Advertising firms may share lucrative McCarran contract

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, April 14, 1999 | 10:53 a.m.

Executives with two prominent Las Vegas firms are working on a compromise that would allow them to share a multimillion-dollar indoor advertising contract at McCarran International Airport.

An airport official said Tuesday that if Forsythe, Francis, Ernaut and Associates (FFE) and Joyce and Associates come to an agreement, it will be the first time the airport contract is divided among applicants.

"I don't know if it's unusual for other airports, but we've never done a contract like this before," Rosemary Vassiliadis, deputy director at the airport, said of the contract to be considered Tuesday by the Clark County Commission.

"Can we realistically work this out? That's what we're trying to find out."

Last month, Airport Director Randy Walker asked Clark County commissioners for an additional 30 days to review the applications, saying both companies are qualified for the politically charged contract.

Vassiliadis said the airport staff is waiting on a proposal from the two advertising firms, which have been meeting with each other during the past two weeks.

Neither Joyce and Associates representatives -- who have had sole ownership of the contract since 1988 -- nor FFE officials were willing to discuss the negotiations on Tuesday.

"We have several scenarios we're exploring, but I'm not at liberty to say right now what those are," said Shauna Forsythe, senior vice president of FFE.

"The commission asked us to meet, and we've been doing that," added Robin Joyce, president of Joyce and Associates.

The advertising concessionaire leases out and oversees the ad space inside the airport terminal. The revenue from the contract, according to Vassiliadis, is like no other airport advertising agreement in the country.

"We're not a hub or a business airport. We're a tourist destination," Vassiliadis said, referring to the number of advertising spaces at McCarran. "There's really nothing else like that out there. When we tell them what we make from our advertising, they fall on the floor."

The gross revenue from the indoor advertising contract has increased from $5.3 million in 1996 to $9.4 million last year. About 80 percent of the revenue is funneled to the airport, and the concessionaire collects the balance.

Joyce and Associates has been able to keep the five-year contract for nearly 10 years by taking advantage of clauses in the contract that allow for renewal options.

Joyce supporters have wondered whether FFE is a truly qualified opponent because of its lack of experience with national advertisers. Forsythe, however, insisted the firm is capable of handling the contract.

"We have experience," she said. "We have some relationships and partnerships we can bring to the table that could facilitate any national advertising relationships that need to be expanded or created at McCarran."

Clark County commissioners, fresh off passing an ethics ordinance that focused primarily on awarding airport contracts, engaged in a lengthy debate March 16 about how to keep politics from playing a role in their decision.

FFE orchestrated successful campaigns last year for former county commissioner and current Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt and Gov. Kenny Guinn. Pete Ernaut, who lends his name to the firm, is Guinn's chief of staff.

Joyce and Associates founder James Joyce was a legendary Nevada lobbyist who also handled Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams' campaigns while she was a state assemblywoman.

James Joyce's son, Robin, ran Clark County Commissioner Mary Kincaid's successful bid for the District B seat.

Two phone calls that Hunt made to commissioners Bruce Woodbury and Erin Kenny on behalf of FFE further complicated matters.

The two board members shrugged off the calls saying Hunt, a Las Vegas restaurant owner, is knowledgeable about the business community and simply offered her opinion.