“We work with all the regional development authorities,” said Bob Potts, deputy director, Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). “They get state funding from us, and we contract with them for the scope of work.” GOED works the legislative and policy side, and the strategic planning for the economy as a whole. They partner with eight regional development authorities (RDAs), and municipal planning departments.
Every region offers different assets to companies and industries it hopes to recruit. Bringing RDAs together boosts marketing efforts and allows individual regions familiarity with others when suggesting the best landing site for potential businesses.
“While each municipality has its own identity and vision for the future, we all want to diversify our economies and encourage job growth and creation,” said Jared Smith, director of economic development and tourism, City of Henderson. Henderson markets its region using digital and traditional campaigns targeting specific industry sectors.
Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN) aggressively markets through relationships with regional and statewide partners to highlight growth in the Reno-Sparks area. EDAWN works closely with Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance (LVGEA). The regions are so different, there’s little competition.
“A company looking at the North is generally not looking at the South, and vice versa,” said Mike Kazmierski, president and CEO, EDAWN. “Oftentimes we’ll get a client prospect that is looking for certain things that we cannot provide, or that fit better with the South, and we refer them to LVGEA. Or it’s more a rural kind of prospect and we’ll refer it to our sister organization in Carson City, Northern Nevada Development Authority (NNDA). This is a team sport. We work well as a state on the economic development front.”
LVGEA works with brokers, city and county municipalities, GOED, developers, and existing businesses that can connect them with businesses looking at Nevada. “Once we establish a relationship with those companies, we talk about things like tax incentive programs, if that’s applicable. We talk about connecting them to workforce, to help their businesses. We talk about connecting them with the community and understanding the different regulatory processes we have, understanding each one of the jurisdictions or cities and their niche assets,” said Tina Quigley, CEO, LVGEA.
LVGEA takes potential recruits and site selectors on tours to local parks, schools, cultural centers, industrial centers, familiarizing them with the region. Lead generation trips, picking up again post-pandemic, allow team members to scope out industry clusters that could flourish in southern Nevada.
North Las Vegas looks for businesses with leases expiring where they are. “We like to have conversations with them, pique their curiosity about doing business in North Las Vegas and see what we can do to move them here,” said Terri Sheridan, manager, North Las Vegas Economic Development.
Obstacles
Every region faces unique obstacles, but as a whole, Nevada’s economic development is challenged by land availability, water limitations and the need for workforce training.
“Obstacles are very localized,” said Kazmierski. “For example, our housing prices have gotten very expensive. They’re not as expensive in the rurals or in Vegas. If that’s an important aspect of what a company’s looking for, it affects their decision.”
Nevada faces many of the same obstacles that occur nationwide: rising housing prices; tight labor pools. Most regions have similar challenges. But northern Nevada faces some unique challenges.
“We have limited land up here. We have plenty of water, so you should flip that around to what is limiting or potential…
Read More: Economic Development in Nevada: Opportunities and Obstacles