Business briefs for October 16, 2001

Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2001 | 9:20 a.m.

LV ranks second in home-buying study

The Las Vegas home building industry ranked second in the nation in a recent customer satisfaction survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates.

Only Phoenix topped metro Las Vegas in the "2001 New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study," which included survey data compiled in late September.

More than 3,800 new-home buyers in metro Las Vegas evaluated 27 home building companies.

Factors that drive customer satisfaction include customer service, home readiness, sales staffs, quality of workmanship and price/value of the home, the survey said.

The top builders in customer satisfaction in metro Las Vegas were Pulte Homes, followed by Del Webb and Pardee Homes, the survey said.

Del Webb became a division of Pulte Corp. following a July 31 acquisition.

Henderson firm secures funding

Valence Technology, a Henderson firm, said it secured $20 million in financing through Berg & Berg Enterprises LLC, an affiliate of Carl Berg, who is a director and major shareholder in Valence Technology.

Valence Technology is a maker of rechargeable batteries used for mobile devices.

Terms of the loan agreement state that Berg & Berg will advance Valence Technology up to $20 million over the next two years, with all loans accruing 8 percent interest per year. Payments will be due from time to time, with the balance of the outstanding loans due by Sept. 30, 2005.

LV company marketing to banks

Las Vegas-based consulting firm Advanced Information Systems created a division to provide software systems for financial institutions.

The technology targets such areas as call centers and back-office operations including human resources and fraud detection.

The call center technology allows banks and other companies to have specific software developed for their phone systems and/or Internet websites.