprofits are at need more now than ever. These nonprofits have been stretched so thin, and I believe it’s the greatest opportunity for our community to better serve here in the city.
I serve on two nonprofit boards here in town, the Boys and Girls Club of Truckee Meadows and Upstate Nevada. The Boys and Girls Clubs fills that need for youth to have that safe place where the kids can access resources and community and get together do homework and play sports, which is really needed. Upstate Nevada is Northern Nevada’s first and only nonprofit CrossFit gym that serves military teachers, police, fire, nurses and adults with physical and cognitive impairments and their families. So, these needs are just unmatched, and its biggest opportunity for growth in this area.
Q: Where do you see the greater Reno-Sparks region in five years?
Cassel: I’ve been here 10 years, and I’m looking forward to what the next five years bring. The downtown continues to improve, and all the work being done to clean up our community is just so impressive. In five years, I’d like to see us have the infrastructure to support our growing city, and to be able to create a happy, healthy and diverse population that’s moving here to Reno. I’m also excited to see the growth of the university as it expands.
Q: If you could change one thing for the better or improve one thing about your community, what would it be?
Cassel: This is a hard one. I love the city; I love the direction that it’s heading right now. I can’t say I’d necessarily change too much other than having the image of it being a casino city. I think Reno has so much to offer and so much to be known for other than to be known just as a casino city.
From the riverwalk, the artsy midtown, the university expanding, the sports teams, all while the city is located at the base of the Sierra Nevada. I’m looking forward to the resurgence of our food and culture scene downtown.
Another thing that I like to see is our town make a significant effort to clean up the downtown through various programs by providing shelter and resources for our homeless population, in order to showcase our amenity-rich riverwalk, downtown and midtown districts to benefit our local residents and our visitors.
Q: Why do you feel Northern Nevada is better positioned to bounce back from the COVID recession than other regions?
Cassel: We’re very proud. This community is anxious to bounce back and get events back under way — we see all the different nonprofits already lining them up. Northern Nevada has seen growth throughout the whole COVID process in the last year. We have diversified our economy more in the last 10 years than we did in the previous recession. Then there are new developments all over town opening with construction that hasn’t slowed down one bit.
Note: This interview has been edited lightly for length and clarity.
