Nevada Means Business is the official podcast of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, hosted by Director Kristopher Sanchez, highlighting the people, policies, and partnerships driving Nevada’s economic vitality. Through conversations with business leaders, state officials, and industry experts, the podcast explores workforce development, economic diversification, innovation, and the programs shaping opportunity across the Silver State.
Nevada Means Business
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17 episodes
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Podcast Overview
Nevada Means Business is the official podcast of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, hosted by Director Kristopher Sanchez, highlighting the people, policies, and partnerships driving Nevada’s economic vitality. Through conversations with business leaders, state officials, and industry experts, the podcast explores workforce development, economic diversification, innovation, and the programs shaping opportunity across the Silver State.
Language
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Publishing Since
1/27/2026
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Recent Episodes
July 6, 2026
What Nevada DMV Looks Like After Modernization with Tonya Laney
<p>Nevada DMV modernization has reached a milestone that most state agencies only talk about — the average Nevada resident now needs to visit a DMV office in person only once every 16 years. Director Tonya Laney sits down with Kristopher Sanchez, director of Nevada's Department of Business and Industry, to explain how a multi-year technology transformation turned one of the state's most public-facing agencies into a model for digital government services.</p><p>The conversation covers how Nevada DMV used transaction data to prioritize which services moved online first, why the agency adopted an inverted organizational chart that puts frontline staff at the top, and what an "Amazon-like experience" means when applied to vehicle registration and driver's license renewals. Laney details the funding cap structure that forces the agency to solve population growth through technology rather than new brick-and-mortar offices — a constraint that became the catalyst for the entire transformation.</p><p>Laney, a 14-year state government veteran appointed to Governor Lombardo's cabinet in March 2024, also addresses Nevada's 86 percent Real ID adoption rate, the agency's expanding cybersecurity team that grew from one person to five, and a new inter-agency working group with the Department of Public Safety and Business and Industry focused on autonomous vehicle regulation gaps. She describes riding in a Zoox autonomous vehicle — an Amazon subsidiary — and confronting the regulatory question of how to ensure roadway safety when there is no human driver to test.</p><p>Nevada's push to digitize government services while protecting constituent data and maintaining in-person access reflects a broader challenge facing state agencies nationwide as population growth outpaces physical infrastructure.</p>
June 29, 2026
What the Guinn Center ACTUALLY Does for Nevada Policy with Jill Tolles
<p>During each biennial session, Nevada's legislature processes up to 1,500 bills in just 120 days, yet 85 to 97 percent pass with bipartisan support — a statistic that contradicts nearly every national headline about political gridlock. Jill Tolles, former three-term Nevada Assembly member and current Executive Director of the Kenny Guinn Center for Policy Priorities, breaks down how nonpartisan policy research is quietly reshaping the way state lawmakers make decisions. Her perspective bridges the gap between lived legislative experience and rigorous, evidence-based analysis produced for both elected officials and the public.</p><p>The conversation covers how the Guinn Center selects its research agenda through statewide surveys, legislative caucus meetings, and community policy forums — without ever lobbying for or against specific legislation. Tolles explains the center's methodology for hiring researchers driven by intellectual curiosity rather than ideological agendas, and how peer review teams of deliberate "rivals" ensure credibility across partisan lines. Host Kristopher Sanchez, Director of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, draws parallels between the center's comparative state analysis and the questions his own agency faces during legislative testimony.</p><p>Since Tolles took the helm in January 2023, the Guinn Center has published 50 policy reports spanning education, housing affordability, economic and fiscal policy, and governance. During the most recent legislative session, the center was cited 342 times in hearings, and 11 of its specific policy recommendations were enacted into law. An upcoming report on the legislative history of Nevada tax abatements signals the center's continued alignment with emerging interim committee priorities heading into the next session.</p><p>The Guinn Center operates as a University of Nevada, Reno affiliate with partnerships extending to UNLV's Lied School of Real Estate, Boyd Law School, and the Center for Business and Economic Research — channeling academic expertise into Nevada-specific policy solutions available free at guinncenter.org.</p>
June 22, 2026
3 Policy Shifts Creating MASSIVE Impact in Nevada Real Estate with Sharath Chandra
<p>Nevada's Real Estate Division oversees roughly 40,000 licensees, regulates 3,800 homeowner associations covering nearly 700,000 residents, and is now pushing to move almost every licensing function online. Sharath Chandra, administrator of the division within the Department of Business and Industry, sits down with Director Kristopher Sanchez to detail what that transformation means for agents, property managers, and homeowners across the state.</p><p>The conversation covers the division's core mission of consumer protection through licensure, education, and enforcement, along with the practical steps any Nevadan can take to verify an agent's credentials and disciplinary history. Chandra explains how pre-licensing, post-licensing, and continuing education requirements shape the profession, and why the industry itself sponsored a technology fee to fund digital upgrades after COVID exposed critical gaps in paper-based workflows.</p><p>Specific challenges receive direct attention: the closure of the northern Nevada office that left 20 percent of licensees without in-person access, the jurisdictional limits of property management regulation under NRS 645, and the role of the Ombudsman's Office under Sonia Merriweather in mediating HOA disputes governed by NRS 116. Chandra also describes how cross-agency collaboration with Consumer Affairs, Mortgage Lending, and the Division of Insurance now targets rising online property scams that have even ensnared division staff.</p><p>Nevada real estate regulation stands at an inflection point where digital modernization, legislative funding, and AI training through a UNLV partnership converge to reshape how the state serves its fastest-growing communities.</p>
17 total episodes available
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is Nevada Means Business?
- How often does this podcast release new episodes?
This podcast updates daily.
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This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
- Does this podcast accept guests?
Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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