Marano, Salogga to ‘LEAN’ forward in Carson City

Michael Salogga, Carson City business development official, is taking on a three-pronged set of duties for City Manager Nick Marano.

Marano said Thursday Salogga, who has been working out of the Business Resource Innovation Center (BRIC), will work under the city manager to handle expanded small business development tasks, take on an internal city information management role and deal with Marano’s initiative on what is called LEAN management. Marano said Salogga’s information role will deal with internal city matters, not work as a public information officer.

“We’re pretty much behind the times,” the city manager explained in outlining that aspect of Salogga’s new duties. Marano said he was talking of documents and moving the city away from paper and storage to electronic communications. Marano said he would have a contract with a firm to upgrade and integrate the city’s website, but there would be no outside public relations/marketing pact to help Salogga on external communications.

The city manager said a rumor he has contracted with a Reno PR/Marketing firm to handle external press releases and social media for city government was incorrect.

Regarding the LEAN initiative Marano favors, the city manager said Salogga will help with guiding another contract to get that under way but still is in the works. Marano is considering either Moss Adams LLP, the city’s internal audit consultant, or Western Nevada College, which would be less expensive. He indicated that decision would come later, but expressed enthusiasm for the concept aimed at top staff efficiencies and effectiveness.

He referred to prospects for improvement as “low hanging fruit” but didn’t elaborate on specifics.

Regarding Salogga’s continued role in small business development, Marano said added to current duties would be things like helping oversee a city contract with Northern Nevada Development Authority (NNDA) to help lure in new manufacturers or businesses. That could include Salogga traveling with NNDA to other states, particularly California, to events at which luring outside companies to the city is the goal.

Salogga, whose higher education was in the California university system, has a business and not-for-profit background before city government work here. It was in operations, finance, information technology and broadcasting. At the city’s BRIC offices, he handled liaison work with NNDA and other organizations, among them the Adams Hub tech incubator, WNC and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.