Friday, Jan. 29, 2010 | 6 a.m.

Margaret Casey

Finding and booking engaging programs at World Market Center is at the core of Margaret Casey’s job description. But the center’s director of programming goes far beyond that already hefty undertaking.

Casey has only called Southern Nevada home for two years – hardly enough time for many to make an impact, but plenty for her. Casey’s programming efforts go beyond the furniture industry and also embrace architecture. She is working to make the WMC an “epicenter for design,” where professionals have everything they need in one world-class environment.

“Eventually architecture and design tourism will come to Vegas in a big way. … We’re no longer building buildings that will be imploded in 10 years,” she said.

With a full list of events for the center’s two annual shows and regular programming for its Design Center, Casey has also organized an “eco-congress” to be held Jan. 31, this coming weekend. The event, put on by the Sustainable Furnishing Council, which she founded, has a goal of battling illegal logging on a global level. Furniture is the third largest user of wood. Casey calls the congress one of her proudest achievements, as it has already gained considerable attention.

“Furniture was never really a particularly green industry,” she said. “In the crowded sea of people raising their hands saying ‘I’m green, traction like this is significant.”

By Brian Sodoma, Contributing writer