Nevada’s latest economic strategy outlined

Thursday, March 23, 2000 | 11:35 a.m.

In detailing the Commission on Economic Development's new marketing tactics Wednesday, Hunt also said research and development firm Battelle will help produce a plan for attracting more high-tech firms to the state.

Terry Whistler of Trahan, Burden and Charles, the advertising agency that developed the marketing strategy, said it features information that looks like magazine articles, with catchy headlines.

One headline focuses on neighboring California's frequent earthquakes, stating, "Doing business in Nevada costs less than doing business in California: Get close to California while avoiding its faults."

Much of the advertising campaign directs people to the commission's new Web site, www.expand2nevada.com.

"I think the whole idea is to take advantage of what we have in Nevada," said Bob Shriver, executive director of the Commission on Economic Development. "We are a customer service-based economy, and it just plays so well in the new economy."

The Internet is tearing down walls between people that were built by corporations, he said.

"It's a people-to-people business," Shriver said about the high-tech industry. "All of these new economy buzz words are things Nevada's been doing for years."

Hunt believes the key is bringing people together. She said people in the technology industries generally don't know what other technology companies in the state are doing.

"These people are more focused in their specialty," Hunt said. "It's just taken some impetus to bring them all to the table."

After getting the Battelle study, the state will assess its odds of developing various high-tech industry sectors and determine which sectors are top priority, she added.