LV, Coke face same challenge

Thursday, May 28, 1998 | 10:37 a.m.

Las Vegas' challenge is much like Coca-Cola's.

Like the world's most popular soft drink, the world's most recognized resort city has to focus on reaching people who know little about what it has to offer.

"At Coca-Cola, we've reached 1 billion servings worldwide each day," said M. Douglas Ivester, chief executive officer and chairman of the board for the Coca-Cola Co. "But what keeps us motivated is knowing that there are 47 billion servings out there of something else. That's why we're always discontented. We look not at where Coca-Cola is, but where Coca-Cola is not."

As the keynote speaker of the Governor's Industry Appreciation Luncheon on Wednesday, Ivester drew several comparisons between Las Vegas and the Atlanta-based company that last year opened a tourism venue on the Strip with a 100-foot Coke bottle, the World of Coca-Cola.

The 14th annual luncheon gave Gov. Bob Miller his last opportunity to honor companies contributing to the state's economic diversification. Five companies received special awards from Miller, who will turn over the salute to a new governor next year. Miller, working in conjunction with the Nevada Commission on Economic Development, also recognized 36 companies new to Nevada or that expanded their existing operations.

Ivester also congratulated the businesses honored in the luncheon in his presentation in which he encouraged business people to learn from their history instead of using it in self-congratulatory ways.

"Las Vegas was successful 20 years ago," he said. "It's important that you continue to look ahead at the opportunities and continue to tell your story."

Five companies got their stories told when Miller presented them awards for their contributions to the state. The five special awards and their recipients:

* PABCO Gypsum, Las Vegas, Southern Nevada Distinguished Business. A division of Pacific Coast Building Products, PABCO operates a plant on a 4,200-acre gypsum deposit and manufactures 425 million square feet of gypsum board each year. PABCO, which has 74 full-time employees and plans to expand by another 45 jobs, was recognized for contributions to community programs and the Clark County School District Minerals Education Conference.

* Rocky Research, Boulder City, winner of the Tibbetts Award, which recognizes participation in the Small Business Innovation Research program administered through the Small Business Administration. Working with the Nevada Test Site Development Corp., Rocky Research is considered a leader in thermodynamics and has helped Igloo Products develop new portable refrigerator and freezer products.

* Ramar Corp., Southern Nevada Exporter of the Year. Formed in 1994 by Raul Martinez, Ramar's multilingual staff is concentrating its export efforts on Latin American countries. Capitalizing on the North American Free Trade Agreement and Mercosur, the South American common market, Ramar was instrumental in selling telecommunications products, from wooden telephone poles to a variety of technical equipment, to foreign nations.

* Paul Fisher, Nevada Inventor of the Year. The founder and president of the Boulder City-based Fisher Space Pen Co., Fisher most recently unveiled the Pressurized Millennium and Mars pens, which will write a continuous line more than 40 miles long. The new pen has enough writing capacity to last more than 100 years. Fisher won the Southern Nevada Exporter of the Year award in 1995.

* Rhino Entertainment, Southern Nevada Motion Picture Award. Rhino was applauded for bringing the production crew for "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" to Southern Nevada. In 1997, Rhino was responsible for bringing more than $3 million into the Las Vegas economy. The widely panned film, starring Johnny Depp in the adaptation of Hunter Thompson's book, hit theaters last week.