2006 nbj january - nevada business magazine · 4 january 2006 nevada business journal is a division...
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4 January 2006
Nevada Business Journal is a division of Business Link, LLC. 4386 S. EasternAve., Ste. B, Las Vegas, NV 89119. It is listed in Standard Rates and Data, #20A-Business-Metro, State and Regional. TopRank Nevada – Annual Statewide Bookof Lists is a publication of Nevada Business Journal.Advertisers should contact Sales at (702) 735-7003, or write to: Nevada BusinessJournal, 4386 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. B, Las Vegas, NV 89119. Demographic informa-tion available upon request. Month-to-month circulation may vary.Nevada Business Journal is published monthly with one additional issue each year.Subscription rate is $44.00 per year. Special order single-copy price is $7.50. TopRankNevada – Annual Statewide Book of Lists, a compilation of lists which have ap-peared in Nevada Business Journal over the past 12 months, is published on an an-nual basis.All contents ©2005 copyright, and reproduction of material appearing in NevadaBusiness Journal and TopRank Nevada – Annual Statewide Book of Lists is pro-hibited unless so authorized by the publisher.CHANGE OF ADDRESS: POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Nevada BusinessJournal, 4386 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. B, Las Vegas, NV 89119. Subscribers please in-clude previous address or mailing label. Allow six weeks.EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS: Address all submissions to the attention of KathleenFoley. Unsolicited manuscripts must be accompanied by a SASE. Nevada BusinessJournal assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials.DISCLAIMER: Editorial views expressed in this magazine, as well as thoseappearing in area focus and industry focus supplements are not necessarilythose of the publisher or its boards.
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A division of BUSINESS LINK, LLC
January 2006 5
C O M M E N T A R Y
THE PEOPLEHAVE SPOKEN
Are University Regents Listening?
LYLE E. BRENNANPublisher
The Board of Regents for the NevadaSystem of Higher Education willconsider an important item in their
March meeting: whether to extend bene-fits to “domestic partners” of employeesat Nevada’s public universities and col-leges. This would result in the taxpayersfooting the bill for benefits for unmarriedpartners of both heterosexual and homo-sexual employees.
Here’s one reason given by the regentsin a briefing paper on the subject: “Thereis an increasing awareness among bothpublic and private employers that provid-ing domestic partner benefits is neces-sary in order to remain competitive intoday’s diverse labor market. Currently,over half of the Fortune 500 companiesin the U.S. offer domestic partnershipbenefits to their employees.” The UNLVFaculty Senate adopted a formal resolu-tion in support of adopting domesticpartner benefits for employees – includ-ing both opposite-sex and same-sex part-ners – “as a matter of maintaining labormarket competitiveness and enhancinginternal equity.”
If individual companies want to payfor this sort of thing to help recruiting ef-forts or increase retention, they are freeto do so – it’s their money. However,when the Board of Regents makes such adecision, it is NOT their money – it’s thetaxpayers’ money, and taxpayers in thisstate have overwhelmingly voted to sup-port the institution of marriage and notweaken it by extending benefits to un-married partners.
“Benefit programs eligible to spouses,but not domestic partners, have been predi-cated on traditional family models which donot take into consideration evolving familystructures,” claim the regents. If the “evolv-ing family structures” they mention includethe growing number of single-parent house-holds, and the tendency for children to growup without a stable family situation, thenmaybe it’s time to change the “evolvingfamily structures” rather than the law.
Another Look at a Recurring IssueFor those of you new to Nevada, here’s
a little background: in 1999 Clark Countyproposed to extend benefits to partners ofhomosexual or unmarried heterosexualemployees, but the county was stopped byan opinion from the District Attorney’s of-fice declaring that this violated state law.There were rumblings that a new defini-tion of “spouse” would be proposed at thefollowing legislative session.
Sensing (correctly) that this issuewould be brought up again, and realizingits far-reaching implications, a group ofconcerned citizens got together andformed the Coalition for the Protection ofMarriage. The coalition gathered enoughsignatures to put a constitutional amend-ment on the ballot in November 2000.
The amendment read: “Only a marriagebetween a male and female person shallbe recognized and given effect in thisstate.” The measure passed, receiving anoverwhelming 70 percent of the vote.
Seeking to get around this clear man-date from the voters, during the 2001
legislative session Assemblyman DavidParks introduced AB 496, which was in-tended to recognize “reciprocal benefi-ciary relationships” between unmarriedpersons. The effect of this bill wouldhave been to search the state statutes andreplace each instance of the terms“spouse and other family dependents”with the term “reciprocal beneficiary.”Bowing to pressure from voters, themeasure was soundly defeated.
Because Nevada law requires that anyproposed amendment to the Constitutionbe passed in two general elections, theProtection of Marriage Amendment ap-peared again on the 2002 ballot andagain passed, thereby becoming part ofthe Constitution.
The voters of Nevada have spoken – notonce, but three times. People are free toshare their households with whomeverthey choose, but unmarried partners haveno legal status under Nevada law. This lat-est proposal by the Board of Regentsseems to indicate that they consider them-selves above the law.
People who work for public universitiesand colleges are state employees, whichmeans their wages and benefits are paidby Nevada taxpayers. Taxpayers shouldnot be forced to pay for benefits for do-mestic partners when they have alreadyindicated that they do not choose to do so.Whether the regents like it or not, theywere elected to serve the people and theyare bound by their will. The question is,are they listening to us?
COMMENTS? email: [email protected]
P R O P O S A L ”The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) should implementdomestic partnership benefits to enhance the System’s ability to recruit and retain topquality faculty and staff in a competitive marketplace in which domestic partnership ben-efits are increasingly prevalent and to ensure that compensation and benefit programsprovide for the equitable treatment of employees, regardless of marital status.” (from theBoard of Regents Briefing Paper on their Web site, http://system.nevada.edu/Board-of-R/Meetings/Agendas/December-2/Ref.-M.doc_cvt.htm)
6 January 2006
Our cover story presents a statistical picture ofour state, showing how it compares withneighboring states and with national averagesacross a range of categories.
46 Vital SignsCAROL PATTON
Centennial Hills Medical CenterMarks Growth of Valley Health System
47 Expert AdviceINTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
Nevada Tax Rebate ChecksTaxable or Not?
48 Money ManagementINTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
IRS Allows 1031 ExchangeFor Business Use Of Primary Residence
51 People FirstMARK KEAYS
To Change Workplace AttitudesFocus on Behaviors
52 Speaking for NevadaMARGI GREIN
Nevada State Contractors BoardHelping Improve Home Improvements
54 Business IndicatorsR. KEITH SCHWER
C O N T E N T S January 2006 • Volume 21 • No. 1
Building Nevada
5 CommentaryLYLE BRENNANThe People Have SpokenAre University Regents Listening?
7 Business Up FrontChecking Monster.com at WorkPsychologically Toxic WorkplacesThe Lawsuit Industry’s Effect on Healthcare
36 Nevada BriefsBank of America Plaza SoldDesign District Slated for RenoNevada Welcomes New CompaniesORMAT Technologies Receives AwardNevada Businesses Receive Tourism AwardsAssisted Living Community SoldSBA’s Nevada District Office Ranks First
38 Compassionate CapitalismDIANA EDELMANMyHopeChestHelping Cancer Survivors
39 TechnologyANDREAS ROELLGet Your Motor Running Online With Search Engine Marketing
40 Face to FaceKEP SWEENEY
David Evans, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary ArtsDouglas T. Geinzer, Recruiting Nevada
42 Banking on ItROBYN CAMPBELL-OUCHIDA
Bank of North Las VegasNew Bank for a Growing City
43 STATE the IssuesROBERT ATKINSON, NANCY LIBIN, ARI SCHWARTZ
Should the federal government require a nationalidentification card based on smart-card technology?
44 Inside PoliticsMIKE SULLIVANShaking the Money TreeMergers Affect Political Fundraising
30 The Retail Market in 2006Superb Shopping in NevadaSTACIE GRIFFIN
34 Nevada’s Worth GroupDesign-Build Firm Deals with Industry ChangesDORESA BANNING
34 Commercial Real Estate Market ReportThird Quarter 2005 – Retail Market
Features
Departments
Nevada’s retail developers are introduc-ing new designs and concepts to keeppace with population growth and emerg-ing trends.
Photo: Fred W. Cornelius Photography
35 Building Nevada News in Brief• Granite Construction Works at Reno-Tahoe Airport • Nigro Development Breaks Ground on Hotel• Major Projects Underway at Tahoe Reno Industrial Center• Nevada Land Sold at BLM Auction• Trump Tower Pours Concrete
8 Nevada By The NumbersWhere Do We Stand?CINDIE GEDDES
14 From Bucking Broncos to Classic MustangsSpecial Events Round Up Big MoneyJESSICA GROACH-SANTINA
17 Industry Focus: EngineersThe Challenges of Building a New NevadaKATHLEEN FOLEY AND RACHAEL WAX
14
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January 2006 7
Manhattan Institute’s Center for Legal Policy released a new re-port looking at the impact of Trial Lawyers, Inc. on U.S.
healthcare. The healthcare industry represents 15 percent of thetotal U.S. economy. While trial lawyers claim to protect patients,the report shows the reality is quite different:• Skyrocketing insurance premiums – In 2003, medical malpracticepremiums increased by 18 percent. In Cook County, Ill., premiumsfor obstetricians went up 67 percent between 2003 and 2004.• Doctor shortages – In Palm Beach, Fla., five of 13 hospitals haveno neurologist on staff in the emergency room. In New York, sevencounties have no OB/GYNs.• Doctors practice “defensive medicine,” abandoning risky treat-ments and refusing to prescribe drugs involved in any litigation –
Nearly 80 percent of doctors admit they order unnecessary tests and 74 percent make unnecessaryreferrals to specialists, while 43 percent of doctors say they avoid prescribing certain drugs for fearof being sued.• Hospital closures – In Philadelphia and its suburbs, eight maternity units have closed their doorsin the past three years. In 2003, Florida Hospital in Orlando abandoned plans to build a facility be-cause it couldn’t find the doctors to staff it.• Limited access to life-saving vaccines and innovative drugs – Litigation has driven useful med-ications from the market, led to a cessation of contraceptive research and compromised U.S. vac-cine supplies. Drug companies like Wyeth and Merck face liability exposure 10 times their annualresearch-and-development budgets, leaving little incentive to develop new drugs.
THE LAWSUIT INDUSTRY’S EFFECT ON HEALTHCARE
CHECKING MONSTER.COM AT WORK
According to a survey by Pendaflex, a leading manufacturer of organizational solutions, 72 millionAmericans face health risks at work from long hours and a result-driven working culture. As work-
ers strive for bonuses and high performance reviews, stress levels within offices escalate.The report calls workplaces “psychologically toxic,” causing stress, anxiety and depression, and
says 48 percent of American workers experience harmful stress levels. This can lead to ulcers, highblood pressure, heart attacks and strokes.
While workers under 35 report being under the most stress, research indicates women are oftenmore affected by stress than males. Forty-nine percent of workers stay late two to three times a week,feeling stressed, moody and irritable.
Psychologist Dr. David Lewis of Pendaflex identified five factors that affect stress levels and resultin a “psychologically toxic” work environment:
Heavy workloadAffects more than 52 percent of American workers.
Unreasonable boss37 percent of the U.S. working population claim they are expected to work when ill.
Disorganization43 percent neglect filing and task prioritization, feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope.
Unrealistic targets32 percent have unattainable sales goals and overly ambitious productivity aims.
Short deadlines31 percent of workers in the U.S. are allowed too little time or notice to complete a task.
With coping strategies, Pendaflex said even the heaviest workloads can be managed with excellentresults. Workers can control and manage disorganization with prioritization, and time management canimprove relationships with supervisors.
PSYCHOLOGICALLY TOXIC WORKPLACES
University of Phoenix, offering education anddegree programs for busy adults, found
more than 67 percent of working adults arelooking for a job, although 76 percent are sat-isfied at their current place of employment.The university polled nearly 2,500 profession-als in diverse industries to determine whatkeeps them happy, motivated and loyal in achanging workplace.
“It’s not surprising that workers are explor-ing their options, given that jobs are more plen-tiful,” said Laura Palmer Noone, president ofUniversity of Phoenix. “They have been sittingidle just waiting for the economy to improve.”Better pay was cited by 58 percent as the pri-mary reason for jumping ship, one-third wouldleave for more interesting or rewarding work,and 26 percent would resign for positions ofgreater responsibility. Lack of opportunities foradvancement at their current company was re-ported by 47 percent.
“Employers need to take note,” Noone said.“Today’s workers, especially the younger gener-ations, are increasingly mobile, and helpingthem climb the corporate ladder is a key factorin retaining them.” She suggests that managersestablish a career path for their staff and pro-vide tools to help them achieve career goals.
Employees said the best parts of their cur-rent job are co-workers and good management(26 percent), followed by flexibility/hours (14percent), job satisfaction (10 percent) and ben-efits/vacation (9 percent).
Stress and low pay tied as the worst parts ofthe job, each reported by 16 percent of the re-spondents, followed by problems with uppermanagement and co-workers.
8 January 2006
The economic development incentiveprograms offered at the state level includethe sales tax deferral program, sales taxabatement, sales and use tax abatement,modified business tax abatement, propertytax abatement, property tax exemptions,Nevada Hub Zone development, Train Em-ployees Now (TEN), property tax abatementfor recycling/retail, green building abate-ments and renewable energy abatements.
Inc. Magazine’s May 2005 issue rankedLas Vegas as the country’s fastest-growingcity (not its first time). Reno was namedbest medium-sized city for doing busi-ness. Las Vegas was the second-best largecity (behind Riverside-San Bernardino,Calif.) for doing business. Reno and LasVegas were 63rd and 226th (out of 274)for the most balanced economy.
“We have to have a healthy, educatedworkforce,” Guinn said. “We are looking forcompanies that pay a living wage. Our eco-nomic development people are really sellingthe $15 to $20 an hour wage rate, wherepeople can get insurance and help us all takecare of those people who are less fortunate.”
More and more high-tech companies aremoving to Nevada. A comparison of operat-ing costs in different cities goes a long waytoward explaining why. While average annu-
This past May, Reno was named thebest place in the country to do busi-ness, according to Inc. Magazine. In
March, Nevada was declared the na-tion’s most dangerous state by MorganQuitno Press. In November, Time maga-zine named Governor Kenny Guinn oneof America’s top five governors. Thereare ratings and rankings for every statein every category by more groups andorganizations than any statistician coulddream of. But these rankings and ratingsare based on the subjectivity of the or-ganizations doing the rankings or rat-ings, and the numbers used by these or-ganizations are statistics. And statisticsare not facts.
Most statistics, ratings or rankings aretreated as parts of a wondrous numericalbuffet. People and groups take the onesthey like to prove their point and leave theothers behind. Just like a buffet, there is astatistic to suit every taste.
With the fallibility of statistics firmly inmind, we take a look at Nevada by thenumbers. Using a variety of sources and avariety of categories, these numbers offera taste of the buffet.Business Environment
Nevada is big on economic developmentand redevelopment. In fact, the last legisla-ture allocated $10 million to these efforts.According to Governor Kenny Guinn,Nevada’s rate of job creation is four timeshigher than any other state’s. He attributesthis to the work of economic developmentand redevelopment and Nevada’s “busi-ness-friendly” atmosphere.
Our privatized worker’s comp program(the only completely privatized programin the country) makes those rates cheaperthan those paid in other states. The proac-tive small business hospital and medicalinsurance program keeps medical billsfrom pushing people into poverty.
al operating costs for a technology company(according to Boyd Co.) are as high as$12,126,308 in San Francisco, $11,312,531in Los Angeles and even $11,044,286 inSacramento, costs in Las Vegas are only$10,206,722. In fact, in a survey of 20 cities,only three had lower costs than Las Vegas.
Nevada also has its share of corporateheadquarters. Again, costs paint the picture.In Boyd Company’s survey of costs to oper-ate a corporate office in 30 cities, Las Vegasbeat out 28 of those cities with low costs. Ithad annual operating costs of $14,170,886per year compared to New York at$17,154,334, San Francisco at $16,654,593,Los Angeles at $15,968,015, Seattle at$15,093,130, Sacramento at $14,959,654and Portland, Ore. at $14,474,743.Taxes
One of the biggest selling points Neva-da has in its arsenal to bring companieshere is our tax package. Nevada has nocorporate income tax, personal incometax, unitary tax, franchise tax on income,inventory tax, inheritance tax, estateand/or gift tax or special intangible tax.
The Commerce Clearinghouse StateTax Guide, Volumes 1 and 2 (2004) com-pared taxes imposed by western states andfound the following:
Nevada By The Numbersby Cindie Geddes
Where Do We Stand?
Arizona No 6.968% 2.87%-5.04% 5.6&-10.1%
California Yes 8.84% 1.0%-9.3% 6.0%-8.75%
Colorado No 4.63% 4.63% 2.9%-9.9%
Idaho No 7.6% 1.6%-7.8% 6.0%-9.0%
Nevada No No No 6.5%-7.75%
New Mexico Yes 4.8%-7.6% 1.6%-7.8% 5.0%-7.25%
Oregon No 6.6% 5.0%-9.0% No
Utah Yes 5.0% 2.3%-7.0% 4.75%-7.0%
State Sales & UseCorporateIncome
PersonalIncome
FranchiseTaxes
January 2006 9
Despite the boom in real estate in North-ern and Southern Nevada, annual realproperty tax costs remain comparativelylow. The Boyd Company estimated annualproperty taxes that would be assessed on a350,000-square-foot light industrial build-ing on a 20-acre, fully-serviced site. Itssurvey of 10 western cities showed Renowith the lowest property taxes ($253,231)and Las Vegas as the second lowest($284,522). Compare this to the third low-est – Dallas – at $459,841. The numbersgo up as one looks at Denver, San Diego,Portland, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Albu-querque, San Francisco and Phoenix (thehighest at $611,010).Employment
The U.S. Census Bureau listed 48,863private non-farm establishments with paidemployees in Nevada of 2001, employing916,681 people. Occupational employmentstatistics from the Nevada Department ofEmployment, Training and Rehabilitation(DETR) list high-wage jobs. Nine out of 10of the top wage-earning occupations werein the healthcare field (real estate brokersbreak up the list coming in at No. 9).
In coordination with the Bureau ofLabor, DETR also put out Current Em-ployment Statistics showing total non-farm jobs increasing 6.0 percent (from1,185,400 in October 2004 to 1,256,900in October 2005). The largest increasewas in the category of construction (11.4percent), while information jobs actuallydropped (1.4 percent).
Nevada’s unemployment rate as of Oc-tober 2005 was 4.0 (down from 4.1 lastyear). The national unemployment ratewas 4.9.
The Nevada Employment Security Divi-sion lists Nevada’s average wage as $17.34per hour, lower than the national average of$18.28 reported by the U.S. Department ofLabor, probably due to the state’s large per-centage of service-sector jobs. The CensusBureau (2003) rates Connecticut – with amedian household income of $56,409 – asthe top state for income. Mississippi had thelowest median income, at $32,397. Nevadaranked higher than the national average of$43,318 with a median income of $45,249.Washoe County posted $50,090, second inthe state to Douglas County’s $53,207.Clark County's median was $43,728 –below the state average, but above MineralCounty’s low of $31,367.
Private non-farm businesses (2001) 48,863
Private non-farm employment (2001) 916,681
Average hourly wage statewide $17.34
Nevada median household income $45,249
National median household income (2003) $43,318
Nevada unemployment rate (October 2005) 4.0%
National unemployment rate (October 2005) 4.9%
E M P L O Y M E N T
10 January 2006
TourismThe Nevada Commission on Tourism
(NCOT) tracks tourism in Nevada, which issixth in the nation for international and do-mestic visitor spending. Tourism is a $40 bil-lion industry in Nevada, and $11 billion ofthat is attributed to gaming revenue. Nevadahas 17 of the 20 largest hotels (based on num-ber of rooms) in the nation. Room nights oc-cupied in 2004 were 54,381,114. Despite thelarge number of rooms available, in 2004, theaverage monthly occupancy rate was 89.7percent, much higher than the national aver-age of 61.8 percent.
Bruce Bommarito, director of NCOT, saidthat Nevada is the first and only U.S. entity toobtain a license to advertise and market inChina, and Chinese visitors spend more pervisit than any other overseas tourists.
While Nevada has fewer than 2.5 millionpeople, it attracts 50 million visitors a year.Across-the-board comparisons to other statesare not available, since each state seems tohave its own system of counting visitors.“Nevadans are just welcoming,” Bommaritosaid. “We are doing our part to dispense withthe image of the ugly American.”Education
According to WestEd Center on Policy, inits report “Student Achievement and Gradua-tion Rates in Nevada,” Nevada has experi-enced increases in enrollment of 5 percent to7 percent (four times the national average) for15 years. But while Clark County grows atstaggering rates (from 190,822 students in1997 to 283,245 in 2003-2004), Nevada’srural counties are experiencing slower andeven decreasing rates of enrollment.
The Nevada State Board of Education’s“Annual Reports of Accountability” for2003-2004 listed a student-to-teacher ratio of21:1, higher than the national average of15.7:1 reported by the National EducationAssociation.
The Board of Education reported Nevada’sdropout rate as 5.8 percent. The Kids CountData Book lists Nevada’s high-schooldropout rate (teens 16 to 19 who are not en-rolled in high school or high school gradu-ates) as 11 percent in 2004 (from 16 percentin 2000) compared to Arizona (11 percent),California (6 percent), Idaho (6 percent), Ore-gon (6 percent), Utah (5 percent), and Wash-ington (7 percent). The national average was8 percent. However, Kids Count monitors thenumber of teens who are not enrolled inschool; the State Board of Education
monitors the number of teens who formallydrop out. The true figure is most likely some-where between the two.
The U.S. Census of 2000 counted 80.7percent of Nevada students graduating fromhigh school, close to the national average of79.6 percent. While 18.2 percent of Nevada’shigh school graduates go on to receive their
bachelor’s degrees, the national average is23.8 percent.
The Kids Count Data Book gives Nevadaeducation an overall ranking of 32 out of the50 states for 2002-2003 (up seven spots from1999-2000). Most of our neighbors did better– California ranked 17, Idaho 16, Oregon 18and Utah 9 – while Arizona came in at 41.
Annual industry worth $40 billion
Annual gaming contribution to tourism industry $11 billion
Number of world’s top 20 largest hotels in Nevada 17
Annual room nights (2004) 54,381,114
Average monthly occupancy rate (2004) 89.7%
Annual visitor count (2004) 50,549,455
TOURISM
Nevada school districts 17
Percentage of students in Clark County 70%
Percentage of students in Washoe County 16%
Percentage of students in rural counties 14%
Statewide percentage increase in enrollment 5% to 7%
Number of Clark County teachers (2003-2004) 23,600
Clark County enrollment (2003-2004) 283,245
Nevada enrollment (2003-2004) 399,425
Annual per-pupil spending (2003-2004) $6,019
Number of classrooms (2003-2004) 19,845
Student:teacher ratio (2003-2004) 21:1
Dropout rate between 5.8% and 11.1%
High school graduation rate 80.7%
Bachelor’s degree rate 18.2%
EDUCATION
Statistics: The only science that enables different expertsusing the same figures to draw different conclusions.Evan Esar, Esar’s Comic Dictionary
Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable. Mark Twain
January 2006 11
HealthcareAccording to the Nevada Hospital As-
sociation, Nevada has 1.52 doctors per1,000 people (3,616 total), compared tothe national average of 2.4 doctors per1,000 people reported by the Henry J.Kaiser Family Foundation. Nevada’s24,188 licensed nurses amounted to5.48 nurses per 1,000 people, comparedto the national average of 7.9 nurses per1,000. There are 50 hospitals in Nevada(38 acute care, five rehabilitation, sevenpsychiatric) and 674,855 emergencyroom visits per year. Approximately 19percent of Nevada’s population is unin-sured (compared to a 16 percent nation-al average).
The February 2005 issue of “Govern-ing, The Government Performance Pro-ject” included in its “Success Stories”section that the mental health depart-ment budget in Nevada increased by 31percent with a new 150-bed state hospi-tal. However, the ratio of social workersto clients was still 1 to 30 or 40 (the gen-erally recommended ratio is 1 to 17)even though the 2001 Legislature appro-priated money to bring it down to 1 to28. Nevada has only six state hospitalbeds for every 100,000 people (the na-tional average is 33).
Despite the improvement in funding,the report gave Nevada a grade of B–overall, primarily because of workershortages, especially for nurses, socialworkers, mental health professionals, oc-cupational therapists, speech therapists,physical therapists, rehabilitation coun-selors, engineers and IT workers).
Land UseAt 70,264,320 acres, Nevada is the sev-
enth largest state in the union. “The Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce Relocationand Visitors Guide 2005” lists the state asbeing made up of 110,450 square miles(485 miles long, 315 miles wide). Almost87 percent of that is federally owned, ac-cording to “Public Land Statistics 2000”,published by the Bureau of Land Manage-ment, the largest percentage in any state.The national average is about 24 percent.
Nevada is the No. 1 gold producer in thecountry, responsible for 76 percent of thenation’s gold, and third in the world (behindSouth Africa and Australia). Nevada hasmore mountain ranges than any other stateand around 50,000 miles of paved road. TheU.S. Census lists Nevada as having only18.2 people per square mile, most of themcrowded into the state’s southern tip.
PopulationThe U.S Census Bureau estimated
Nevada's 2004 population as2,334,771 and reported it grew 66.3percent between the 1990 census andthe 2000 census, making it No. 1 in thecountry for growth - much faster thanthe national growth rate of 13.2 per-cent. As of the 2000 Census, 7.3 per-cent of Nevada's population was underthe age of 5, 25.6 percent was under18, and 11 percent was older than 65.Males and females were pretty evenlydistributed (49.1 percent female to50.9 percent male) and most of thestate (75.1 percent) is white (all ofwhich similar are to national aver-ages). Foreign-born people were 15.8percent of our population, and 23.1percent of us spoke a language otherthan English at home.
Doctors per 1,000 people 1.52
Nurses per 1,000 people 5.48
Total doctors 3,616
Total nurses 24,188
Percentage uninsured Nevadans 19%
National average of uninsured people 16%
Yearly emergency room visits 674,855
Social worker-to-population ratio 1:30 or 1:40
HEALTHCARE
Nevada (2004) 2,334,771
Growth rate (2000) 16.8%
Percentage of Nevadans under 5 (2000) 7.3%
Percentage of Nevadans under 18 (2000) 25.6%
Percentage of Nevadans over 65 (2000) 11.0%
Percentage of females/males (2000) 49.1% / 51.9%
Percentage of Nevadans who are white (2000) 75.1%
Percentage of Nevadans who speak a language other than English at home (2000) 23.1%
Percentage of Nevadans who are foreign born (2000) 15.8%
POPULATION
12 January 2006
Cost of LivingAccording to the American Chamber of
Commerce Researchers Association’s(ACCRA) second quarter 2005 report, thecomposite cost-of-living index for LasVegas was 113.9 (13.9 percent above anational average of 100), and for Reno itwas 112.1. Compare this to 95.5 forBoise, Ida. (4.5 percent less than the na-tional average); 98.1 for St. George,Utah; 103.0 for Denver, Colo.; 109.3 forFlagstaff, Ariz.; 115.6 for Portland, Ore.;116.5 for Seattle, Wash.; and 153.0 forOakland, Calif.
A comparison of housing costs foreight western cities by ACCRA in itsCost of Living Index (2005) showed LasVegas as lower than San Francisco andSan Diego in the average price of athree-bedroom home, but higher thanSeattle, Denver, Reno/Sparks (whichcame in as 6th-highest of the eight),Portland and Phoenix. The cost of a new2,400-square-foot home on an 8,000square-foot lot was $374,286 in LasVegas and $300,189 in Reno. The pic-ture for rent is a little different, with theaverage monthly cost of a two-bedroomapartment being $780 in Las Vegas(sixth highest of the eight) and $858 inReno (fourth highest).
Electric bills for Nevadans are lowerthan our neighbors’. According to SierraPacific Resources (Winter, 2005), EdisonElectric Institute Standard electric billsfor Las Vegas and Reno/Sparks werelower than those for the Los Angeles area,San Francisco Bay area and San Diegoarea for residential, commercial and in-dustrial users, with Reno having highercosts than Las Vegas.
An often-overlooked cost of living in asociety is crime. The Federal Bureau ofEducation, Uniform Crime Statistics2003 compared regional crime rates inthe United States. Arizona’s per-capitacrime rate led the 11-state Southwest re-gion at 6.7 percent, followed by Nevadaand New Mexico at 5.5 percent each.However, when it came to sheer numbersof crime, Nevada was sixth for the regionat 123,639. California led the pack with1,626,188 and sparsely-populatedWyoming recorded only 19,276 crimes.Instruments of Change
Nevada is a fast-growing, dynamicstate filled with dichotomies and distinc-tions. It takes a lot of people in a few or-ganizations to try and keep the state on asteady course. Some of the major chefspreparing Nevada’s buffet include: Cityof Reno Redevelopment Agency, City ofSparks Redevelopment Agency, ClarkCounty Redevelopment Agency, NevadaCommission on Economic Development,Economic Development Authority ofWestern Nevada, Nevada DevelopmentAuthority, Northern Nevada Develop-ment Authority, the development authori-ties in most of the rural counties, State ofNevada System of Higher Education,Chambers of Commerce and all the gov-ernment entities (from DETR to the gov-ernor’s office to city councils).
As Joel Kotkin, author of The City: AGlobal History (Modern Library) and “TheBest Places for Doing Business in America2005” (Inc. Magazine, May 2005), said,“Nevada has a good product to sell, whichalways helps. It will be interesting to seewhat happens over time.”
Composite cost of living index Las Vegas 113.9
Composite cost of living index Reno 112.1
Annual cost of high-tech company operation in Las Vegas $10,206,722
Corporate headquarter operating costs in Las Vegas $14,170,886
The cost of a new 2,400-square-foot home on an 8,000-square-foot lot (Reno) $374,286
The cost of a new 2,400-square-foot home on an 8,000-square-foot lot (Las Vegas) $300,189
Average monthly rent for a 2-bedroom apartment Las Vegas $780
Average monthly rent for a 2-bedroom apartment Reno $858
Per-capita crime rate 5.5
Number of crimes 123,639
COST OF LIVING
14 January 2006
Arecent study indicated that the meet-ings, conventions, exhibitions andincentive travel industry generated
over $122 billion in U.S. direct spendingfor 2004. The “2004 Economic ImpactStudy,” produced by the Convention In-dustry Council, found that the industrysupports 1.7 million jobs, over 36 percentof hotel industry revenue and 17 percentof the airline industry’s revenue.
Special events aren’t just about week-end entertainment; they’re crucial to theeconomy. Here is a summary of what spe-cial events around the state really mean toour communities.
Southern Nevada:Cowboys and Cars
Las Vegas Events, the event productionarm of the Las Vegas Convention and Vis-itors Authority, estimates that in fiscalyear 2005, special events generated a non-gaming economic impact of $237.2 mil-lion. Las Vegas Events has brought over200 events and more than $750 million toSouthern Nevada.
“We don’t compete with the [hotel/casi-no] properties,” explained Pat Christen-son, president of Las Vegas Events. “Wecreate events those properties wouldn’tbook, in hopes of raising occupancy levelsduring slower periods. The National Fi-nals Rodeo is probably the best examplebecause it runs 10 days during the slowestperiod of the year.”
The NFR, an early December event, isone of the biggest in the state. Its 2004non-gaming economic impact was morethan $39 million. Over 20 years, the
NFR’s economic impact has surpassed$540 million. Most recently, Las VegasEvents sponsored Vegoose, a Halloweenweekend festival featuring an eclectic col-lection of indie and rock bands. More than72,000 tickets were sold.
NASCAR has increased the four-year-old Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s eco-nomic impact by 17 percent, to $167 mil-lion in 2005. “More than 300,000 peoplecome through the gates duringNASCAR’s Nextel Cup Series and BuschSeries,” said Chris Powell, executive vicepresident and general manager of the LasVegas Motor Speedway.
“We’re very proud of the role theSpeedway plays in the community,” saidPowell. “It positively affects everything:taxis, buses, charters, restaurants, the ven-dors on the Strip, and obviously gamingfeels an impact.”
With the NBA Summer Tour, Super-Cross, drag racing, slow-pitch softball,team roping, golf tournaments and ArenaBowl, one might think Las Vegas is tryingto become a sports destination. Christen-son, however, explained it’s all about whocomes to watch. “We’re looking mainly atadult-oriented events,” explained Chris-tenson. “We want visitors to spend moneyin a hotel, to shop, to dine, to gamble…theidea is to bring in a fan whose visit will re-sult in the maximum return to the proper-ties.” Another component is TV exposure,and these events all provide that.
In summer 2006, Henderson EventsPlaza will open. Its first event will be theannual ArtFest of Henderson, followedby Henderson’s Terrible 400 Desert Race,the Nevada Silverman Full DistanceTriathlon and the Henderson Super RunCar Show, which altogether brought in$7.4 million in 2004.
“In its first year of operation, the Plazawill generate over $20 million in non-gam-ing economic impact for the City of Hen-derson,” said Andrea Primo, director of salesand marketing for the Henderson Conven-tion and Visitors Bureau. “Our approachconsiders the number of out-of-market visi-tors the event will bring, as well as the ap-peal of the event for the community.”
Northern Nevada:Spare Ribs and Shakespeare
As Reno begins to embrace its natural sur-roundings, it becomes “America’s Adven-ture Place.” Hot August Nights is a na-tionally recognized annual celebration ofclassic cars and music of the 1950s and
From Bucking Broncosto Classic MustangsSpecial Events Round Up Big Money
by Jessica Groach-Santina
January 2006 15
’60s. Executive Director Don Schmid saidroughly 530,000 people attend the six-dayevent and many of them are repeat cus-tomers. “We estimate an economic impactof over $200 million for the entire event,”said Schmid. Other events include the Na-tional Championship Air Races, the RenoRodeo, which brings in 120,000 fans and$34.5 million, and the John Ascuaga’sNugget Best in the West Rib Cook-Off,resulting in a total of $207.5 million forthe local area.
Artown, Reno’s annual arts and culturefestival, saw 195,000 visitors in 2005, butonly 15 percent of ticket sales were due totourists. Executive Director Beth Macmil-lan said that the almost $12.5 million ineconomic impact isn’t all that’s specialabout this event.
“It was built for the local community, tocelebrate our own environment. But Ithink 23,000 visitors from out of town is apretty significant number of people com-ing into the community to experience thearts, especially considering that 10 yearsago, no one was,” she said.
Harry York, CEO of the Reno/SparksChamber of Commerce, added that spe-cial events have a huge impact on his job.“They mean a lot to us. We see dramaticincreases of walk-in traffic asking aboutliving here.”
Shakespeare at Sand Harbor, the six-week run of a Shakespeare play per-formed on this Lake Tahoe beach, drawsabout 30,000 visitors each year; 50 per-cent are out-of-towners. The Lake TahoeJazz Festival in May drew 6,000 people,and the Sand Harbor Food and Wine Fes-tival drew about 1,000 in September.
“Once people get used to seeing Shake-speare or another event, they’ll check thecalendar to see what else is going on,” saidBill Hoffman, executive director of the In-cline Village/Crystal Bay Visitors Bureauat Lake Tahoe. He pointed out that the jazzfestival and similar events may not makemuch money, but are still worthwhile.“Special events must be viewed long-term.Once a destination is known for an event,that helps the entire branding process.”
Candace Duncan, executive director ofthe Carson City Convention and VisitorsBureau, pointed out that Carson City’sbiggest events are historical: the CarsonCity Rendezvous in June, a living historyevent involving a mountain man encamp-
ment and Civil War reenactment; the Victo-rian Home Christmas Tour; and the OctoberGhost Walk. The majority of participants inthese events are locals, not visitors. “I thinkthe major benefit of having these events isthe publicity we get from them,” said Dun-can. “Plus, it gives the community a senseof place and pride.”
Virginia City, on the other hand, de-pends entirely on tourism for survival.“We’re a community of 1,000 people, andevery business is tourism-based,” ex-plained Susan Sutton, executive directorof the Virginia City Convention andTourism Authority. She includedReno/Sparks and Carson City residentsamong the town’s visitors.
Becoming a national historic landmarksaved Virginia City from becoming aghost town. Virginia City’s camel races,outhouse races, railroad festival andMountain Oyster Festival make up aneclectic list. Sutton estimated the averagevisitor spends between $150 and $200 aday, yet there are only 102 hotel rooms intown. “We get over a million visitors ayear, and they come looking for the Pon-derosa – which is folklore, but people loveit. You sell the experience and the glitz,”said Sutton.Rural Nevada: Art and Adventure
Harry York said many Reno/Sparks re-tailers enjoy their biggest week before theannual Burning Man festival. “Grocerystores sell out of water, people go to drugstores and home improvement stores andstock up on supplies. In a way, BurningMan is our biggest event,” said York.
Burning Man is hard to describe tosomeone who’s never attended. Held inthe Black Rock Desert northwest of Reno,it is billed as an “art festival and tempo-rary community based on radical self-ex-pression and self-reliance.” Burning Man
is big, but not because it makes tons ofmoney. In 2004 land, property and relatedexpenses cost the promoters $8.5 million.Bills were paid and the event was kept inthe black, but barely. Burning Man nowannually attracts more than 35,000 partic-ipants. Its sponsor company, Black RockCity, LLC, donated $42,000 in proceedsfrom ice sales (the event’s only form ofcommerce) to art and community serviceorganizations.
Elko has a niche as an adventure placeas well. Approximately 200 special eventstake place in Elko each year, includingwinter’s Snowmobile Rendezvous andspring’s ATV and Motorcycle Jamborees.Fourth of July weekend marks the Nation-al Basque Festival, during which partici-pants can actually run with the bulls.
“We expose people to the differentthings we offer, and when they return,they bring their families,” said Ralph Mc-Mullen, executive director for the ElkoConvention and Visitors Authority.
The biggest event for Elko is the Cow-boy Poetry Gathering, produced by theWestern Folklife Center. It attracts 80,000people yearly and earns $5.5 million. Itfills in an otherwise slow time of year forElko tourism.
Even Ely calls special events “big busi-ness.” Ed Spear, executive director ofWhite Pine County Tourism and Recre-ation, said, “We do some locally-gearedevents, but our focus is bringing peoplefrom outside the area.”
Most recently, Ely hosted the Sights,Sounds and Smells of Christmas, featuringbands, choirs, train rides, craft-making anda Festival of Trees. In mid-January, visi-tors can catch snow, ice sculpting and fire-works over Cave Lake during the WhitePine Fire and Ice Show. Spear said the ma-jority of visitors come from Las Vegas.
“You can judge an event’s success notjust by actual participants, but by expo-sure,” Spear said. “People start seeing theevent in publications. It attracts far morepeople than those who actually attend.”
State of EventsSpecial events are growing in number,
size, quality and economic impact. AsNevada continues to booming, its specialevents will continue play an importantrole in supporting its growth and buildingpride for the state’s residents, whereverthey happen to be.
January 2006 17
Photo: Opulence Studios, Inc.
FIRST ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT):
Michael Holloway Poggemeyer Design Group
Kenneth Ackeret Kimley-Horn & Assoc. Inc.
Brita Tryggvi CFA, Inc.
Mark Hedge Lochsa Engineering
Nigel Miller Kleinfelder
Tom Harris Harris Consulting Engineers
SECOND ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT):
Stu Hitchen WRG Design, Inc.
Dwayne Miller JBA Consulting Engineers
Gregory DeSart Geotechnical & Environmental Services
Pete Blakely Blakely Johnson & Ghusn, Inc.
Mark Jones Southwest Engineering
Kathy Smith TRC/VPoint
THIRD ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT):
Brent Wright Wright Engineers
Edward Taney Taney Engineering
James Duddlesten G.C. Wallace, Inc.
Dennis Waibel Carter & Burgess, Inc.
Mark Johnson RBF Consulting, Inc.
Michael Pullen Nevada By Design
b y K a t h l e e n F o l e y a n d R a c h a e l W a x
Michael Pullen: Nevada By Design is acivil engineering firm, and we also do staffaugmentation and support services. We justhired three new people and we’re a littlenervous about how they’re going to adaptto our community (Las Vegas), because weare a much different city than any other inthe United States. When people come here,sometimes it’s difficult for them to get usedto it. Finding people, keeping people, at-tracting people to our organizations andgetting the work done is very critical.Mark Hedge: I’m a principal at Lochsa En-gineering. The staffing issues are of utmostimportance, but we also have to ensure thatwe have adequate work in the future. Myconcern is that the escalating price of land isstarting to affect people, and they can’t af-ford to buy houses. We need to start build-ing homes for the market and the masses.James Duddlesten: G.C. Wallace has of-fices in Las Vegas, Reno and Sacramento.Our biggest challenge is finding people todo the work, and in some cases, we haveto turn away work because we can’t findqualified individuals. We have undertakenextensive recruiting efforts at universitiesto capture graduating engineers.
Engineers from the Las Vegas and Renoareas gathered recently at The StirlingClub for the monthly Industry Focus
Roundtable to discuss pressing issues intheir profession. Connie Brennan, publish-er of Nevada Business Journal, served asthe moderator for the event, which includ-ed topics such as: staffing and recruitment,training programs and internships and thedevelopment review process. Following isa condensed version of the discussion,which began with introductions. Dwayne Miller: I’m the principal electri-cal engineer and the chief operating offi-cer for JBA Consulting Engineers. Ourbiggest challenge is staffing. It’s tough tolocate good, superior talent. Las Vegas is atough sell because the cost of homes hasgone up. It’s not as easy to attract peoplehere as it used to be.Tom Harris: Harris Consulting Engineersis celebrating 22 years in business. We domechanical and electrical engineering,specializing in HVAC, plumbing and elec-trical systems, with the majority of ourwork in Southern Nevada. I concur thatfinding, recruiting and keeping talent isthe most serious issue we face.
18 January 2006
INDUSTRY FOCUS • ENGINEERS
Dennis Waibel: I’m the managing princi-pal of our Las Vegas office and I sit on theboard of directors for the national Carter& Burgess organization. In addition to en-gineering, we also practice architecturelocally as C&B Nevada, Inc. I think thequality of life in this market and the costof living are things we all need to be con-cerned about. On the other hand, we havebig opportunities because of the water, airquality and transportation. Yes, everyoneis struggling across this industry to findthe right talent because we have a shrink-
ing supply line that feeds this market andindustry. On the bright side, if we all col-laborate strategically about how we’regoing to produce this work and price it,we ought to be really successful in thenext 10 to 20 years.Gregory DeSart: I founded GeotechnicalEnvironmental Services (GES) in 1992,and we also have a sister company, EagleDrilling. Staffing is the primary challengewe face, but I would like to discuss usingthis meeting today as an opportunity foran industry forum to discuss long-term
strategic solutions to the problem, throughinternships or training programs, ratherthan cannibalism and grabbing eachother’s key people. We can probably findbetter solutions working together, gettingbetter talent into the system and maybegrowing our own talent.Edward Taney: At Taney Engineering, thebiggest challenge we have right now isstaffing. We’ve put together an internal or-ganizational chart and a financial incentiveprogram. It is viable and seems to workwell as long as we have key people work-ing in the right manner. We were successfulin finding a few more interns at a recentforum we held at UNLV. Nurturing theyoung students and bringing them into anorganized atmosphere with financial incen-tive programs seems to be working well.Kathy Smith: Last December my compa-ny, VPoint, was purchased by TRC Com-pany, a national firm known for energyand environmental engineering. We start-ed an internship program to deal with thechallenge of finding qualified people, andwe now have between seven and 10 in-terns working for us at any one time. It hasbeen easier for us to attract people as a na-tional company because the interns cangrow within the company and do projectsin other parts of the country. However, Ifeel it’s more important to keep the goodpeople you already have. Sometimes weforget about the people who are really thebread and butter in the firm, making themoney today instead of tomorrow. Mark Jones: I’m president and CEO ofSouthwest Engineering. Human resourceissues have been a big struggle for us. I’malso noticing a paradigm shift in our busi-ness as land development engineers, relat-ing to the land prices. Another challengeis increased liability because of the chang-ing market, and the increase in mixed-useand higher density projects. Our clientelehave become interested in removingthemselves from that liability and shiftingit onto us, but that becomes cost prohibi-tive. I wonder what the future marketholds if that shift continues.Pete Blakely: Blakely Johnson and Ghusnis an architecture, structural and civil engi-neering firm. Our major office is in Reno,with a satellite office in Las Vegas. Ourclients are having a hard time making pro-jects economically tangible. We do a lot ofindustrial and distribution projects, and we
January 2006 19
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find that land and construction prices arerapidly outpacing sales prices and leaserates. Frankly, I don’t believe the housingprices in Las Vegas or in Reno are sustain-able at their current levels. At some point,something will happen, and I’m curious tosee how this will affect our industry. Brent Wright: Staffing is a big concern forWright Engineers. We’re a multi-disci-plined civil, structural, mechanical, elec-trical and surveying firm with offices inLas Vegas, Irvine and Phoenix. We’ve sus-tained our growth by hiring students rightout of school, but we’re finding many ofthem are reluctant to locate to Las Vegasbecause of the housing costs. Mark Johnson: I’m vice-president of RBFConsulting, office manager for our LasVegas office, and I sit on our corporatemanagement committee. We have 14 of-fices in California, Nevada and Arizona.Recruiting at colleges has been successfulfor RBF. We visit probably 25 to 30 cam-puses a year; last year we hired about 60civil and planning professionals at thegraduate level. It’s been a great way tocontinue our growth in this great econom-ic time we’re having.Brita Tryggvi: CFA is a Reno-based com-pany of about 40 people, and we do civilengineering, landscape architecture, land-use planning and surveying. We operate inReno and the surrounding area, and wealso work in Truckee, Calif. and down theeastern front of the Sierras. One challengeI would have brought up several monthsago was that I didn’t think engineers’ feeswere keeping up with salaries and othercosts. I don’t think it’s as big a problemnow as it used to be, but I’d like to find outwhat others think about this.Michael Holloway: I’m the managing prin-cipal of the western region for PoggemeyerDesign Group. We’re in Las Vegas, Reno,San Diego and Seattle. We do civil, structur-al, landscape, architecture, planning, survey-ing and construction management. Our chal-lenges are recruitment and escalating salarycosts; I hired three top people in the last fourmonths and I’m shocked at how much I hadto pay to hire them. About 80 percent of ourjobs are public works, and the problem thereis escalating construction costs. Clientsknow what they used to get for a certainprice, and they’re not getting close to thatnow, so we have to deal with their cham-pagne tastes and beer pocketbook.
20 January 2006
INDUSTRY FOCUS • ENGINEERS
Nigel Miller: Kleinfelder, located in Renoand Las Vegas, performs geotechnical, en-vironmental and construction services. Oneof the challenges in our profession is a lackof business acumen. We need to operatelike a business – not necessarily an engi-neering firm – and understand how compa-nies make money. We like what we do, andthat’s a good thing, but if we realized theeconomics of what we’re doing, we coulddo much better and we would be able topay people what they really deserve.Stu Hitchen: I’m managing principal ofthe Las Vegas office of WRG Design. Wedo land surveying, land planning, land-scape architecture and civil engineering.I’d like to talk about getting projects ap-proved and entitled so our clients can buildthem. Another problem is the less-than-qualified work force on the constructionside. They’re going way too fast, buildingthings out of sequence, and creating poten-tial for conflicts and re-do’s of work. As anindustry, we need to have greater presenceat the job site, whether it’s verifying thatthings are in the right place according tothe survey, or just more general observa-tion. We do that in the public sector, but inthe private jobs it’s lacking.Kenneth Ackeret: At Kimley-Horn and As-sociates, a national firm, one problem withgrowth has been maintaining the cultureand philosophy of the firm. Our philosophyhas been to have our engineers work one-on-one with clients to make sure they aregetting good service and their demands arebeing met. It’s difficult to keep that systemgoing when you’re dealing with rapidgrowth. As for recruiting, we’ve been suc-cessful in getting young professionals outof the Snowbelt and bringing them to LasVegas. After two or three years, we sendour younger staff members back to collegecampuses in those areas to tell the studentswhat it’s like to work for our organization.Another issue we’re facing is the shift to-ward moving liability onto the engineers.We have no problem being responsible forwhat we do, but we can’t take on everyoneelse’s risks: the contractor, the owner, etc.
Recruiting and StaffingConnie Brennan (Nevada Business Jour-nal): It sounds like recruiting is a prob-lem you all share. Is it just engineers, orare there problems recruiting for otherpositions within the company?
January 2006 21
INDUSTRY FOCUS • ENGINEERS
DeSart: All positions.Miller: A big part is that it’s a differentgeneration. Younger people want to getout of college and be making six figuresovernight. Graduates have a reality checkwhen they first get out of school. Smith: When I graduated in 1981, interestrates were 22 percent and a lot of myschoolmates couldn’t get a job, so every-body who had a job appreciated it. Now,it’s who is the highest bidder. Workersdon’t have the work ethic they did when itwas harder to find a job.Waibel: The work ethic in corporate Amer-ica used to be to work hard for the samecompany for 20 or 30 years and you’deventually be rewarded. It’s not like thatanymore. People coming out of collegedon’t want to work 80 hours a week; theywant more time with family and friends.Hedge: It’s “me, me, me” and it’s not justengineering. It’s also architecture, and Ithink it’s across the board in all the trades.Job superintendents are making moremoney now than they ever did.Smith: Developers are hiring engineers tomanage their projects. We’re trainingthem and then the development communi-ty is hiring them.Jones: I don’t see a housing bubble, I seea human resources bubble. If there is adownturn in the market, you’re going tosee a lot of people out there not under-standing what they have.Miller: And they are unequipped to knowhow to actually make money.Jones: I like Nigel's comment. As an in-dustry, we need to be thinking how to runour companies as businesses and not justengineering firms.Hedge: We’re engineers first, but there’smore to it than engineering. The biggestlesson I learned is how to deal with an ac-countant, an insurance agent and a lawyer,and I hate all three. (Laughter.)Hedge: We should be getting similarsalaries and rates as attorneys. We areevery bit as educated.Smith: More so.Jones: I think more so.Hedge: And we are equally professional,if not more so. Jones: When you go to your doctor, doyou get bids? You don’t look for thelowest bidder in most professions, sowhy ours?
Brennan: How quickly are people apt tojump ship for $5,000 more a year?Wright: In a heartbeat.Johnson: If you’re talking about recruit-ing, you also have to talk about the reten-tion side of the equation. What we’vefound is that we’re all doing a pretty goodjob of training these bright college recruitsin the first couple of years, but after two tofive years, our clients will recognize the
talent and tap them on the shoulder, andwe find it difficult to compete.Miller: With retention, you must talk to peo-ple and know where their heads are. You in-vest in them both personally and financially,so you don’t lose that resource in four or fiveyears. The relationships they develop withclients are invaluable to the firm, so you wantto keep them, but it’s tough because somehave completely unreasonable demands.
22 January 2006
INDUSTRY FOCUS • ENGINEERS
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Blakely: We find that if people stay withus for two years, they are pretty muchthere forever. I think our losses during thefirst two years of employment are some-times caused because we need staff sobadly that we hire people we probablyshouldn’t have. Holloway: Desperate people do desperatethings.Blakely: Our goal for 2006 is improvingour retention, and we’ve made a consciousdecision that we’re not going to hire un-less they are the right people. It’s going tolimit our growth, however, because we dohave to steadily turn work away.Smith: We’ve been turning away work forthe last three years, like I know a lot ofyou folks have been doing. If you can’thandle it, it’s better not to take on thework than to take it on and do a bad job. Waibel: Think back to when we got out ofcollege. The work ethic in corporateAmerica was, “You’re going to go to acompany and stay there and do whatever ittook to become successful. You’re goingto work very hard, and somewhere – 10,20, 30 years out – somebody’s going to re-ward you.” People are coming out of col-
lege now, and they’re wanting more timewith their family and friends. We’ve gonethrough a cycle here locally where we hadmanagers hiring the wrong people, andthen we spent another year cleaning it up.Brennan: Is the shortage of engineers alocal problem?Hedge: No, it’s national.Miller: Colleges across the country are not
producing enough engineering majors.Smith: It is a little tougher in Nevada be-cause there are only two colleges fromwhich to recruit, and since 9/11, it’s be-come more difficult to hire foreign stu-dents to fill the gap.Brennan: If you’re successful in recruitinga graduating student, how long does ittake to get that person up and running so
January 2006 23
INDUSTRY FOCUS • ENGINEERS
they’re profitable for the company? Smith: It takes about a year.Duddlesten: The shortage of technical en-gineers and people associated with ourprofession is not going to be solved in theshort term. We’re challenged to get highschool students into engineering programsso they can be available to us four or fiveyears down the road.Brennan: Is the staff you currently have
overworked? Are they putting in morethan 50 or 60 hours a week?Jones: You can only do that for so long, be-cause they don’t want to work those longhours and they’ll go somewhere else. Whenwe were starting out, if we needed to work 60or 80 hours, we would do it, but it’s differentnow. Because it’s such a target-rich environ-ment for young engineers, they want $80,000a year, working no more than 40 hours a
week, three weeks of vacation and full bene-fits. I don’t know how to provide all that andstill set competitive rates for my clients.Hitchen: For those of you with officesin other regions, is it worse in South-ern Nevada? Several Voices: Yes, it’s worse.Tryggvi: We have the same problem inReno.Hitchen: One thing here that I don’t see inother markets is clients hiring our people.In the last year and a half, I’ve lost peopleonly to our clients, not to other firms.They’re taking our best and brightest pro-ject managers. Johnson: It isn’t worse here in Las Vegas,but it’s different. We’re experiencing thesame staffing and recruitment difficultiesin our California offices. It’s compoundedin Vegas due to the transient nature of thiscommunity. And many people here havenever experienced a recession like the oneCalifornia had in the early ’90s.Hitchen: It’s how good the market hasbeen here.Ackeret: From a national standpoint, yes,there is a shortage of engineers. Our firmis very busy across the board. Usually we
January 2006 25
can shift resources from places that areexperiencing a downturn, but right now itis solid across the United States, which isgreat for the U.S. economy. Las Vegas hasnot had a downturn that shook the engi-neering community since the late 1970s.It’s not fun being an engineer when youhave to wonder, “What are we going towork on tomorrow?” For the last 20 years,it’s been, “How can I get it all done?”There are many important engineeringprojects going on in this part of the U.S. Itell my young staff coming in that they’llget three years of experience in one yearof working in Las Vegas because there’ssuch a volume of work to be done.
A Changing EconomyBrennan: Are there concerns of a slow-down because of the cost of living and thecost of land? Jones: No, not really.Hedge: The warehouse industry is a bigissue. The only warehouse people build-ing are those with airport leases, becausetheir land costs are lower. Smith: There’s a shortage of land zonedfor industrial and warehouses.
Hitchen: The changing market will mean ashift in the kind of work we do. People willstart commuting because our residential pro-jects will be out further. This isn’t any differ-ent from other growing metropolitan areas. Johnson: If you look at the demographicsof the country, people want to live in theSouthwest. Between Arizona, Nevada,California and the rest of the Sunbeltstates, I see tremendous opportunity.Harris: The issue with recruitment is thatI’ve lost half a dozen candidates because ofthe cost of housing here.Hitchen: Compared to where, though? Otherplaces in the West are just as high, or more so.
If you’re comparing it to the Midwest or theEast, then you’re at a disadvantage.Miller: Housing in the East is cheaper be-cause there’s no work there. People haveto go where the work is.
The Review ProcessHedge: I tell clients, start to finish, the re-view process takes at least nine monthsafter entitlement, and they hate hearing it.Pullen: That’s a minimum.Duddlesten: I’ve found that the problemmoves from one entity to the other. One en-tity might have a great reputation of shortertime spans for getting things approved, but
INDUSTRY FOCUS • ENGINEERS
26 January 2006
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over time they lose personnel or are inun-dated with additional work and their pro-cessing slows down. Then another entitywill be the “good guys,” able to quicklyproduce things. It’s clear that some agencieshave bigger challenges than others.Holloway: The developers are not only hir-ing from us, they’re hiring from the cityand county development services staff.They find someone who is easy to workwith and knows the “ins and outs” andthey hire him. But they’re biting off theirnose to spite their face, because then it
makes things slower at the entity.Pullen: Finding people to work for the cityand county has been tough, and some ofthe people they hire are inexperienced.What they’re doing is reviewing plansusing a checklist.Ackeret: The projects we’re putting in arenot what we were doing 20 years ago. Thecomplexity and level of difficulty are high-er. The staff doesn’t have the experienceand we’re dumping difficult engineeringproblems on them for review.Brennan: Mark [Hedge], you said the re-
view process takes nine months. Howdoes that compare to last year? Is it betteror worse?Hedge: It’s probably a month longer, butsome of that can be attributed to the sheervolume of projects.Brennan: It’s my understanding that someof the codes are subject to interpretation.Taney: I’m resigned to the fact that it’s justinherent in what we do. We are going tohave bureaucracies and plan checkers mak-ing our lives difficult. I’ve stressed to mystaff that it’s important to get down to thegovernment office quickly and develop re-lationships with the people in charge ofgetting the plans through the system. It’snot engineering that counts in that situation– it’s people skills. It’s a very hard corner toturn; you come out of engineering schooland you’re technical and trained to chase adiagram down to a thousandth of an inch.But the reality of consulting is not so muchengineering; it’s people skills: how quicklyand promptly you can show the client thatyou’re on top of their project.Ackeret: We’re spoiled by how fast weturn projects and plans, compared to otherparts of the country. We are at light speed
INDUSTRY FOCUS • ENGINEERS
January 2006 27
in starting a project from beginning con-cepts to breaking ground; we’re all ourworst critics on what we can do. Taney: A lot of us have heard horror storiesfrom Orange County, Calif. You go throughenvironmental issues for a couple of yearsbefore you even get to entitlements.Miller: It’s the same in Atlantic City.Ackeret: I worked in Detroit, where theyhave had 300 years of bureaucracy. We’veonly had 100.(laughter)Jones: I’d like to get back to designingplans to build from, not designing plans toplease the reviewer. We end up having toput information on a plan that’s simply forthe benefit and the ease of the reviewer –little silly things that are meaningless to theproject. Sometimes they get so caught up inthings like font size and parcel numbers ofadjacent properties that they lose sight ofwhether the project will actually work.Holloway: In one of our projects, we wantedto move a stop sign five feet, and they insist-ed we include a picture of the sign so theywould know what a stop sign looked like. Jones: At the expedited review processthey have at the city [of Las Vegas], if Ican sit down with the reviewer eyeball-to-eyeball, we can get rid of those nonsensi-cal comments that are simply for the re-viewer. It’s a very efficient process, andI’ve encouraged [Clark County] to use theexpedited review process for civil engi-neering projects, but they’ve been reluc-tant to allow that to happen.Wright: My specialty is structural engi-neering, and I hear the same frustrationsfrom our civil department that you’re talk-ing about. For the most part, I’ve alwaysthought the regulations in Las Vegas arehelpful to our industry in a lot of ways: itcreates work. You almost have to have anengineering design if you want to plantyour mailbox out in front of your house.(laughter)Brennan: Brita, are some of these frustra-tions happening in the northern part of thestate as well?Tryggvi: The review time that Mark Hedgewas describing does not take that long inReno. From initiation of final design topermit, we’re probably talking four and ahalf months.Blakely: It’s different in the north. StoreyCounty could build a munitions factory inabout a week.
INDUSTRY FOCUS • ENGINEERS
30 January 2006
THE RETAIL MARKET IN 2006Superb Shopping in Nevada
Nevada’s shopping arena is whereWal-Mart and Dillard’s coexist prof-itably to give consumers exactly
what they’re after. Although it may seeman unlikely combination, here in Nevada,high-end retailers, multi-use developmentsand value-oriented supercenters are allthriving and exceeding national sales aver-ages. Two undeniable trends in Nevada’sretail segment are the growth of multi-useprojects, as well as an increase in the eco-nomic impact of Wal-Mart.
With nearly 10 new residents per hourmoving to the Silver State, it’s no wonderNevada has popped up on retailers’radars. Coupled with a growing popula-tion base, Nevada offers national retailersanother attractive demographic profile:approximately 5 percent above the aver-age national household income, as nearlya quarter of the state’s residents earn be-tween $50,000 and $74,999.
One of the first population benchmarksmajor retailers look for is a minimum of500,000 residents living in the region. LasVegas hit that number years ago; just re-cently, so did the Reno/Sparks/CarsonCity/Douglas County area. According toKelly Bland, senior vice president of
retail properties for Reno-based AllianceCommercial Real Estate Services, “Agrowing population base and high-incomedemographics are what retailers look forin new markets. They seek out marketsthat make sense today, as well as thosethat present future growth opportunities.”
Nevada’s retail segment is thriving, thanksto support from both residents and visitors.The Reno-Sparks Convention and VisitorsAuthority reported that non-gaming revenueper person increased 20 percent from 2003 to2004. According to Kevin Bagger, director ofInternet marketing and research for the LasVegas Convention and Visitors Authority,“Sixty-three percent of Las Vegas visitorsspend time shopping during their visit to thearea. In 2004, we saw the average expendi-tures for shopping per trip increase 28
percent over 2003.” Shopping has becomesuch an attractive amenity of the area that itmade its way into the Visit Las Vegas pro-motional campaigns. “The recent retail addi-tions in the area have positioned us as an at-tractive shopping destination. We’ve begunpromoting shopping opportunities to travelagents, hotel tour operators and other travelintermediaries as a key part of leisure sales toVegas,” explained Bagger.
High incomes, a growing population andinterest in shopping from tourists are thebackbone of Nevada’s emerging retail mar-ket. But where are these people shopping?Nevada has seen an influx of high-end, des-tination retailers and new lifestyle shoppingcenters. Northern Nevada will soon behome to two open-air lifestyle shoppingcenters and a Cabela’s outlet store that isexpected to lure as many as 4 million visi-tors annually. Centers like the Las VegasFashion Show Mall, which has a real fash-ion runway, aim to make shopping more ofan “experience” by combining it with enter-tainment. Las Vegas’ Strip hotels havebegun combining resorts and shopping byattaching malls, such as the Desert Passageat Aladdin, Mandalay Place at MandalayBay and The Forum Shops at Caesars.
by Stacie Griffin
Fashion Show in Las Vegas encompasses nearly 2 million square feet and more than 200 stores, including seven anchor department stores.More than 40,000 people visit the mall each day.
With nearly 10 new residents per
hour moving to the Silver State,
it’s no wonder Nevada has
popped up on retailers’ radars.
January 2006 31
Make Way for Wal-MartAnother major trend in both Southern
and Northern Nevada is the growth andsuccess of Wal-Mart. Plans are underwayfor the eighth Wal-Mart Supercenter in theReno/Carson City area. The influence ofWal-Mart on the Nevada economy is un-questionable. Now representing an incred-ible 1 percent of total jobs in the UnitedStates, Wal-Mart helps increase purchas-ing power, bringing a number of new jobsto the locale and affecting the mix of otherretailers in the vicinity.
“Most of the publicity tends to be nega-tive for Wal-Mart,” said Tom Outland,principal of Reno-based Powerhouse, anadvertising and strategic planning agencyspecializing in retail and municipalities.“However, recently a local nail salon de-cided to lease space inside a new Wal-Mart. They’ve been in business for manyyears, but their move to Wal-Mart allowedthem to successfully capitalize on atremendous vortex of customers. They aredoing quite well at Wal-Mart.”
Retailers also capitalize on the successof Wal-Mart. Many national retailersstrategically place their stores in closeproximity to Wal-Marts. The retail giantitself locates its new Wal-Mart Neighbor-hood Markets within two miles of a supercenter. According to Voit executive KitGraski, “Everyone in the grocery industryis having a hard time finding sites, be-cause they are well aware there couldeventually be another Wal-Mart close by.”
Land Prices Change MarketThe scarcity and high price of land are
driving other trends in Nevada’s retail seg-ment. “Land costs have increased im-mensely for a couple reasons,” said Graski.“First, the overall market is increasing.Second, residential developers now havemore purchasing power and can buy land ata much higher rate and are competing withcommercial land developers. Demand ismuch higher for the space remaining, andit’s more difficult to develop large centers.We’re seeing higher land prices, rental rateincreases and more tenant demand. Themarket is filtering out only those retailersthat can afford to pay higher rates.
“Because land is so expensive, we’reseeing a lot of mixed-use proposals,” ex-plained Graski. Mixed-use is the latesttrend to hit growing urban areas aroundthe country, and Nevada is no exception.Las Vegas’ The District at Green ValleyRanch, which opened its doors in April2004, represented the state’s first mixed-use development, with great success.
Sandi Marvin, marketing director forAmerican Nevada Company, developer ofThe District at Green Valley Ranch, saidshe believes people are looking to getaway from the “hustle and bustle” of shop-ping. “The District is an open-air, pedestri-an-only shopping village,” said Marvin.
“It’s built to feel like a northeastern down-town rather than a traditional mall.”“The District at Green Valley is a holisticdestination that brings together commer-cial, hotel, spa, casino, residential andshopping all to one location,” explainedOutland. “Lots of municipalities are iden-tifying this critical mix. Europe has to doit and the East Coast understands it. Bot-tom line: make a destination holistic forconsumers and they will come.”
The success of The District certainlyspeaks to Outland’s assertion. In a yearand a half, The District has successfullysold all residential lofts and flats and haslanded a number of high-profile destina-tion shops and restaurants, such asWilliams-Sonoma, REI, Pottery Barn,Chico’s and PF Chang’s.
The Summit Sierra Coming to Reno Following the trend in demand for open-
air shopping centers, Reno’s new SummitSierra (scheduled to open March 2006) isAlabama-based developer Bayer Proper-ties’ interpretation of a lifestyle center.“The Summit Sierra is designed to meetthe needs of today’s time-starved con-sumer,” said David Silverstein, principal ofBayer Properties. “Customers can pull upto the store of their choice to readily shop,or spend time enjoying the environment.”
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January 2006 33
The people-friendly design of TheSummit Sierra boasts large sidewalks,quality architecture and an atmospherethat facilitates browsing. Understandingthat Northern Nevada is cold in the winterand hot in the summer, The Summit Sier-ra features hardscape that transforms fromfire pits to water fountains, along withample space to sit and enjoy the ambi-ence. “People love the outdoors in Reno,and now they can enjoy the outdoorswhile shopping,” said Silverstein.
Silverstein’s project has brought newnames to the local shopping arena. Dil-lard’s, Ann Taylor Loft, Banana Republic,Coldwater Creek, Pottery Barn andChico’s are just a few of the high-end re-tailers locating in The Summit Sierra.Convincing them Reno was the rightchoice took a bit of work, however.
“We needed to educate retailers aboutthe opportunities available in Reno. Weinvited them to come and visit, and oncethey were here, they better understood thepotential it represented. Many of the re-tailers weren’t necessarily looking atReno beforehand. But they soon recog-nized there was a tremendous void in thecommunity for retail,” shared Silverstein.He further explained that Northern Neva-da’s tremendous growth, great quality oflife and strong cultural base helped sealthe deal with these retailers.
Northern Nevada has historically beenunderserved in regards to retail. “Renohas tremendous sales tax leakage to loca-tions like Sacramento and the Bay Area,”explained Silverstein. “We’re bringing thecity additional retail that’s not otherwiseavailable there.”
Both Silverstein and Tony Vail, generalmanager of Reno’s Meadowood Mall, agreethat the Truckee Meadows area is largeenough to support additional shopping oppor-tunities. For many years, the MeadowoodMall was the primary shopping destination forfolks in the area. Meadowood, which is hometo Macy’s, JC Penney, Gap, Ann Taylor andEddie Bauer, has seen increases in productiv-ity across the board. “Our retail tenants aredoing well and our food court is extraordinary.We’ve seen more customers shopping hereand making larger transactions with signifi-cant increases mall-wide,” said Vail.
Shopping as an “experience” issomething the Meadowood Mall is alsoworking toward. Focused on a family-oriented atmosphere, the shopping cen-ter introduced Muggsy’s Meadow, atwice-monthly free kids program, agesnewborn to 12, that gives families funthings to do all year long, such asthemed explorations, story time and in-teractive games.
The Future May Be GreenWhat’s next on Nevada’s retail horizon?
According to Outland, there is tremendousmomentum in the “green” retail industry.Guess who’s leading it? Wal-Mart. The re-tailing giant has introduced two stores, onein Texas and another in Colorado, whichhave received a LEED (Leadership in En-ergy and Environmental Design) GreenBuilding Rating. “They generate their ownpower and purchase materials produced bygreen factories,” he said. “Soon, we’ll allbe thinking green.”
We needed to educate retailers about the opportunities available in Reno.
34 January 2006
Worth Group has offices in Reno, Las Vegasand Denver, with approximately 40 employees.It does business throughout the United Statesand in Canada; one-third is in Nevada. InNorthern Nevada, the company designed theSouth Valleys Library, the Carson Valley Innand numerous facilities at the University ofNevada, Reno. Southern Nevada projects haveincluded the Luxor expansion and The ForumShops at Caesars. Undertakings that “put us onthe map,” Mickey said, were Las Vegas’ HardRock Hotel & Casino and New Mexico’s Innof the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino.
Clients today demand much more, and theirexpectations pressure Worth Group. Cus-tomers want their projects completed in short-er and shorter time periods. “Schedules keepgetting compressed,” Mickey said. Clients alsowant Worth Group to understand how theirbusinesses function in order to create designscustomized for them; companies sometimeslook to Worth Group to tell them what to dowith extra property.
“About 85 percent of our workload comesfrom repeat clients,” Mickey said.
Like many firms today, Worth Group spendsconsiderable time, energy and money on pro-tecting itself from lawsuits. “It has become apart of our quality control that we look at a pro-ject in terms of liability and potential liability,”said Pat Gardner, regional vice-president ofNevada offices. In one instance, the companyfaced liability charges because an individualjumped off a building it designed.
Competition is tough because the industry issaturated with professionals. Years ago, thecompany bid on projects against only a hand-ful of other firms. Today, however, it’s typicalfor more than 20 companies to submit propos-als for a job.
The market saturation has created a high de-mand for qualified employees and difficultyfinding them. “Further complicating the situa-tion is the fact that architectural education isn’tkeeping pace with the industry,” Mickey said.Consequently, applicants right out of schoolcan’t readily jump into computer design;Worth Group has to provide further trainingand education.
Amid the hardships, however, WorthGroup’s executives remain optimistic. Futureplans include pursuing more internationalwork, creating a MasterBuilders division inDenver and eventually opening an EastCoast office.
“We’re just enjoying what we do,” Mickeysaid. “We have fun.”
n 1990, when Doug Worth started WorthGroup Architects in Reno, architectsdrew two-dimensional plans on Mylar
with pencil. Today, they create computer-ized three-dimensional designs completewith people, animation, sound tracks andmore. This is one of many industry changesthe firm deals with while trying to increaseits bottom line.
“This is an exciting profession that’s veryrewarding, but it’s also very demanding,”said Jim Mickey, senior architect.
The company focused solely on architec-ture until 1998, when it was restructured.Four divisions – MasterBuilders, Architects,Interiors and Developers – were created,each its own corporation, and “Architects”was dropped from the company name. Thefour-part model affords clients one-stopshopping. “We’re responsible from start tofinish for a project,” Mickey said.
MasterBuilders is a design-build segment,responsible for planning and constructingprojects in the gaming, hospitality and enter-tainment industries. This division boostedWorth Group’s revenue from $2 million to$40 million in five years’ time.
The Architects division provides commer-cial design services throughout the country.Projects have included hotels and casinos,public works facilities, health and wellnesscenters, commercial buildings and sports andrecreation structures.
The Interiors division is involved with in-terior design and planning, “Everything fromcreative concepts to construction documentsto ensuring the space turns out as envi-sioned,” Mickey said. This division allowsWorth Group to create spaces that areplanned and themed inside and out.
The most recent division, Developers, isabout three years old. It provides design-build funding assistance, financial recom-mendations and project research.
Nevada’s Worth Group
I
Design-Build Firm Dealswith Industry Changes
Las Vegas statistics complied by ColliersInternational and Restrepo Consulting.
Reno statistics compiled by the Reno office of Colliers International.
ABBREVIATION KEY
MGFS: Modified Gross Full-Service
SF/MO: Square Foot Per Month
NNN: Net Net Net
Total Market Las Vegas Reno
Total Square Feet
Vacant Square Feet
Percent Vacant
New Construction
Net Absorption
Average Lease sf/mo (nnn)
Under Construction
Planned Construction
POWER CENTERS
Total Square Feet
Vacant Square Feet
Percent Vacant
New Construction
Net Absorption
Average Lease sf/mo (nnn)
Under Construction
Planned Construction
COMMUNITY CENTERS
Total Square Feet
Vacant Square Feet
Percent Vacant
New Construction
Net Absorption
Average Lease sf/mo (nnn)
Under Construction
Planned Construction
NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS
Total Square Feet
Vacant Square Feet
Percent Vacant
New Construction
Net Absorption
Average Lease sf/mo (nnn)
Under Construction
Planned Construction
FREESTANDING
Total Square Feet
Vacant Square Feet
Percent Vacant
New Construction
Net Absorption
Average Lease sf/mo (nnn)
Under Construction
Planned Construction
35,127,989
1,262,867
3.6%
489,298
1,104,534
$1.68
831,482
3,397,213
7,657,833
174,994
2.3%
0
115,078
$1.63
0
0
14,905,152
551,316
3.7%
117,843
621,375
$1.60
557,492
1,790,222
12,565,004
536,557
4.3%
371,455
368,081
$1.79
273,990
1,606,991
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
11,375,811
910,000
8.0%
694,016
–
$1.73
1,565,000
2,117,000
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
RETAIL– 3rd Quarter 2005
Next Month: INDUSTRIAL
by Doresa Banning
Trump Tower Pours Concrete
Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas recently poured approximately 4,200square yards of concrete to form a 12-foot thick foundation on which to begin build-
ing the first tower of the hotel. The project is located across from the Fashion Show Mallon a 41-acre site behind the Frontier Hotel. The first tower will rise 645 feet, with 1,282rooms, at a cost of $300 million. The second tower will be an exact replica of the first. Bothwill include 50 luxury penthouse condo-hotel units of up to 10,000 square feet, a full ser-vice spa and various restaurants. The development will not have a casino. The towers arevalued at between $1,000 and $1,833 per square foot, making it the most expensive resi-dential real estate in Las Vegas. The two Trump International Towers will occupy a total ofsix acres, leaving about 35 acres in which to redevelop the New Frontier.
January 2006 35
Major Projects Underway at Tahoe Reno
Industrial Center
Grading for a new highway inter-change at the Reno Tahoe Industri-
al Center has been completed, and workon the rest of the project will commencein spring 2006. The eventual inter-change and bridge over the TruckeeRiver will enable the USA Parkway toconnect I-80 with Highway 50 at thecommercial development 10 miles eastof Sparks. The $6 million grading pro-ject was done to prepare the bank of theTruckee River with footings for thebridge in order to comply with masterflood control regulations. Work has alsobegun at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Cen-ter to expand its state-of-the-art sewertreatment plant. The sewer treatment fa-cility handles 350,000 gallons per day.When the expansion is completed, itwill be able to take care of 1.2 milliongallons per day, almost equal to the
capacity of the entire Reno sewer sys-tem. Treated water is piped to a man-made lake, which will eventually cover200 acres. When finished, the 104,000-acre Tahoe Reno Industrial Center willbe the largest in the world.
Nevada Land Sold at BLM Auction
The Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) auctioned off 87 parcels of
federally owned land in November,
with the largest bid totaling $639 mil-
lion for a 2,675-acre parcel in North
Las Vegas. The bid from Olympia
Group, developer of the Southern High-
lands master-planned community,
equaled almost $240,000 an acre. The
auction brought in a total of $791.3 mil-
lion for 2,982 acres under the Southern
Nevada Public Lands Management Act,
plus another $8 million for an 80-acre
parcel in Laughlin.
Granite Construction Works atReno-Tahoe Airport
Granite Construction is conductingwork on two contracts to carry out
site improvements for the Reno-TahoeAirport Authority. The project at theReno-Tahoe International Airport beganin June 2005 and is scheduled to be com-pleted in November 2006. Improvementsto the site will allow for increased accessfor airport traffic. Project details will in-clude the removal and construction of aportion of the existing north taxiway, val-ued at $4 million, and aircraft apronpavement, valued at $16 million. Con-struction will take place in several phas-es in an effort to minimize impact on liveaircraft traffic. In order to complete theproject, Granite Construction will re-move and replace more than 72,000square yards of pavement using over38,000 cubic yards of concrete.
Nigro Development BreaksGround on Hotel
Nigro Development has brokenground on a $15 million, 75,000-
square-foot Hampton Inn & Suites inHenderson. The hotel marks the firstphase of an eight-acre, $25 million mas-ter-planned mixed-use project called ThePlace at Seven Hills. The master-plannedsite includes the hotel and 17,000 squarefeet of planned retail space, including afree-standing restaurant. The Place atSeven Hills is at the entrance to theSeven Hills master-planned communityand adjacent to St. Rose Dominican Hos-pital’s Siena Campus. Nigro Construc-tion is handling the build-out for theHampton Inn & Suites as well as the ad-jacent retail space. The mixed-use devel-opment will supply much-needed hotelrooms and complementary retail to thegrowing area, which is also near the Hen-derson Executive Airport.
36 January 2006
Bank of America Plaza Sold
Basin Street Properties, a Northern Califor-nia developer of commercial and mixed-
use properties, has acquired downtown Reno’sBank of America Plaza, now called 50 WestLiberty, for $34.6 million. The acquisition ofthe Class A, 12- story office tower marksBasin Street’s entry into the Reno market.With a connecting four-story building andparking structure, the complex consists of248,000 square feet of office space. Currenttenants include Bank of America, Deloitte &Touche, Lionel Sawyer & Collins Ltd., NewYork Life and HMC Architects. “Reno is inthe midst of a major revitalization effort andthis project is poised to help shape the city’sfuture,” said Matt White, president of BasinStreet Properties. “Basin Street’s goal is to po-sition the building as a contributing influenceto the downtown core by adding ground floorretail that will provide our tenants and the sur-rounding community with convenient accessto local amenities.”
Design District Slated for Reno
Developers International Real Estate andLanier One LP have announced plans to
break ground during the second quarter of2006 for the 20-acre Reno Design District, lo-cated off Highway 395 in south Reno near theBarnes and Noble Distribution Center. Thenew retail center will feature more than250,000 square feet of fine furniture, home ac-cessory and home improvement showroomsand retail stores. Flooring, bathroom, window,furniture and specialty tile retailers are beingcourted as future tenants. The developmentwill also include casual dining and coffeeshops. Designed by WM Architects Nevada,Inc., the Reno Design District plans to open itsdoors during the first quarter of 2007.
Nevada Welcomes New Companies
Nevada Commission on Economic Development(NCED) awarded more than $200,000 in in-
centives to three new companies coming to Neva-da at its December commission meeting. EclipseDesign and Materials, Inc. develops and manufac-tures solid-state, high-energy storage devices suchas ultra-capacitors and batteries. The 10-year-oldresearch and development company moved to
Minden earlier this year from Utah to take advan-tage of the “improved labor force and the generalbusiness growth trends in the state.” BuildersChoice, Inc., a manufacturer of wood roofs andfloor trusses for residential and commercial build-ings, selected Silver Springs as the site for its newstate-of-the-art wood truss manufacturing facility.InfoGenesis, Inc. will move its headquarters fromSanta Barbara, Calif. to Las Vegas, with plans tocreate 60 jobs in Southern Nevada. InfoGenesisprovides the tourism industry with customer de-mographics. At the same meeting, NCED awardedtax abatement to Sherwin-Williams, the largestproducer of paints and coatings in the UnitedStates, for its expansion in Lyon County.
ORMAT Technologies Named “Distinguished Business of the Year”
ORMAT Technologies, Inc., was recognized asthe “Distinguished Business of the Year” at the
21st Annual Governor’s Industry AppreciationAwards for Northern Nevada. ORMAT is one of27 companies that received recognition for mov-ing into or expanding in Northern Nevada. Sincemoving its corporate headquarters from the EastCoast to Sparks, it has become the third largestgeothermal power plant operator in the UnitedStates and a leading supplier of geothermal tech-nology and equipment worldwide.
January 2006 37
Nevada Businesses ReceiveTourism Awards
The Saddle West Hotel, Casino and RV Resort inPahrump was among 33 recipients of 2005
Tourism Development Awards, given by the Neva-da Commission on Tourism for enhancing localvisitor attractions and amenities. The rural resortorganized a Wild West festival that drew 5,000 vis-itors to Pahrump. Among winners in other areas ofthe state, Corley Ranch in Gardnerville receivedan award for creating a Harvest Festival Extraordi-nary, and the Historic Front Street Metropolis pro-ject in Wells was honored for producing a walkingtour and history book, a Cowboy Country ghosttown book and billboards promoting Front Streetand the ghost town of Metropolis.
Assisted Living Community Sold
American Retirement Corporation re-cently announced it has completed the
acquisition of EPOCH Assisted Living ofLas Vegas, one of eight assisted living com-munities in six states acquired in the trans-action. The purchase expands AmericanRetirement Corporation’s reach from 15states to 19 states nationwide. The LasVegas facility has been renamed The Her-itage Club of Las Vegas. It will continue toprovide assisted living and Alzheimer’scare services, as well as short-term respitecare stays. American Retirement Corpora-tion now operates 42 assisted living com-munities and 34 retirement communitiesthat provide independent living residencesalong with other levels of care.
SBA’s Nevada District OfficeRanks First
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s(SBA) Nevada District Office was
ranked first in the nation among 68 districtoffices in a three-way tie with San Diegoand Los Angeles for the fiscal year endingSeptember 30, according to SBA DistrictDirector John Scott. During fiscal year2005, the Nevada SBA office approved 883loans for $256.3 million, as compared tofiscal year 2004 with 807 loans for $201.1million and fiscal year 2003 with 750 loansfor $143.9 million. The Nevada SBA officeset new statewide records in loans toAfrican Americans (42), Hispanic Ameri-cans (82), Asian Americans (97), NativeAmericans (9) and women (193).
38 January 2006
yHopeChest (MHC), a 501(c)3 or-ganization, was born in Las Vegasless than two years ago. Since its in-
ception, the organization, dedicated to pro-viding uninsured or underprivileged breastcancer survivors with reconstructive breastsurgery, has been able to provide onesurgery. The “final step in breast cancer treat-ment,” as founder Alisa Savoretti put it, is un-dergoing reconstructive surgery. The surgeryis actually a three-part process, which takesplace over time and costs between $15,000and $20,000. Currently, Savoretti is unawareof any other organization locally or national-ly offering this service to women.
The brainchild of Savoretti began aftershe, herself a survivor, had to endure twoyears without a breast because she wasuninsured. Upon returning to perform as aLas Vegas showgirl, she was finally able toget health insurance and schedule recon-structive surgery to replace her breasts.Thereafter, it became her mission to ensureother women would not endure more trau-mas after surviving breast cancer.
“Our first year as a non-profit saw itsshare of ups and downs, but following alarge donation, MHC provided its first re-constructive surgery,” said Savoretti.“Thanks to the wonderful team we have inplace, Susan Davis, a Henderson resident,received her long-awaited surgery in June.”
The program operates with the collabora-tion of a small group of local donors, in-cluding a surgeon, surgery center and anes-thesia group working pro-bono or at areduced Medicaid rate.
In October, MHC hosted “An Evening ofHope and Laughter,” a comedy eventfundraiser held at The Palms Resort &
M
MyHopeChestHelping Cancer Survivors
by Diana Edelman
Casino. The event garnered support fromthe entertainment industry with headlinercomediennes Maryellen Hooper and PamMatteson donating their time and perfor-mances for attendees.
“We couldn’t be more grateful to thesewomen and other entertainers (MarcelForestieri and musician Dennis Mellen)for their help”, said Savoretti. “This posi-tive response reinforces that Las Vegassupports MHC as a permanent, charitableorganization.”
The event, deemed a success, raisedenough money to help two more womenbegin their reconstructive surgery. Thesupport for an annual event was largeenough to convince Savoretti to host anannual fundraising event every October tocoincide with breast cancer awarenessmonth. MHC has chosen to take a “light-hearted” approach to its fundraising ef-forts and intends to orchestrate events de-signed to keep people smiling, like thesurvivors do, while raising funds forwomen to have the surgery.
“To think that a $10,000 donation canhelp to change a woman’s life forever ispretty profound,” said Savoretti. “Wecan’t think of a better investment thanthat.” MHC is seeking to partner withcorporations that can provide the fundingfor operational salaries, enabling 90 per-cent of funds raised to go directly to per-forming surgeries.
Hoping to put its growing pains behind,MHC is excited to embark on 2006 withmore events planned to raise awareness andfunds. According to Savoretti, the organiza-tion has a good board in place that is readyto work to help MHC grow. Plans are un-derway to establish affiliates in New Yorkand Tampa Bay in the early part of 2006.
“Getting put back together is a celebra-tion of life,” she said. “No woman shouldhave to go through life without breasts. Weintend to help as many people as possibleresume their normal lives.”
MyHopeChestLas Vegas, NV702-579-0799
January 2006 39
varying results. Google and Yahoo are thebig players, but they may not necessarilybe the right ones for your company. Some-times, engaging with a smaller search en-gine can drive better sales results. • Keywords: These are words advertiserslist themselves under. Develop multiplekeyword categories that encompass every-thing from your product/services to audi-ence behavior and niche terminology.• Click bidding price: As each paidsearch listing is based on click-throughcost, a company must decide how muchit’s willing to pay for each click on a re-spective keyword. • Text Description: Search engine list-ings can inform users through a two-linedescription about their product/service.It’s proven that an attractive, relevant textdescription can prompt users to click overyour ad versus a competitor’s search list-ing. Search engines provide the ability torotate multiple text ads to measure themost appealing ads.• Header: Develop a rotation of headersto identify which work better than others.• Web site: The way a Web site is built hasa tremendous impact on the success of asearch engine campaign. Test multipleversions of your site against various key-word categories. Develop lead-in pagesthat have different URLs to jump users toyour homepage.
Provide relevancy throughout a user’ssearch process by repeating a user’s searchterms at each step of the Web site visit anddisplaying the search terms in the headeror text description and on the landing pageafter a user clicks on the text ad.
Use geo-targeting paid search effortseven if your company is nationwide. Localtargeting helps keep your budget spendingin line and increases your ability to identi-fy success rates.
Monitor your company’s site perfor-mance. A minimum of 1 percent of yourtotal Web site traffic should convert to yourdesired goals (leads, signups, sales, etc.)Test and refine until you have identified alloptimal campaign variables, and don’t for-get to change with the market as consumerbehaviors and click costs change.
Andreas Roell is president of Geary Inter-active, an online advertising agency inLas Vegas with services in online market-ing, design and programming.
any Nevada companies have Websites to drive online sales, promoteproducts and services and attract
potential new customers and clients. Theyadvertise online, which is a key compo-nent to a company’s overall sales and mar-keting plan. However, consider Search En-gine Marketing (SEM), the hottest trend inmaking businesses shine online.
Among online marketing activities,search engine marketing is one of thefastest-growing facets of the Web. Paidsearches currently account for 40 percentof total online ad spending and are expect-ed to surpass online display advertisingspending by 2010 (Jupiter Research).
We have become a society of searchersturning to the Web to find everything fromvacation packages to local movie listings.For that reason, many companies largeand small are shifting their advertisingdollars to SEM.
Once a company decides to incorporateSEM into its marketing and advertisingcampaign, a mix of options is available:organic search, paid search (also calledsponsored search) and contextual search.
Before you start, it’s important to setcampaign goals and benchmarks, identify-ing what you desire the search campaignto accomplish: online sales, offline sales,leads, signups or Web site traffic. Ensurethat you develop acceptable goal levelsand attach tracking/analytics mechanismsto your Web site that allow you to measureall search engine activities properly.
Here are some of the variables that mustconstantly be evaluated:• Search Engine: Each search engine dri-ves different volume, and offers differentcosts and competition dynamics that drive
Get Your Motor Running OnlineWith Search Engine Marketing
M
by Andreas Roell
40 January 2006
Years in Nevada: 7
Years with Firm: 4 months
Type of businessPostsecondary education
Biggest business challengeBuilding our local student base; currently77 percent of our business is from studentswho live outside Nevada.
President
Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts
Las Vegas
What do you like best about your job?The opportunity to affect people's lives in apositive way. Every day we bring peopleinto the school, teach them and train themto become productive citizens in the com-munity. It not only changes their lives, butalso the lives of those close to them. Beingthe president of a school that can do thatfor 800 students at a time is pretty exciting.
Little-known fact about yourself:I am a distant cousin of Abraham Lincoln.
Best Business Advice:It is important to surround yourself withpeople who challenge you to be great andyou should dare to impress them daily. Ilive by the motto “high performance, lowprofile.”
What would you like your legacy to be? That I influenced people to change theirlives for the better.
What is your favorite type of food to pre-pare? I enjoy Mexican food.
If you could start over and choose a differ-ent profession, what would it be? Over the years I have asked myself thisquestion, and I cannot think of anythingI would rather do than what I am doingin my life at this time.
How do you spend your time when you’renot working?Spending time with my family is the mostimportant thing to me. I am also a hugefootball fan of high school, college andprofessional football teams. My favoriteteams are the Dallas Cowboys and NotreDame’s Fighting Irish.
David Evans
January 2006 41
Years in Nevada: 13
Years with Firm: 12
Type of businessRecruiting Nevada operates a network ofemployment Web sites to recruit profes-sionals to the state of Nevada, such asnurses, teachers, doctors and engineers.
Biggest business challengeForecasting the future of technology and itsapplication to recruitment advertising. Ap-plying that knowledge to the developmentof a user-friendly platform for both em-ployers and jobseekers to find each other.
If you could start over and choose a differ-ent profession, what would it be? That is a difficult question, because I trulylove what I do. I have built a successful
President and CEO
Recruiting Nevada
Las Vegas
ing, sailing and kayaking. Traveling isalso a passion of mine, allowing me tospend more time on the water, scuba div-ing or surfing in exotic destinations.
Little-known fact about yourself:I have college degrees in Criminology,Spanish and Pre-Law. I rarely use any ofthe education that I paid for, but constantlyleverage the experience I earned in theUnited States Army as a Personnel Ad-ministrative Section Non-CommissionedOfficer, where I oversaw human resourcesfor a 660-person company.
Best Business Advice:Always do your best and never compro-mise who you are.
What would you like your legacy to be?An innovator and entrepreneur whosolved many of Nevada’s critical short-ages of key professionals, allowing thestate to grow and prosper through diver-sification and economic development.
business around a passion of mine. I alsohave a passion for outdoor recreational ac-tivities such as hiking, biking and kayak-ing. If I were able to build a successfulbusiness around that, it might be a goodprofession for me.
How do you spend your time when you’renot working?I spend as much of my time on the wateras possible. I live on one of the only man-made lakes in Las Vegas and enjoy boat-
Douglas T. Geinzer
42 January 2006
President and CEO James York. “I grewup in this community and am still a resi-dent, and I saw the need for such a com-munity institution. And the fact that NorthLas Vegas is very business-friendly was adefinite selling point.
Many times, communities wait forlarge, national banks to pave the way –we didn’t want to wait,” commentedYork. “We wanted to start our own bank,using a new business model for a com-munity bank.”
Whereas most banks focus on eitherresidential or commercial business, theBank of North Las Vegas has made it apoint to treat both sets of consumerswith equal importance. The bankopened on August 1, 2005 and by thebeginning of October, it had establishedapproximately 50 accounts totaling $3million in deposits.
The founders of the Bank of North LasVegas were aware that there are alwayschallenges to finding funding. “There areso many places where people can put their
money right now – real estate, the stockmarket and others,” said York. “But weknew this would be a good opportunity forthe North Las Vegas market. We had agood group of founding partners and anexcellent business plan. We believed itwas a very viable concept.”
York, who grew up in North Las Vegasand graduated from Rancho High Schooland the University of Nevada Las Vegas,began the process of building the bank,which would take 16 months to complete.With a job history that includes holdingthe chief credit officer title at SouthwestUSA Bank and various positions at SilverState Bank, First Interstate Bank andBank of America, York is quite familiarwith the industry.
“I came up through the ranks, startingas a teller,” said York. “Having held thesedifferent positions in a number of finan-cial companies gave me the backgroundand experience to know what really setsa bank apart from its competition. Bygiving residential and commercial ac-counts equal importance, our customersare very satisfied.”
Along with York, the staff at Bank ofNorth Las Vegas includes such veteranSouthern Nevada bankers as: Jay Blood,executive vice president/chief credit offi-cer; Scott Johnson, executive vice presi-dent/chief financial officer; Ron York, se-nior vice president/retail bankingmanager; and Paul Dreschler, senior vicepresident/commercial loan officer.
The Bank of North Las Vegas offersthe same amenities and services as thelarger, national banks, but with a morepersonal feel, said York. From freechecking to debit cards with free ATMusage, the bank offers competitive ratesfor consumer products.
“North Las Vegas is really growing.We’re going through what Hendersonwent through about 15 years ago with theadvent of Green Valley,” said York. “Whenour permanent building is complete, thebank will be located at the gateway toAliante, a master-planned community thatis expected to eventually have about20,000 residents and 7,500 homes. Withthe growth Aliante has brought, we antic-ipate being able to open a second locationaround our third year in business.”
Bank of North Las Vegas
t’s about time North Las Vegas got abank of its own. With a population ofover 150,000 residents and with many
businesses relocating to the area, a bankwas becoming a necessity. Other banksoperated branches within the city limits,but none of these were actually charteredin North Las Vegas.
“I started thinking about developing abank for North Las Vegas about a year anda half ago,” said Bank of North Las Vegas
New Bank for a Growing City
I
by Robyn Campbell-Ouchida
January 2006 43
s our economy moves increasingly into a networkedworld, more information is collected and retained on theactivities of individuals. The use by individuals of a single
card – a smart card – that could merge all of these interactionsand transactions raises privacy and security issues. Smart cardsshould not be used widely unless these concerns have been suf-ficiently addressed.
Smart cards are diverse, ranging from single-function cards likecredit cards to student ID cards that allow access to buildings, payfor meals and serve as library cards. While they offer diverse func-tions, all smart cards share a common basic purpose: authentication.
Authentication mechanisms are necessary for a thriving net-worked economy, but they raise important individual privacy, se-curity and social concerns for consumers. These concerns multiplyas we begin to use smart cards to bundle different services. Someexamples of these concerns are:
• Centralization of personal information: The use of a singlemulti-function card could create a centralized warehouse of dataabout an individual’s activities. Today, our banks, doctors andcredit card companies keep separate records about our interactionswith them. This distribution limits the damage to individual priva-cy that occurs through either misuse or unauthorized access. If alltransactions were recorded at the same source, we would create apowerful center of data on all citizens that would be ripe for mis-use and abuse.
• Means for new social controls: The issuing, revoking orwithholding of a smart card could be used to control socialbehavior, limit an individual’s activities, or punish unrelatedactivities. Today, specific tokens enable specific activities.While loss of a driver’s license may limit a person’s ability todrive, it does not impact on his or her ability to purchasegoods or seek healthcare.
• Greater collection and use of personal information: A multi-function smart card could become a default personal identificationor national ID card. A single certifier will result in more data beingcollected than is needed for many interactions and could create anelectronic trail of all personal interactions.
Smart cards will only succeed if consumers trust them. There-fore, the industry should build into the cards privacy-enhancingand security features to assuage concerns about the tracking abili-ty and security vulnerabilities that currently exist.
Ari Schwartz is associate director of the Center for Democracy andTechnology. Nancy Libin is staff counsel for the same organization.
ince the primary form of identification in the UnitedStates is issued by the states’ departments of motor vehi-cles, there is no need for a national ID. There is, howev-er, a need for states to modernize their ID systems, in-
cluding adding smart-card technology.The Sept. 11 hijackings illuminated long-standing flaws in
our state-issued ID system. Four of the five hijackers whocrashed into the Pentagon, for example, had fraudulent ID cardsobtained in Virginia.
Fixing the state-issued ID system will involve a number ofsteps, but one of the most important is using smart card tech-nology – ID cards implanted with small computer chips that canhold data and perform other functions. Smart card technologycan make cards virtually unforgeable because forgers wouldhave to crack the strong encryption on the card, an almost im-possible task. Moreover, because the cards hold an encryptedversion of a unique biometric identifier, such as a digital scan ofa thumbprint, it would be extremely difficult for a terrorist on awatch list to fraudulently switch ID cards with a person not onthe watch list.
But unless Congress requires all 50 states to adopt robust, in-teroperable solutions, we run the risk of creating a systemwhere the security chain is only as strong as its weakest link, inthis case, a state with IDs that can be easily forged. Conse-quently, as the Bush administration implements the Real IDAct, it needs to ensure that all states adopt interoperable smartcard technology.
What about privacy? In spite of what some privacy advocatesmight say, putting smart cards on state IDs will not create a“National ID”. Instead, it will create more secure state IDs.Moreover, adopting smart card technology wouldn’t empowerjack-booted officers to require us to “show our papers.” Gov-ernment would be subject to exactly the same rules as it is todaywith respect to when a citizen is required to present ID. More-over, there will be no national database, no fingerprint database,no ability to capture data surreptitiously, only more secure IDcards. In fact, compared to current IDs, smart cards would ac-tually increase citizen privacy and security, in part because theywould reduce ID theft.
Sept. 11 was a wake-up call to boost our homeland securityon many fronts. Let’s hope that we heed the call on the ID front.
Dr. Robert Atkinson is vice president of the ProgressivePolicy Institute.
Question:Should the federal government require a national identification
card based on smart-card technology?
We Need to Beef Up Our State IDsby Dr. Robert Atkinson
Smart Cards: The Privacy Dilemmaby Ari Schwartz and Nancy Libin
S A
44 January 2006
hey say money is the mother’s milk ofpolitics. While occasionally the under-dog with less money comes out on top,
it certainly doesn’t happen very often. Justlike any successful business venture, youneed capital to run a successful politicalcampaign.
In past elections, putting together a sub-stantial war chest of contributions was noproblem for incumbents and “anointed”candidates. There were plenty of donorsand not a lot of competitive races. So far,however, the 2006 election cycle is shap-ing up to be a very different type of year.
Incumbents and top candidates are find-ing it increasingly difficult to fill theircampaign coffers. One reason for this isthat there are fewer major contributors.The two major corporate gaming mergershave taken what used to be five large com-panies and consolidated them into two.
As an example, candidates used to beable to count on getting money from Man-dalay Bay Resorts, MGM Grand, MirageResorts, Harrah’s Entertainment and Cae-sars Entertainment. If you were a stronglysupported candidate, you might even beable to get $5,000 or $10,000 per property,which could account for $100,000 or more.
Now, you can count on getting perhapsone major donation from MGM-Mirage-Mandalay and one from Harrah’s Enter-tainment. Incumbent Clark County com-missioners used to be able to count ongetting $40,000 from MGM-Mirage and$40,000 from Mandalay Bay Resorts.Now it’s likely they will only get $40,000from the newly formed conglomerate. Thesame is true with Harrah’s in its buy-outof Caesars Entertainment.
Different gaming companies didn’t al-ways agree on donations, which meantthat a challenger could still hope to getsupport if he or she had a particular rela-tionship with one property or another. Notanymore, however.
Another factor that will make fundrais-ing difficult in 2006 is the amount of trulycompetitive races on the ballot. In thegovernor’s race, many top contributorswill be hedging their bets – giving moneyto candidates from both parties. In addi-tion, a couple of candidates are running atmid-term – Senators Dina Titus and BobBeers. They will be back in the Senatemaking votes in 2007 if they do not win,so companies feel an obligation to give totheir campaigns so as not to risk incurringtheir anger at the Legislature.
Nearly every statewide office has acompetitive field, and some have compet-itive primaries. All these candidates areseeking money to fund their campaigns.There won’t be enough to go around.
But while the fundraising pool is shrink-ing, costs are skyrocketing. Prices for media(television and radio ads), printing and othercampaign functions are at least double whatthey were four years ago, mostly because ofthe increasing size of the electorate.
Elections where funds are tight at the be-ginning usually favor incumbents and, inopen seats, candidates who have the widestsupport of the state’s largest industries.While there may not be as much earlymoney, what is available will go to them andthey will be able to put together a strongcampaign team and effective messages.
However, in races such as this year’s gov-ernor’s contest, donors will probably equal-ly split donations. Some casino companieshave already committed to support one can-didate in the Democratic primary and one inthe Republican. From there, they will prob-ably rely on polling to decide who gets thebulk of the money in the general election.
For political pundits, this year promisesto be one of the best ever, with numerouscontested races that should yield somevery interesting (and perhaps entertain-ing) campaigns.
Michael Sullivan is President of KnightConsulting, a Las Vegas-based govern-ment affairs firm.
Shaking the Money TreeMergers Affect PoliticalFundraising
by Mike Sullivan
T
46 January 2006
The $82 million facility will support 170private beds, 400 employees, a large obstet-rics department, neonatal intensive care unit,35-bed emergency room department and 32-bed intensive care unit, said Jon Sewell, thehospital’s chief executive officer. The build-ing also includes two patient care floors thatwill be finished in a later phase to house an-other 80 beds. The site contains enough landfor a patient tower containing 400 beds,which may be developed in future if needed.
“If you look at where the hospital is lo-cated, there’s not another hospital withinfive miles,” said Sewell, adding that thefacility is located in northwest Las Vegas,off the intersection of I-215 and I-95.“Within those five miles, there are about200,000 people. [The area is] projected togrow by another 20 percent over the nextfive years. That’s a very significant popu-lation that’s underserved right now.”
During the hospital’s first year of oper-ation, its operating budget will be approx-imately $60 million, with more than halfdevoted to payroll. That number is ex-pected to climb to $80 million by 2010,partly due to the anticipated hiring of an-other 200 employees.
Meanwhile, Valley Health System’sother facilities have expanded their ser-vices. Valley Hospital Medical Centerspent $1.7 million relocating its well-baby nursery and building an educationroom, two labor/delivery recovery roomsand 10 more surgery beds. Late in 2005,Desert Springs Hospital Medical Centeropened a new orthopedic service centerand a cardiac progressive care unit thatincludes a chest pain center, the first inthe state to be accredited by the Societyof Chest Pain Centers.
Likewise, Summerlin Hospital MedicalCenter opened a second catheter lab and apediatric intensive care unit this past fall,which was part of a $7.8 million reinvest-ment project. Early next year, it will startperforming open-heart surgeries. SpringValley Hospital Medical Center is spend-ing approximately $5.6 million for a newsleep center and inpatient rehabilitationunit, and will open its second catheter labby early next year.
“The underlying theme is to make sureservice areas are fully covered from an ac-cess-to-care standpoint and to deliver verygood care,” said Sewell, adding that eachhospital reflects the different needs of itssurrounding community. “Over the next18 to 20 months, I’m going to be devotingmy time first and foremost to recruitingmedical staff to service this hospital. Bydoing so, the full nature of the scope ofservices in our programs will start to be-come apparent.”
Valley Health System is owned by Uni-versal Health Services, a hospital manage-ment company based in King of Prussia,Penn., that owns and operates 84 acutecare and behavioral health hospitals, radi-ation centers and ambulatory surgery cen-ters in 22 states and Puerto Rico.
The Las Vegas metro area currentlysupports approximately 14 hospitals thatserve nearly 2 million residents. WhileValley Health System has no immediateplans to build other medical facilities, itwill continue to scout new locations forhospitals in high growth areas, added RickPlummer, director of marketing at ValleyHealth System.
“As the community continues to grow,once we get Centennial Hills up and run-ning, I’m sure we’ll be looking to seewhere else we can serve the community,”Plummer said.
Centennial Hills Medical Center
ince the population began boom-ing in Las Vegas, hospitals havebeen playing catch-up. Less than
two years after the Valley Health Systemopened its fourth Las Vegas hospital,Spring Valley Medical Center, it brokeground on a fifth facility, CentennialHills Medical Center, which is sched-uled to open in June 2007.
Marks Growth of Valley Health System
S
by Carol Patton
January 2006 47
Nevada Tax Rebate Checks
n 2005 the state of Nevada made twotypes of tax surplus rebate payments totaxpayers. The first type was a $75 pay-
ment to individuals 65 or older, who had astate identification card from Nevada butno vehicle registered in Nevada during2004. The second type was a payment totaxpayers who registered a vehicle inNevada during 2004. There are possibletax consequences for both individuals andbusinesses receiving tax rebate checks.Payments to taxpayers who did notregister a vehicle during 2004
This type of payment is taxable as or-dinary income. If the taxpayer has suffi-cient income to file a return, the rebateshould be reported as “other income” online 21 of Form 1040. Payments to taxpayers who registereda vehicle during 2004
The basic registration fee for a passen-ger car was $33. The state of Nevadamade a payment to each taxpayer whoregistered a vehicle in Nevada during2004. Both business and individual tax-payers received these payments. Taxpay-ers received at least $75, but no morethan $275 per vehicle registered during2004.
The federal income tax treatment ofthis type of payment depends on whetherthe taxpayer paid $75 or more in basicgovernmental services tax and fees toregister a vehicle during 2004. Note: TheNevada rebate did not apply to supple-mental governmental services tax inChurchill, Clark and Washoe counties oramounts paid for sales taxes, specialtyplate fees, title fees or other miscella-neous charges. So those amounts are notincluded in the determination of whetherthe rebate is taxable.
If more than $75 was paidFor taxpayers who paid $75 or more
in basic governmental services tax andfees to register a vehicle during 2004,the entire state payment is treated as arefund of the tax and fee paid to regis-ter the vehicle. Generally, taxpayerswho receive a refund of a tax or fee thatthey deducted on their federal incometax return for a prior year must includethe amount of the refund in income upto the extent they benefited from theprior deduction.
Individual taxpayers who filed a Form1040A or Form 1040EZ for 2004 didnot deduct the tax or fee; therefore therefund of the tax and fee is not taxable.Individual taxpayers who filed a Form1040 with a Schedule A for 2004 mayhave deducted the tax. Those taxpayerswho deducted the tax must include therefund in income up to the extent theybenefited from the deduction. For moreinformation for individual taxpayers,see the topic of Recoveries under the“Miscellaneous Income” section of IRSPublication 525, Taxable and Nontax-able Income.
The basic governmental services tax andregistration fee would have been deductibleif the vehicle was used by a business, in-cluding an individual taxpayer who filed aSchedule C or F. Business taxpayers whodeducted these amounts must include therefund in income to the extent they benefit-ed from the deduction. For more informa-tion for small business taxpayers, see thetopic of “Recovery of items previously de-ducted” under the heading of Other Incomein the Business Income section of IRS Pub-lication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business. If less than $75 was paid
For taxpayers who paid less than $75in basic governmental services tax andfees to register a vehicle during 2004, theamount by which the $75 received isgreater than the amount of tax and fee thetaxpayer paid is taxable as ordinary in-come. Individual taxpayers should reportthis portion as “other income” on line 21of Form 1040.
This information was provided by the IRS.To access the information online, enter“Nevada Rebate” into the “Search for...”section on the front page of www.irs.gov.
ITaxable or Not?
48 January 2006
If you primarily use your property inbusiness or as an investment, you need tosatisfy other requirements and timelines toqualify for a §1031 tax-deferred exchange:
You have to exchange the property forlike-kind property, such as investment realestate for investment real estate, or heavyequipment for heavy equipment. The orig-inal property is called relinquished proper-ty and the new property is called replace-ment property. Whichever name you holdtitle to the original property in, the replace-ment property must be in the same name.
The market value of the replacementproperty, plus the debt carried on it, can’tbe less than that of the relinquished prop-erty. And once the relinquished propertycloses, you have 45 days to identify the re-placement property. You have to close onit either within 180 days or when yourfederal income tax return is due, whichev-er comes first. And you can’t legally holdor control the proceeds during the ex-change. A qualified intermediary holds allproceeds during the exchange.
Any non-like-kind property you receivein an exchange, such as cash, is calledboot. Boot is taxable to the extent of rec-ognized capital gains.Combination of Exclusion with Exchange
Under Rev-Proc 2005-14, §121 is ap-plied first to gain. Then, §1031 is applied togain and depreciation deductions allocatedto your property’s business or investmentportion. Boot is only taxable to the extent itexceeds the gain excluded under §121.
There are three ways you can take theprimary residence exclusion while also de-ferring the gain when you exchange busi-ness and investment property. Specifically,if you: converted your primary residence toa rental property or business; own a prop-erty with multiple buildings, one of whichis your personal residence while the rest arebusiness or rental properties; or operated abusiness from your primary residence.
And that’s how you combine §121 with§1031. Talk to your accountant about howthis applies to you.
Shauna Brennan Erhard, Esq. is vicepresident of business development forSouthwest Exchange, a qualified interme-diary firm based in Henderson.
IRS Allows 1031 Exchange
or years, Internal Revenue Code(IRC) §121 would let you exclude
income tax on the profit of your primaryresidence, provided you satisfied certainrequirements. And under §1031, investorsand business owners have been able todefer capital gains tax when exchanginginvestment or business property.
IRS Rev-Proc 2005-14 lets you com-bine the two code sections. You can nowtake the §121 primary residence tax ex-clusion and also the §1031 tax deferralwhen you exchange certain business andinvestment property.Primary Residence Exclusion
Section 121 lets you exclude gain onthe sale or exchange of a home, if youowned and occupied it as a principal resi-dence for at least two of the five yearsending on the date of sale or exchange. In-dividuals can exclude $250,000 and cou-ples filing jointly can exclude $500,000.But any gain due to depreciation adjust-ments after May 6, 1997, such as recap-turing home office or workshop deprecia-tion, doesn’t qualify. If you acquired yourhome in a §1031 investment property ex-change and converted to a primary resi-dence, the §121 primary residence exclu-sion only applies if you sell it at least fiveyears after you acquired it. Investment Property Tax-Deferred Exchange
The §1031 tax-deferred exchange appliesto property held primarily for productive usein trade or business, or for investment. Somepeople combine business use with their pri-mary residence, such as a primary residenceconverted into a rental property, or a singlebuilding used as both a primary residenceand as a home office or business. This madeit hard to satisfy the “primary business pur-pose” requirement for a §1031 exchange.
For Business Use Of Primary Residence
F
by Shauna Erhard
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N E V A D A B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L A D V E R T O R I A L
I n the construction industry, onemight say Las Vegas native JerryStanley is a visionary. In 15 years, his
company, Soil-Tech, Inc. (Soil-Tech), hasevolved from a start-up business into anindustry leader. From offices in LasVegas and Reno, it offers a full scope ofservices including dust control, hy-droseeding, erosion control, color miti-gation and native land restoration.
Soil-Tech, it seems, is always a fewyears ahead of the curve. In 1990, aftersecuring a few small loans from familymembers, Stanley founded the companyas Southern Nevada Hydroseeding, abusiness that provides homeowners,apartment complexes and other compa-nies with a method of planting turf grassto beautify their landscaping.
The hydroseeding process itself is fairlysimple: a tanker truck combines grassseed, water, fertilizer and mulch into a mix-ture that is sprayed onto soil and holds theseed in place, retaining moisture andspeeding up the germination process.
At that time, grass was very much alandscape fixture, because droughtand water conservation were not yet
critical issues in Southern Nevada, soSoil-Tech’s seeding service was in de-mand for everything from front lawnsto golf courses. Although successful,Stanley correctly surmised that South-ern Nevada’s rapidly growing popula-tion and increasing development wouldsoon result in an unprecedented de-mand for water, and perhaps even awater shortage – which meant a busi-ness offering hydroseeding alonewouldn’t be enough to stay competi-tive. With that in mind, he looked forways to diversify. In 1994, he found hisniche. Soil-Tech was created.
Soil-Tech was hired to provide somedust control for a chili cook-off event thatwas being held in a dusty parking lot.Stanley sprayed a mixture similar to thatused in hydroseeding (minus the seed) onthe surface, and it performed very well.Word spread, and soon Soil-Tech was pro-viding dust control at events and on con-struction projects and stockpiles through-out the Las Vegas Valley .
“Clark County had no dust control reg-ulations in place at that time, but I knewthat would change as development
continued,” said Stanley. “Not surpris-ingly, by the late 1990s dust controland air quality were big issues, bothwith the county and with the Environ-mental Protection Agency, and regula-tions were soon introduced. Since wehad already learned what works in thisclimate and with this soil and had em-braced the latest technology, our com-pany was well equipped to help ourclients comply with those regulationsimmediately. It was something wewere already doing.”
For dust control, Soil-Tech uses a vari-ety of soil stabilizers, soil binders androad binders, all of which are environ-mentally safe for use on detentionbasins, disturbed land, parking lots, un-paved roads and stockpiles. One of theseproducts, developed in-house, is Plas-Tex™, a soil stabilizer comprised of amix of plaster and natural cellulose fibermulch. When applied, the mulch forms acrust-like barrier that reduces water andwind erosion. When it dries, it turns a uni-form color, which is added to the mixduring application.
In 1995, Soil-Tech created yet anothermarket niche for itself when Stanley be-came a distributor for Permeon™ Simu-lated Desert Varnish and Rock Stain, anenvironmentally safe “varnish” that isused to permanently conceal or blendunsightly “scars” left in the mountainsand landscape by development. Themineral-based product, which containsno alkaline or caustic chemicals, issprayed on the scars and is then oxi-dized by the sun. With precise applica-tion, the scars will turn to earth tonesand take on a natural, aged appearance.The result is aesthetically pleasing andblends nicely with the surroundingarea’s natural colors, but with no impactto vegetation, wildlife and people.
B A L A N C I N G C O N S T R U C T I O N W I T H N A T U R E
PermeonTM treated rock wall at Hoover Dam.
N E V A D A B U S I N E S S J O U R N A L A D V E R T O R I A L
Las Vegas:5375 S. Cameron, Suite L
Las Vegas, NV 89118(702) 873-2023
Reno:430 Stoker Ave. Suite 200
Reno, NV 89503(775) 324-5547
In 2002, Stanley bought the exclusiverights to sell, manufacture, and distrib-ute Permeon™ and currently applies itall over the United States, with an em-phasis on the Southwest.
“We’ve applied Permeon™ all aroundthe Valley, from Anthem to Lake Mead,and from Lake Las Vegas to Summer-lin,” said Stanley. “I like to think of theprocess as similar to cosmetic surgerythat reconstructs hillsides and moun-tainsides. Many of our clients haveheard about Permeon™ and how effec-tive it is, but they’re still amazed whenthey see the end result.”
The addition of Permeon™ to Soil-Tech’s emerging color mitigation ser-vices proved to be a smart move. Today,the company is using the product on avariety of sites, including the ambitiousHoover Dam Bypass Project. As contrac-tors build the bypass and Colorado RiverBridge through the mountains of Nevadaand Arizona, Soil-Tech works behindthem, applying Permeon™ to blend con-struction work with the existing environ-ment. The project required more than 1million square feet of Permeon™.
“While not true of all owners and pro-jects, 10 years ago mitigation effortsmay have been more limited or lesswidespread in their use,” said Stanley.“In contrast, today we’re obligated tobalance construction with nature, whichis a good thing.”
The Hoover Dam Bypass started al-most three years ago as one of the com-pany’s most challenging projects todate, and now stands as one of thehighlights in Soil-Tech’s array of Perme-on™ jobs.
“Being one of the allowed weatheringagents used for mitigating effects nearwhat some call the eighth wonder of theworld is no small accomplishment,” saidStanley, recalling that in many areas hiscrew had to rappel off cliffs to apply thedesert varnish. “It’s great that man canbuild such large and powerful struc-tures. We have the responsibility ofmaking sure it coordinates with natureand the surrounding environment, toblend in with the colors that have beenthere for millions of years.”
Native land restoration continues to bea growing component of Soil-Tech’s services. The painstaking three-stepprocess involves first salvaging nativeplants and boulders from an area prior todevelopment, and then relocating themto an on-site nursery for healing. Next isnative contouring or reshaping the areato a natural appearance. This might in-clude making natural washes andswales. Finally, the plants are reintro-duced to the area. This is the most im-portant part of the process because veg-etation must be replanted in such a waythat it will not only thrive, but also looknatural. Boulders are also reintroduced,sometimes with natural colorants so theywill better blend into the existing area.
The process not only preserves the nat-ural desert look of the landscape and frag-ile ecosystems, but also raises the bar inconservation, something that is importantto Stanley, an avid outdoorsman.
“I’m passionate about the outdoors,”he said. “Whether it is plants, rocks orlizards and other wildlife, I love it, I’mcommitted to its preservation, and that’sthe cornerstone of Soil-Tech.”
Soil-Tech is so committed to nativeland restoration that it is preparing tomove into a new facility that Stanley ex-pects will take efficiencies to the nextlevel. The facility will include a newshop, warehouse and five-acre in-housenursery, eliminating the need for numer-ous small plant nurseries on develop-ment sites all over the Valley, which canbe difficult to monitor and maintain.
“This new facility will enable us to con-trol our environment and heal plants fasterand more effectively,” said Stanley. “Ourcustomers will know that every plant wereintroduce will be healthy and vibrant.”
Along with the move to a bigger fa-cility, Soil-Tech will likely expand itsservice area in the West and Southwestto serve more contractors, builders andgovernment agencies. The company’sexpanding roster of clients already in-cludes The Howard Hughes Corpora-tion, Arizona Department of Transporta-tion, Bureau of Land Management,Lake Las Vegas, Southern NevadaWater Authority and dozens more. Butfuture growth will be steady and care-fully planned.
Stanley sees this as essential becausehe expects to see tighter air and waterquality regulations, as well as stricterstandards on visual pollution, in theyears ahead. As a result, the entire con-struction industry will be impacted.
“We’re a big small company, butwe’ve got the knowledge, experienceand resources to tackle any project,”said Stanley. “We’ll continue to look fornew ways to stay ahead of the curvewith evolving technologies and in theway we approach each project.”
Vince Robert, Soil-Tech’s Superintendent, applies PermeonTM
to rock wall at Hoover Dam.
January 2006 51
In many organizations, leadership is theworst enemy; leaders will often tell some-one to do something different without fol-lowing-up, and then they wonder whynothing has changed. Most people aren’thired with bad attitudes; they developthem over time. Inappropriate behaviorsare tolerated or overlooked until they be-come problematic, and the individual istagged with a “poor attitude” label.
In many situations, things continue todeteriorate until individuals quit or arefired, often taking with them a lot of com-pany dollars spent in training and develop-ment. It is time-consuming and expensiveto replace employees. Focusing on behav-iors, as opposed to attitude, will positivelyimprove an individual’s outlook and impactthe manner in which employees interact.Workplace harmony is all about behavior,and the change begins with you.
Mark Keays is president of Desert Manage-ment Services, a Las Vegas-based manage-ment consulting firm, and a faculty memberof the University of Phoenix, where heteaches in the areas of organizationalchange, human resources and management.
f you ask most managers and super-visors to describe what someonewith a bad attitude looks like, they
will typically give any number of thefollowing as examples. As you readthese descriptions, you may recognizeone of your own employees as perfectlyfitting this mental picture. Their inap-propriate behaviors may be included inthe following:• Arrives late to work – Some people justdon’t seem to be able to get to work ontime, and it isn’t a once- or twice-a-yearoccurrence, but a regular event. • Takes long or excessive breaks – Theemployee’s 15- or 30-minute breaks al-ways seem to run long, or the individualseems to be taking “extra” breaks on afrequent basis.• Fails to meet dress code standards –These individuals never seem to get itright. The range can run from dirty cloth-ing, inappropriate attire for the workplaceor not adhering to wearing the organiza-tion’s proper uniforms. • Rude or abrupt with customers and co-workers – Some people either don’t wantto take the time to communicate appropri-ately, don’t care how they come across ordisregard the impact their behavior has oncustomer service.• Poor quality of work – Whether it is cus-tomer service, building or delivering aproduct or providing information, younever know what to expect day-to-day.• Uses loud or inappropriate language anddoesn’t project the desired image – This ispretty obvious, as you see it every day inplaces all over town; you just hope itdoesn’t happen in your workplace.
To Change Workplace Attitudes
• Disrespectful or sarcastic in response tocustomers or other employees – Thesepeople seem to be present in many organi-zations. They are more vocal about theirfeelings, and their actions can create fric-tion in any group.
These descriptions may be reflective ofan individual’s attitude about work, or lifein general; all of the items mentioned arebehaviors that can be addressed objective-ly, but this is unlikely to result in someonechanging their attitude.
Since these problems have been identi-fied as the more prevalent causes of some-one being branded as having a bad atti-tude, what do you do to change them?First, identify the specific behavior youwant to change in the individual and thenchange your own behavior. You have toclearly define the problem behavior aswell as the cause. Describe appropriatebehavior or what is a “good job,” ensuringthat the individual understands. It be-comes a matter of holding people ac-countable. As the manager or supervisor,you must be consistent and timely in ap-plying the right rewards or punishmentsfor the individual’s ongoing behaviors.
Focus on Behaviors
I
By Mark Keys
52 January 2006
hether a consumer is contem-plating major or minor repairs toa residence including painting,
installing a fence or driveway, plumbingor electrical repairs, installing a swim-ming pool or spa, roofing or remodeling,the Nevada State Contractors Board hasinformation to help make the processsuccessful.
By making a telephone call to one ofthe board’s offices or visiting the Website at nscb.state.nv.us, a consumer canobtain the license status of a contractorand other helpful information concerninga homeowner’s rights and responsibili-ties. A “Project Management Packet”may be obtained by contacting either ofour offices. Included in the packet is anoverview of Nevada law, required con-tractor disclosures, a consumer checklistand tips for ensuring a successful project.
The State Contractors Board, estab-lished by the Nevada Legislature in 1941,has the responsibility to promote qualityconstruction by licensed contractorsthrough a regulatory system designed toprotect the health, welfare and safety ofthe public.
Wsituation can request appropriate correc-tive action. Failure to comply with a“Notice to Correct” issued by the inves-tigative staff subjects a contractor todisciplinary action by the board. Theboard has several options for disciplin-ing an errant contractor, including di-recting the contractor to repair the work,ordering payment to the homeowner,hiring another contractor to completethe job, fines, suspension or revocationof the contractor’s license.
In addition to the complaint process,the board responds to questions fromhomeowners or contractors regardingconstruction defects.
The board also administers the Resi-dential Recovery Fund established by the1999 session of the Nevada Legislature.The Recovery Fund provides a mecha-nism for homeowners to recover certainlosses up to $35,000 if they are harmedby a licensed residential contractor per-forming construction, remodeling, repairor improvement on a single-family resi-dence. The law applies only to work per-formed by licensed contractors.
As a public service, the ContractorsBoard offers consumer outreach programsto the general public, senior citizengroups, law enforcement organizations,fraternal organizations and industry asso-ciations to disseminate information con-cerning the services offered by the Neva-da State Contractors Board and providetips to protect our citizens from the tacticsof unlicensed or unscrupulous contrac-tors. A proactive enforcement programhas been implemented to curb the prolif-eration of unlicensed contractors and abusiness assistance program establishedto offer classes to individuals interested inobtaining a contractors license.
Nevada State Contractors BoardHelping Improve Home Improvements
Nevada law requires all contractors tobe licensed by the State ContractorsBoard. Licensed contractors have met ex-perience and examination requirements,have established financial responsibilityand are required to maintain workers’compensation insurance and post bonds.Swimming pool and spa contractors mayalso be required to maintain a consumerprotection bond for homeowners’ protec-tion. Licenses are limited to specifictrades and include a monetary limit foreach project.
To act in the capacity of a contractorwithout a license is a crime. Hiring an un-licensed contractor may place a consumerin a precarious position. A contract withan unlicensed contractor is unenforce-able. In addition, liability issues can ariseand if there is a problem with the qualityof work or failure to complete the job, thehomeowner has little recourse if the con-tractor is unlicensed.
The board offers a complaint processfor homeowners who have engaged a li-censed contractor and are experiencingproblems that cannot be resolved. An in-vestigator assigned to evaluate the
by Margi Grein, executive officer
Q: What services does the Nevada State Contractors Board offer to help the average citizen in Nevada?
54 January 2006
Business Indicatorsunits previous comments
GROWTHDATAlatestdates year ago recent year ago
(%)(%)
(%) (%)
(%) (%)
(%) (%)
SOURCES: Nevada Department of Taxation; Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation; UNR Bureau ofBusiness and Economic Research; UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research; McCarran International Airport; Reno/TahoeInternational Airport; Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority; Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority; U.S. Depart-ment of Commerce, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau; U.S. Federal Reserve Bank.
1,000 employees
%, nsa
$ billion
$ million
passengers
million gallons
million visitors
1,000 employees
%, nsa
$ billion
$ million
units permitted
permits
million persons
million gallons
million visitors
1,000 employees
%, nsa
$ billion
$ million
units permitted
permits
million persons
million gallons
million visitors
million, sa
%, sa
82-84=100, nsa
82-84=100, nsa
89.06=100, sa
92=100, sa
$ billion, sa
million, sa
million, sa
$ billion, sa
97.01=100
$ billion, sa
monthly close
%, nsa
%, nsa
NEVADA
Employment
Unemployment Rate
Taxable Sales
Gaming Revenue
Passengers
Gasoline Sales
Visitor Volume
CLARK COUNTY
Employment
Unemployment Rate
Taxable Sales
Gaming Revenue
Residential Permits
Commercial Permits
Passengers
Gasoline Sales
Visitor Volume
WASHOE COUNTY
Employment
Unemployment Rate
Taxable Sales
Gaming Revenue
Residential Permits
Commercial Permits
Passengers
Gasoline Sales
Visitor Volume
UNITED STATES
Employment
Unemployment Rate
Consumer Price Index
Core CPI
Employment Cost Index
Productivity Index
Retail Sales Growth
Auto and Truck Sales
Housing Starts
GDP Growth
U.S. Dollar
Trade Balance
S&P 500
Real Short-Term Rates
Treasury Yield Spread
10/05
10/05
9/05
9/05
9/05
8/05
9/05
10/05
10/05
9/05
9/05
10/05
10/05
9/05
8/05
9/05
10/05
10/05
9/05
9/05
10/05
10/05
9/05
8/05
9/05
10/05
10/05
10/05
10/05
3q05
3q05
10/05
10/05
10/05
3q05
10/05
9/05
10/05
10/05
10/05
1,246.6 1,232.3 1,174.9 1.2 6.1
3.9 4.2 3.9 -7.1 0.0
4.081 3.918 3.715 4.2 9.8
1,013.71 989.04 924.65 2.5 9.6
4.151 4.454 3.893 -6.8 6.6
104.18 105.73 99.03 -1.5 5.2
4.272 4.389 4.512 -2.7 -5.3
887.9 877.3 827.1 1.2 7.4
3.9 4.2 4.0 -7.1 -2.5
2.927 2.821 2.688 3.8 8.9
837.10 808.36 753.15 3.6 11.1
2,384 3,926 1,771 -39.3 34.6
121 158 64 -23.4 89.1
3.705 3.956 3.475 -6.3 6.6
72.00 71.72 63.17 0.4 14.0
3.586 3.709 3.812 -3.3 -5.9
221.6 219.5 213.0 1.0 4.0
3.5 3.8 3.4 -7.9 2.9
0.644 0.624 0.594 3.2 8.5
99.05 97.23 92.58 1.9 7.0
490 846 561 -42.1 -12.7
37 16 21 131.3 76.2
0.433 0.484 0.405 -10.6 6.7
17.30 16.75 18.52 3.3 -6.6
0.483 0.470 0.485 2.7 -0.5
134.061 134.005 132.162 0.0 1.4
5.0 5.1 5.5 -2.0 -9.1
199.2 198.8 190.9 0.2 4.3
202.3 201.3 198.2 0.5 2.1
169.4 168.4 165.7 0.6 2.2
137.1 135.5 133.3 1.2 2.9
351.561 351.777 332.693 -0.1 5.7
14.70 16.34 16.92 -10.0 -13.1
2.014 2.134 2.062 -5.6 -2.3
11,193.2 11,089.2 10,808.9 0.9 3.6
111.831 110.704 112.899 1.0 -0.9
-66.106 -59.349 -51.939 -11.4 -27.3
1,207.01 1,228.81 1,130.20 -1.8 6.8
3.51 2.20 1.23 59.5 185.4
0.67 0.71 2.31 -5.6 -71.0
Strong
Very Favorable
Robust
Robust
Trend Up
Trend Up
Down
Strong
Very Favorable
Robust
Robust
Rebound Up
Rebound Up
Trend Up
Trend Up
Down
Strong
Very Favorable
Robust
Up
Down
Up
Trend Up
Trend Down
Up
Flat
Improving
Energy Impact
Up
Up
Up
Up
Down Sharply
Down
Still Good
Weak
Weak
Up
Up
Narrowing
urricane season brought loss oflife, devastation and economicdisruption to the Gulf States.
Though this region produces only about2 percent of the national output, the re-gion is rich in energy. As such, energy-supply disruptions loomed large andshortages appeared immediately.Prices jumped, but quickly receded asoil was released from the national re-serve, supplies were supplementedfrom other sources and the public cutback on usage.
The hurricane-induced shocks havenot derailed the U.S. economy, causingonly a slight slowing, and they didn’tmake a measurable impact on the ro-bust Nevada economy.
U.S. job growth remains modest, up1.4 percent on an annual basis, whereasconditions in the Silver State continuealong a record pace, up 6.1, 7.4 and 4.0percent annually for Nevada, ClarkCounty and Washoe County, respective-ly. Such differences reflect both shiftingregional and industrial adjustments. Forexample, the “Big Three” U.S. automak-ers continue to downsize, leaving themanufacturing Midwest region with joblosses. Meanwhile, Nevada continuesto offer excellent job prospects across arange of opportunities.
Travel and tourism, construction andmining (Nevada’s big three industries)continue to prosper. Nevada’s gamingrevenue is up 9.6 percent on an annualbasis. Taxable sales are sustaining ro-bust growth, up 9.8, 8.9 and 8.5 percentyear-over-year for Nevada, Clark Countyand Washoe County, respectively. Con-struction jobs continue to increase,with expectations of further growth.Permitting activity, the first step in aconstruction program (whether residen-tial or commercial), is up on an annualbasis for Clark County and mixed forWashoe County (down for residential,but up for commercial).
Rising commodity prices have im-proved the financial prospects for min-ing, as gold prices are near $500 perounce. The year ahead looks bright forNevada and its three key regions: LasVegas, Reno and rural Nevada.
R. Keith SchwerUNLV Center for Business and Economic Research
H
