SBA offers incentives for businesses in under-served areas of Las Vegas

Jeffrey Libby

Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2000 | 10:57 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman signed an agreement Monday with the Small Business Administration that may help his ongoing downtown revitalization efforts.

Aida Alvarez, national administrator of the SBA, called the agreement one of the first for the agency nationwide.

"It's an exciting time in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is a booming community. You can see all the activity," Alvarez said. "But there are areas with high unemployment that need development. We need small businesses as part of the infrastructure for continued economic growth. So this is one of the first (cities we are entering into this kind of agreement). And I think we came to the right place."

Although the Small Business Administration and the city of Las Vegas already have a working relationship, Monday's letter of intent, which will be developed by staff into a "memorandum of understanding," will "strengthen the city of Las Vegas' mission to provide additional guarantees for loans, training and counseling for potential downtown business," Goodman said.

Of specific focus will be aid for what the government calls historically underutilized business zones (HUBZones).

Alvarez said businesses that choose to locate in under-utilized zones will "get to jump ahead in line" for access to federal dollars, provided they hire at least 35 percent of their work force from within that same zone. Businesses also receive a 10 percent price-competitive advantage when bidding on federal projects, Alvarez said, which could mean "millions of dollars in contracts."

Eddie Escobedo, publisher of the Spanish language weekly El Mundo and a past president of the National Association of Hispanic Publications, thanked Alvarez for past support of two local supermarkets, Marinas and La Bonita. In 1999, each business received the maximum federally guaranteed loan of $750,000 through her help and now both plan to add new branches.

"She saw the potential of those businesses, and she was not wrong," Escobedo said. "And they're making it to the top."

Goodman also slipped in a request for one of his pet projects, a downtown stadium. But Alvarez told him to look elsewhere.

"You may have to go bigger than (the Small Business Administration) for a stadium," she said.