New, expanding Vegas companies win tax breaks

Kevin Ferguson

Thursday, Aug. 9, 2001 | 11:07 a.m.

Four companies planning to open shop or expand existing operations in Southern Nevada were granted tax breaks Wednesday worth more than $1.14 million from the Nevada Commission on Economic Development.

ArcLight Systems LLC, a newly formed company that collects and reports up-to-the-minute information on pharmaceutical prescription trends, was granted the largest tax break: $758,227.

The Columbus, Ohio-headquartered company is looking to locate an office and two technology data centers in Las Vegas.

Paul Hooper, vice president of operations, said ArcLight plans to invest $8.5 million in capital expenses in the next two years in Southern Nevada and hire 47 employees by the end of the year with an average hourly wage of $32.88.

Those wages are more than double the state's average hourly wage of $15.09. Paying salaries that exceed that wage is one of the requirements for the tax breaks. The commission's job is to offer tax breaks to companies that bring high-paying non-gaming jobs to the state.

The commission awards both abatements and deferrals of the sales and use tax that must be paid on this equipment. Typically, the majority of the 7.25 percent sales tax is waived, while the remaining amount doesn't have to be paid for three to five years. The commission also often waives a company's business tax, which is a quarterly tax of $25 paid for each full-time employee or full-time equivalent employee.

In ArcLight's case, sales and use tax abatements totalled $446,377, while an additional $170,048 in taxes were deferred for five years. The commission also waived $9,400 in business taxes.

The commission, with a county's permission, also has the ability to waive half of a company's property taxes over a 10-year period. Clark County agreed to give ArcLight this incentive, and the commission waived $132,402 in property taxes over the next 10 years.

ArcLight Systems was formed in April through joint ventures with Kmart, Albertsons, Walmart, CVS and Cardinal Health.

Sunstone Plating Inc., Impac Medical Systems Inc. and Vanguard Integrity Professionals were also granted tax breaks from the commission Wednesday.

Sunstone Plating, an industrial plating company catering to the automotive industry, was granted a sales and use tax abatement worth $184,800, and a business tax abatement of $5,200. An additional $70,400 in sales and use taxes were deferred.

Sunstone Plating is negotiating to acquire a 24,000-square-foot building in Henderson's Black Mountain Industrial Park, which will develop the gold plating for certain automotive parts, said Don Jones, a Sunstone executive assistant. Sunstone will purchase $3.52 million in equipment.

Sunstone's sister company, Solid State Stamping in Temecula, Calif., manufactures the "pins" in automobiles that serve as connectors for electronic devices. For example, one type of pin serves as the connector for an air bag and the car's electrical network.

Those pins will then be shipped to the Henderson plant for the gold plating, Jones said.

Sunstone Chief Executive Brad Adams said the Henderson plant will create 26 jobs, paying an average hourly wage of $15.76, and offer employees good medical, dental and life insurance benefits.

Impac Medical Systems, a maker of software for the oncology industry, was granted $46,855 in sales and use tax abatements and $11,800 in business tax abatements. The Mountain View, Calif.-headquartered company has 15 employees working in a Henderson office, and is investing $892,000 in equipment.

Clark County also granted the company $23,967 in property tax abatements over a 10-year period. The company, however, did not apply for or receive any tax deferrals.

David Aurbach, Impac Medical Systems' co-founder and executive vice president, said the local office is expected to hire another 59 workers at an average hourly wage of $22.04 over the next 12 months.

Aurbach said the company is considering expanding its 16,000-square-foot building to another 20,000 square feet in the next few months.

The company's software offers electronic charting for the planning, verification, delivery and documentation of cancer therapy.

"We help oncologists and cancer therapists run their business by providing a care plan on how to treat cancer over a period of time. You know cancer treatment is not a one-shot deal," Aurbach said.

Vanguard Integrity Professionals, a maker of security software, was given a sales and use tax abatement of $29,072, and sales and use tax deferral of $11,075 to expand its business. The company also received a business tax abatement of $3,000.

Richard Miller, a Vanguard lawyer, said the six-member staff is expected to grow to 21 in the next three months. Vanguard's headquarters is at 2950 E. Flamingo Rd., suite C3.

Vanguard's average hourly wage is $46.63, which will drop to $38 per hour after the staff expansion, Miller said. But the new employees will still be paid an average of $33.15 per hour, well above the state's average.