Higher ed touted as fix for Nevada tech woes

Kevin Ferguson

Friday, June 22, 2001 | 11:11 a.m.

A technology partnership of government, business and education leaders is trying once again to diversify the Nevada economy -- a much-discussed but un-fulfilled goal for years.

After receiving results from a study by the Battelle Memorial Institute, Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt said Thursday that state leaders banding together in a "clear, concise... and disciplined plan" could do the trick.

The plan offers a solution that has been proposed many times before.

It centers around strengthening the science and technology departments at Nevada's colleges and universities and halting the "alarming brain drain" of Nevada's science and engineering graduate students who depart for other states for jobs.

Those were some of the key points highlighted by the Battelle study. The plan, which is short on details at this point, is being formulated by the Nevada Technology Partnership, a new nonprofit group spearheaded by the lieutenant governor.

Bob Shriver, executive director of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development, describes the Battelle study as a "blueprint" of what Nevada needs to do to diversify the economy.

But Shriver said details of how Nevada will execute the plan have not been formalized. For example, it hasn't been determined how much funding the partnership needs, where funding would come from, how to market the partnership or what specific types of high-tech businesses Nevada should try to attract.

Other members of the partnership include Shriver, University and Community College System of Nevada Chancellor Jane Nichols, Warren Hioki of the Community College of Southern Nevada, Board of Regents Chair Thalia Dondero and UNLV President Carol Harter.

Although many seemed upbeat at the news conference, group leaders indicated diversifying the economy by promoting the technology industry is a challenge. In fact, the Battelle report states that significant progress from following the blueprint will slowly accumulate over 10 to 15 years.

The Battelle report offered some strong points for Nevada. Those included a high quality of life compared to neighboring states, a lower cost of doing business than other states, a robust economy and easy and ready access to government leaders.

The report said one weak point in Nevada's efforts to diversify its economy is having a university system that has failed to reach national prominence in research and development and industry partnering.

"The problem I see is getting the state-wide funding that is needed," Harter said, noting that Georgia has succeeded in building a strong high-tech industry rooted in a $900 million investment in higher education.

Harter said a top priority for UNLV is building a $75 million science and engineering research center. The university was granted $8.8 million from the Nevada Legislature this year for the planning of the research center.

The university has $15 million earmarked for the construction of the center and will seek another $60 million from the 2003 Legislature, she said.

Harter said the university is trying to get 115 acres of land near McCarran International Airport from the Bureau of Land Management for the center.

"The research center is a major step in moving this partnership forward," Harter said.

Diversifying the Nevada economy is an important goal for the state because a downturn in the dominant gambling/tourism industry would likely cause a general economic slowdown and reduce state and local tax collections, requiring reductions in government services.

Nevada's technology industry is growing -- in fact a study this month found the state led the nation in the growth of high technology exports from 1997-2000. And the American Electronic Association, which conducted that study, also found high-tech employment grew 84 percent to 19,800 jobs.

But even with that growth, Nevada ranked just 39th in the nation in high-tech employment. And the state estimates only 3.3 percent of Las Vegas jobs in 1999 were in manufacturing -- the grouping in which high-tech companies are classified.

The hotels, gaming and recreation sector is by far the largest employer in Nevada, with 242,000 of the state's 1,056,000 jobs as of March, the state reported.