It is no coincidence that on the cusp of a campaign to convince businesses and developers what a great place downtown Auburn is that the City hired a big-time economic development manager.

City officials say that Doug Lien, former manager of the economic development division of the City of Las Vegas, Nev., has got the connections and the chops to get the job done.

Lien has spent the last few weeks getting up to speed, and he likes what he sees.

“I think Auburn is located and poised to do some really great things, and not only because of its physical location on the freeway system between Seattle and Tacoma,” Lien said. “If you look at the densities that have been developed along those corridors in some of the other jurisdictions, their available sites are pretty chewed up, gone.

“Auburn has the accessibility of some vacant land yet to be developed, so you want to be wise with what you do for what kind of densities and what kind of jobs you put on them. You want the jobs to be a benefit to the community. You want jobs that will help to expand and diversify the job base here,” said Lien.

“He’s a good sales person, and that is part of the reason we hired him,” said Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis. “We are at the point where we are marketing a product to the national community, and we needed an individual with ties to all sectors that we would want to have here in the downtown.”

Lien grew up in Hayward, Wis., a town of 2,500 people and spent his early working years in real estate and construction. He moved to Las Vegas with his family in the mid 1980s and went to work in the brokerage community.

“Any climate that wasn’t 40 degrees below zero and didn’t have mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds was a good thing,” Lien said of his move out west.

A friend recommended that he apply for the Las Vegas job.

For eight years, Lien oversaw business assistance, marketing and business development for Las Vegas. As the City tried to diversify its workforce and business base, he said he helped companies to expand outside of the state with their goods and services. He also helped bring new companies to southern Nevada.

Later, as director of business development for David Allen & Associates, PLC, a West Coast-based law firm with offices in four cities, Lien administered the overall operations and market research for the expansion and development of the firm. He said that his many years as general manager of a real estate development and brokerage firm gained him extensive experience in a broad range of real estate transactions. This experience included commercial, office, residential leasing and sales, general construction and fee development.

Lien said he has directed or published numerous brochures, articles and video productions showcasing economic opportunities. In 1998 he received the Bronze Quill Award of Excellence for his publication of “Las Vegas Medical Technology for the 21st Century”. In 1999 he received the Silver Quill Award of Excellence for the publication of “Las Vegas, a downtown Renaissance”.

He has participated in many trade shows and conferences over the years, representing Las Vegas throughout the United States and overseas. As a speaker and panelist, he has been asked to speak on public/private partnerships and project planning and entitlements. He is active in many professional and community based organizations including the Urban Land Institute, the Information Management Network and Cornet.

In 1981, Builder Magazine named Lien the “Small Builder of the Year”. He has also worked with developers in the areas of site selection, project planning, finance, government entitlements, public/government relations and marketing.

“I’m excited to be here,” Lien said.