Good morning dear readers, Happy Earth Day and welcome back to kenbaxter.com! I am Ken Baxter of Las Vegas and today is Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014. I hope your Easter holiday was delightful. We had a great week in sunny California leading up to the holiday weekend! I am happy to report that I got to spend some quality time with my lovely wife Linda, our son Kenny and daughter-in-law Amy, and our wonderful granddaughters, Taylor and Reagan, at the happiest place on Earth…yes, that’s right, we went to Disneyland! A few important things I learned from our adventure – wear your most comfortable walking shoes, take a lot of pictures, and finally – whether you’re 7, 15, or 64, everybody is a kid in the Magic Kingdom!
Speaking of magic, we have some really enchanting news to report on this fine Tuesday! On Friday, April 18th, our staff got to attend a very special meeting hosted by the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce. Held at the Four Seasons Hotel, “Eggs & Issues,” with keynote speaker Representative Dina Titus from the 1st Congressional District of Nevada, was a really informative and interactive assemblage in which our public charities were proud to be involved.
K & L Baxter Family Foundation (KLBFF), our parent non-profit organization and Chamber of Commerce member, along with our public charities, Made In America and Green Global, were represented at the meeting by Leisa Whittum and Jennifer Acevedo, our two grass roots movement gals! Eggs & Issues, a program series designed to connect members with key federal policymakers, is a breakfast forum held in a town hall-style setting which gives Chamber members exclusive access to the public officials who represent the state’s interests at the national level! Eggs & Issues serves as a tool for the Southern Nevada business community to engage elected officials on the subjects that impact Las Vegas and its’ surrounding communities.
We attended the meeting in hopes of speaking personally with Congresswoman Titus’ team members and especially so that we can partner with government officials in promoting a new bill we have in the works which concerns KLBFF’s and Green Global’s initiative to add Solar Electric Vehicle Charging Stations along two major interstates – the I-15 from San Bernardino County, California to Provo, Utah and U.S. Route 95 from Reno, Nevada to Laughlin, Nevada.
Electric vehicles run completely on battery power, but at full charge are only able to run for about 50 miles at a time. One notable exception to this is the Tesla Model S, of which I am a proud owner, and whose range on full charge can reach up to an impressive 265 miles! With these Charging Stations available at convenient locations along these two major highways, the likelihood of electric vehicle owners making the trip to Las Vegas is far more likely. This bill would ultimately increase electric vehicle traffic to Southern Nevada and in turn, increase tourism and revenue to our great city as well as other cities and towns along the two routes.
The second and most pressing issue we brought to the Chamber meeting is Made In America’s concentrated effort to resurrect the American manufacturing industry, improve the educational programs available for public school students, and lessen the skills gap for those entering the workforce so they may obtain decent, living wage employment upon graduation. One of the many ways we are currently helping our community achieve its educational goals is by working diligently to raise the funds necessary to create several satellite campuses for Desert Rose High School. These special schools would be primarily devoted to assisting dropout students without a high school diploma in finishing up their coursework and obtaining their diploma, as well as receiving valuable job training so they may obtain gainful employment upon completion of the special work training programs being offered at these satellite schools.
After the Eggs & Issues engagement, we were delighted to meet with Mr. Mike Naft, District Director for Ms. Titus’ office, and were able to get some really great feedback and a promise for a second meeting and discussion on these significant topics which we are confident will result in meaningful partnerships for our public charities, the government sector, and other community leaders!
We sincerely look forward to the next event with the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce and also anticipate some integral networks being built within the community! If you are interested in finding out more about the LVMCC, please visit – https://www.lvchamber.com/chamber/about.
For more information on Made In America’s dedication to returning jobs to hardworking Americans, resurrecting the manufacturing industry in the USA, and bringing much needed funding and education reform to our schools, please visit our website – http://mianv.org/. For further details on Green Global’s many initiatives to save our planet from Global Warming and Climate Change and our concerted efforts to bring Solar Electric Vehicle Charging Stations to the Southwest, please visit – http://GreenGlobal.org/. To learn more about our parent non-profit organization, K & L Baxter Family Foundation, dedicated to Education Reform and Climate Change Reversal, please take a look at – http://klbff.org/.
Have a lovely week ahead and a very “Green” Earth Day!
Signing off for now,
Ken “Rocket Man” Baxter
Photo: L to R – Leisa Whittum, KLBFF, Congresswoman Dina Titus, D-NV 1st District, Jennifer Acevedo, KLBFF at Eggs and Issues Meeting hosted by Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce
Created by: Ken Baxter
Blog Written by: Jennifer Acevedo as told by Ken Baxter
Disclaimer: All ideas, concepts, and opinions, express or implied within this blog are the ideas, concepts, and opinions of Ken Baxter and as such, remain the sole property of Ken Baxter. We have done our best to make sure this information is accurate; any misrepresentation is purely coincidental. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
Saturn 6 