Marcel Fernando Schaerer is the southern Nevada deputy director based in Las Vegas. He is responsible for managing the Las Vegas director's office and oversees programs and initiatives to address the needs of businesses and consumers including: small business advocacy and resources, access to capital, advocacy for minorities and consumer protection.
Marcel has led the team's effort to develop two interactive products for businesses and entrepreneurs - the Guide to Starting and Growing a Business in Nevada and the Nevada Business Support Ecosystem - to enhance the offering of the redesigned online Business Resource Center. Under his tenure, the department also supported the successful launch of Shop Small Nevada, a Small Business Saturday initiative and the development of the iChallenge Small Business NEVADA initiative in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration Nevada office.
With more than 30
years of experience in business
operations and management, Marcel is passionate about creating solid collaborative partnerships and proactive engagement of communities throughout the state, chambers of commerce and business resource partners to facilitate coordination of services and programs as well as addressing community needs and service gaps.
Marcel offers expertise in a wide variety of approaches used in strategic planning, workplace training and management development, as well as systems improvement. He and his wife Sylvia founded International Professional Development Services, a workforce consulting and training firm established in 1996. From 2009 to 2014, he worked at the Nevada Small Business Development Center as director of the Imagine 2020 Initiative and southern Nevada operations. Prior to that, he was the division director at the Center for Employment Training in Reno, Nevada.
Marcel earned a bachelor's degree in Economics and Global Studies and a master's degree in Economics from the University of Nevada, Reno. He has served as an instructor of macro and microeconomics, is a certified NxLevel for Entrepreneurs instructor, and received Lean Manufacturing Training certification from Nevada Industry Excellence.
His life-long commitment to personal and professional excellence embraces humor, integrity, accountability, quality and performance. He has lived both in Paraguay and the United States, and travels frequently to explore the world with his wife and their three children.