High-tech company woos rural residents

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2001 | 9:58 a.m.

Residents of a rural Henderson neighborhood known for opposing adjacent development said they liked what they saw in an international high-tech giant with plans to move in next door.

At an informal neighborhood meeting Tuesday night, the giant returned the compliment.

Although no agreement was reached, Mission Hills residents and Hughes Network Systems representatives talked amiably at the meeting in a high school cafeteria. Representatives from a public relations company and city officials, who have been wooing Hughes for 10 months, looked on.

Hughes plans to build a global network of satellites spinning 22,000 miles above the Earth that deliver faster Internet services and clearer television pictures to customers even in the most remote areas. With no need for high-density populations to cover costs of bringing cable to the front door, even a hermit would be able to watch global television programming, Hughes officials say.

The Spaceway program could be up and running by 2003.

"As opposed to my normally rebellious self, I'm refreshed to see the city of Henderson finally trying to do something they said they would," Howard Ross, a Mission Hills resident, said. "It's too bad about the plastics factory, the college and the trailer park. But I'm glad to see we may get this one.

"This is the type of project we expected to see back here when we bought our house."

About a half-dozen other residents interviewed also voiced support for the Hughes project, saying it would be a clean, relatively quiet business that would help diversify an economy dominated by gambling and tourism.

"People paint us with a broad brush, but we try to look at every project that comes in as what's good for the neighborhood and what's not," Mark Grealis, a Paradise Hills resident, said. "The Hughes project looks good."

Grealis' mother, Veronica, 83, who pilots her son through doorways not accessible to his wheelchair, also liked the project, especially the prospect of choosing from more television channels.

"I like to see how different cities live, different countries," she said. "Like in Alaska, when the snow melts -- what do the houses look like?"

If picked by Hughes, Henderson would serve as North American monitoring headquarters for the first planned phase of the $1.4 billion broadband satellite service. Initially, Hughes would spend about $40 million to build and equip a 47,000-square-foot, one-story facility on Dawson Road in the Wagon Wheel Industrial Park in southeastern Henderson.

The company would employ about 75 people with annual pay starting at about $41,000. The office would border land being planned for the Nevada State College at Henderson. It could expand to about 158,000 square feet and eventually employ 200.

But business leaders in Phoenix are also wooing Hughes.

James Muir, III, assistant vice president of Hughes, based in Germantown, Md., said his company expects to choose between the two cities within the next few months. He declined to give details as to the factors involved in the decision.

Bob Cooper, director of economic development in Henderson, said he's done everything possible to make Henderson the choice for Hughes.

To that end, Cooper has involved the state community college system, the governor's office,the Nevada Development Authority and Henderson officials, among others, demonstrating the availability of a strong labor pool, tax incentives and a willingness to fast-track the permitting process.