IN PROFILE: Willi Baer

BUSINESS: Executive Director of Pioneer Territory Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)

AGE: 76

BACKGROUND: “I started CASA as a volunteer and it was a year before it began to finance itself. I worked as an office manager for Bruce and Associates here. I spent 11 years as the State Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters and 11 years as the State Director for the American Heart Association. I’ve been working in nonprofits for over 40 years.”

FIRST JOB: “I bagged groceries in a Chinese grocery in Ontario, Canada, when I was 12.”

YEARS IN BUSINESS: “I’ve been working for CASA for four years. We work hand-in-hand with child protective services in Nye County to accommodate their needs. Some foster care children are taken from homes with only the clothes on their backs. We hold several fundraisers to supplement those needs. Our next project will be a Christmas party for the children in foster care.

“We are members of NyE Communities Coalition and the Chamber of Commerce.

PERSONAL: “I like to write and have two how-to books for nonprofits already published. I’m writing a novel at present and hope to have it completed by the end of the year.

BUSINESS CLIMATE: “When I moved to Las Vegas in 1970 it looked very much like Pahrump. I think we’ve become a bedroom community to Las Vegas and will see more and more progress connecting the two.

“I believe in shopping locally. People who want to have a growing business need the resources to support that business for at least one year without expecting to make a profit.”