Editorial: Southern Nevada must go high-tech

Thursday, June 25, 1998 | 10:46 a.m.

ALTHOUGH Nevada's booming economy has been feted from coast to coast, we are saddled with a chronic problem that warrants immediate attention. That problem is our lack of economic diversification.

We were reminded of that dilemma Monday when Sun reporter Richard N. Velotta wrote about Nevada's dismal 45th place ranking in per-capita high-technology jobs. The study by the American Electronics Association also ranked Nevada low in the wages paid to high-tech workers.

How is it that we can have such a "healthy" economy, yet rank so low in this job sector?

A delegation of Taiwanese diplomats and businessmen dropped a big hint in December 1996 when it visited Las Vegas at the invitation of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. Taiwanese Vice Economic Minister Shu-Jou Lee told the Sun that where Southern Nevada is concerned "you don't have a Berkeley or a Stanford."

It is no coincidence that the greatest concentration of high-tech jobs in the nation are near universities with top science and engineering schools. The universities produce a skilled labor force, attracting companies that offer high-paid jobs. The universities are also rewarded by getting fat government research contracts that attract even more companies. That's how Silicon Valley in Northern California was created.

No one expects Southern Nevada to produce another Silicon Valley. But more should be done to promote science and engineering course work at UNLV. The university already has a world-class hotel management school. Why not strive for similar status in the field of technology?

An effort is under way to recruit commercial enterprises to the Nevada Test Site. But for now that effort won't come close to replacing the thousands of high-tech jobs that were lost when President George Bush declared a nuclear weapons test ban in 1992.

It's true that the gaming industry could lose some of its own high-tech labor force to companies that make everything from computer parts to solar energy panels. But the state's largest industry will have no trouble attracting qualified labor if UNLV does its part by providing more technology-based courses.

It's also true that gaming's success has produced job growth in many other areas, such as retail and construction. But gaming's growth hasn't done much to generate high-tech jobs outside of those in the resort industry.

We would like this year's gubernatorial candidates to address economic diversification. We can't continue to rely solely on the good fortune of the gaming industry. We believe that the next governor should take a proactive role in making Nevada a haven for high-tech jobs.