Announcing Belz & Case Government Affairs

I met Jeanette Belz in February 2015, my intern session. In one of our very first conversations, she told me she was looking for someone to take over her company - 15-20 years out, and she thought I might be that person. Whoa! My background and upbringing did not allow me to think this might be real, and I always had a plan for the next step.

But three years later, came company health insurance and a retirement account. For someone whose retirement plan was “work till dead,” this was a foreign concept. Jeanette had a plan from the beginning. She planted the seed, watered it carefully, pruned when necessary (which was a lot in those early days), and watched it grow year after year.

At our six-year anniversary, in the full swing of the pandemic, Jeanette started the process of changing the structure of the company. Now, on what will soon be our seventh anniversary of working together, we announce Belz & Case Government Affairs — an updated company name to reflect our new business relationship.

When Jeanette first told me she was starting the process for me to become a shareholder, I didn’t comprehend the magnitude of that decision. After all, no one in my family owned a business. I had no frame of reference for what her statement meant. It was sometime between the meeting with the accountant and the meeting with the lawyer that it really sank in. Jeanette, who had spent decades building her company from the ground up, was going to share her company with me. It will be our company. It’s still sinking in. Even with the new logo, the updated website, and the announcement to clients, it is still difficult for me to view myself as Jeanette’s partner and colleague.

This year, I am a minority shareholder in Belz & Case. Our agreement calls for a slow transition of the company as time goes on with Jeanette taking on the role of advisor and mentor and leaving more of the day to day operations to me. There may not be significant changes this year, though I hope Jeanette takes an actual vacation somewhere out of Wi-Fi range, but over the next 2-5 years, I will take more of a leadership role as Jeanette steps back, relaxes and occasionally offers advice.

I was nervous at the outset of this proposal. I am not Jeanette, who has decades of experience, who has sat through more government meetings absorbing knowledge and procedure, who has networked across the state and is known for her wisdom and grace in negotiations. I have seen her guide conversations back from the brink of mayhem. With tact and elegance, she can unwind misunderstandings or move all parties closer to resolution in their disagreement. Jeanette capital-P Presence. And all who have worked with her sense it. The calm editor, master negotiator, and nuanced advocate.

I have been absorbing Jeanette’s lessons for six years. It’s time for me to apply those lessons in my new role, to become the new “old guard” and to guide and mentor the next generation of Nevada policy advocates. My style is my own. And, because it has been heavily influenced by Jeanette, it is powerful.

Lea Case has been advocating for policy in the Nevada Legislature since 2015 when she was the intern for the Associated General Contractors. She started with J.K. Belz & Associates full time in June of 2015.