Q&A: Rich Lopez

Leila Navidi

Touting technology: Rich Lopez, who leads the Technology Business Alliance of Nevada, is shown in his TEKsystems office, where he is director of business operations.

By Richard N. Velotta (contact)

Fri, Oct 2, 2009 (3 a.m.)

One of the leading supporters of tech companies in the state is the Technology Business Alliance of Nevada.

So it should come as no surprise that Rich Lopez, who has a parallel mission as a recruiter for IT services and staffing and has a 10-year record of matching personnel with companies, is the president of the alliance.

Lopez is a member of the board of advisers for Nevada’s Entrepreneurship and Technology Center and keeps a close watch on Southern Nevada’s tech scene.

Lopez talked with In Business Las Vegas about the alliance, the industry in Southern Nevada and how it can be a part of an economic diversification.

IBLV: You lead the Technology Business Alliance of Nevada. Explain its mission.

Lopez: TBAN has been a staple for the whole state — Southern Nevada and Northern Nevada. The focus is twofold. It’s to foster the awareness of what is really happening in the technology community. There’s so much that’s going on in Vegas, so many things that you don’t see typically. Everyone is focused on gaming and manufacturing, but there are so many great companies moving here, so many entrepreneurs. The second part is to make sure once these companies are here and are growing that they actually have the resources to continue to grow, whether that is talent, whether that is capital, expertise, whatever that may be.

How many members do you have?

Every single month, we draw about 100 people to our luncheon meetings. Special events are also occurring throughout the year. Right now we have a great group of people who are coming to us through referrals and also through the (Las Vegas) Chamber of Commerce, so it’s growing every day.

How did you get involved with the organization?

I started attending the events and found a lot of value in them, a lot of good connections, a lot of information. By good fortune, I was able to do some volunteer work and show an interest. I’ve just moved my way into it and I’m the president today.

The alliance has a big event coming up, right?

We have an event coming up in the middle of October, the TechNevada Honors. It’s a great event, our flagship event ... and it gives us an opportunity to really showcase some of our talent, whether it’s an individual or a company here in Vegas. We present an award for (chief information officer) of the year, we present an award for company of the year, technology startup of the year. There are quite a few categories. It’s always a great time and we definitely get a great crowd and a very diverse group of companies show up. But everybody has the commonality of wanting to grow technology in ... Nevada.

When diversification of the Southern Nevada economy is discussed, recruiting technology companies often is part of the conversation. Make a case for why or why not Las Vegas should be a part of the equation.

I think Las Vegas has a lot of unique attributes. Obviously, we hear the doom and gloom of the economy and foreclosures. But still, it’s a great place as far as housing. There are a lot of opportunities, and it’s still more affordable than a lot of places. I know the education system is continually improving. Logisticswise, you’re close to a major airport. It’s a quick drive for any sort of shipping in and out for freight and things of that nature. Obviously, there is a lot of commercial real estate that is available. If you want to build a headquarters here, you could. I think a really key thing with technology nowadays is the Internet, and a contributor to that is broadband. With Vegas being a hub with a lot of access points for the Internet and the network it’s riding on, it’s a great place to be to have access to that information and that network.

The broadband network is really strong here?

Definitely. There are a lot of great companies out here. Switch Communications (Group), ViaWest (Internet Services). There are a lot of data centers and co-locations. A lot of carriers are running their network and their fiber through Las Vegas, so it just makes it a natural fit for companies to put data centers here and relocate data centers here. I don’t know the specific figures, but I know we have some of the highest speeds in the entire country originating out of Las Vegas.

What should be done to make Las Vegas more appealing to tech companies?

I know one thing has always been the need for talent in the marketplace. Companies like mine, TEKsystems, have been striving to be able to attract the right talent to Las Vegas. Really, I think it’s a natural progression of where the city is going. As more and more people are moving here from out of state and the students who are here are maturing and getting into careers of their own, I think there’s going to be a demand for technology. Obviously, the favorable tax rates and the normal stuff like that are still extremely attractive. It’s a very pro-business place to be.

With Nevada’s business-friendly atmosphere and favorable tax climate, why aren’t tech companies flocking to move here?

I think it’s just a matter of awareness. Vegas, of course, is Vegas. You get whatever stigma that comes along with that. Some of the great companies in this town like Zappos.com and a few of those have noticed that as soon as they get here, they definitely understand why it’s a great place to be. Once you make the trip out here for the right reasons and are exposed to all the positives Vegas has to offer, it makes a compelling case to start or move a business here.

How important is education, both K-12 and higher, to tech companies considering moving here?

It’s a huge factor. It’s one that is always consistently coming up as something everyone is willing to support, and it’s also a concern for where it has been and where it’s going, just making sure it’s progressing. There are a lot of other great things going on outside of K-12 and the universities. There are a lot of facilities that are doing certifications and training. I know there has been a big push, I know there is a lot of awareness among a lot of the companies and the CEOs and CFOs and other C-level executives we deal with are active in that, as well, because they understand that as their companies are growing they need to attract that talent. So they are getting more engaged with the education systems on an ongoing basis.

Technology is an important part of the hospitality and gaming industries. Do you expect more tech companies in those industries as they grow and mature?

Yes, there is definitely a huge business to support — the gaming industry here — as the hospitality field continues to grow. Technology is driving a lot of that with the guest experience, the systems in the rooms, the player-tracking systems. So much technology gets taken for granted. You think you go into the casino, put some money on the table and walk away, but there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes, and that is definitely going to continue to grow.

We often see a lot of tech companies in January when the International Consumer Electronics Show comes to town. Give me your impressions of CES and why is it important to Las Vegas?

CES is important, obviously, because it builds that awareness, similar to what (the Technology Business Alliance of Nevada) is doing. It’s just highlighting what is going on in Vegas. Really, just the amount of diversity that comes to Vegas for CES, companies that are the perennial Fortune 500 down to the newer companies that are just trying to get a chance. For them to come to Vegas and relate Vegas to CES is a great thing for us. Once they get a little taste of it, we hope they come back and, hopefully, relocate here.

What have you been hearing about the size of the 2010 show?

I think there is always some contraction with whatever exhibit is going on. I’ve talked with a lot of the companies in town, and they are always looking to expand market share and bring additional conventions here. But I think as one goes away, another one fills that void, and Vegas is the capital for that across the United States and will continue to be so.

What industries, locally or beyond, are crying out for technological advancement?

Hospitality, of course. Anything related to a user experience. Consumers, of course, want the latest and greatest. Anything related to the Internet. When you get your iPhone, you want to get all the applications. Now, there’s health care and what’s going on in Washington. Almost every industry, across the board, needs advancement and in technology, it’s always progressing.

I would guess there is quite a lot in health care.

A lot in health care. Of course with patient records and all the regulations like (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), the fact that you’re now storing large data files with X-rays and things of that nature, patient information and all the security that goes along with that all the way down to doctors being able to diagnose things more effectively at the bedside of patients and having the technology right at their fingertips.

Your day job is with TEKsystems, an IT staffing and services company. Tell us about the company and what it does.

TEKsystems has been in business for 25 years. We are based in Baltimore. Throughout the United States and North America, we’re the leading provider of IT staffing and services. What that means, at the end of the day, is that a lot of companies are going to be able to figure out what they’re going to do and come up with a strategy, but they need to have the talent on board to execute those projects. So we partner with a variety of companies across the board with vertical industries from health care, gaming, finance, you name it. We do business with 97 percent of the Fortune 100. Here in Vegas, we’re very fortunate to have a mix of customers. We place technical professionals and applications-related positions, developers, (database administrators). Also, a lot of our growth has been in the networking technologies: storage, security, unified communications and telecommunications, particularly wireless.

That probably requires a lot of knowledge about various technologies.

Yeah (laughs), we try to be as dangerous as possible with our knowledge. Technology is so vast and diverse now that it’s really about building relationships every day — it’s really trying to keep up with what is cutting edge as well as seeing what is driving that kind of business. Technology generally is driven for some business need, so we try to get to know our customers the best as we can and partner them. Hopefully, at the end of the day, it’s a win-win scenario for everyone involved.

Unemployment is a big problem in Las Vegas. What types of tech jobs are available and what’s the forecast for future positions?

We definitely see a rise with network technologies right now. There have been several studies and several surveys done with top executives — (chief information officer) level particularly — and out of those studies, from a variety of different sources, definitely network technologies, network administrators, systems administrators, network engineers, storage engineers. As data grow, you’ve obviously got to keep them somewhere and keep them secure. So it’s people dealing with how to move data, how to secure data — that is really where we’re seeing a lot of the growth. But there are still positions with application support, telecommunications, desktop support, anything that’s touching an end user that they’re going to call and have a trouble ticket and need someone to come solve that problem for them.

What do you think is the greatest technological innovation of the past five years?

I’m just amazed with the simple stuff, just the access to information. I’m a huge proponent of continuing learning and growing and developing yourself every day. Today, you don’t have to go to the library anymore, although it’s a great facility to go to. The information that used to be only available to those people who were going to universities is there at your fingertips within milliseconds. Just being able to continue to grow as an individual, I think, a variety of different sources provide that on the Internet. But anything going on providing an opportunity to continue to grow as individuals is great. It’s ubiquitous, it’s everywhere. It’s in your pocket, it’s in the grocery store. For example, I was recently at Barnes & Noble and I wasn’t sure if I was going to buy a book, so you take a photograph of it, it goes into your Amazon account and two days later, if you still want it, you click one button and it’s at your house the next day. The ease of use is phenomenal and, I think, more so now than any time in history, we have the opportunity just to continue to grow as individuals and help our friends and neighbors out and really just share information.

What technical innovations are on the horizon?

It’s one of those things, especially in this industry, that something that didn’t exist yesterday is a prominent technology today. I think things with robotics are amazing. I saw “60 Minutes” recently and it shows a man with a prosthetic arm picking up grapes with accuracy. Who knows what is happening today? You walk into a hotel room and as soon as you walk in, your lights go on, your temperature is set and your TiVo is set to the channel you want and every experience you want is literally made just that much more simple.

What’s your next gadget purchase?

My iPhone is definitely occupying a lot of my time, so applications for the iPhone are something that I’m always interested in. I’m currently a PC (user), but I may be becoming a Mac pretty soon, so that’s probably the next purchase. The Flip Camera is a great tool to have and it’s just fun for taking videos. I’m sure that things I’m not even thinking about today I’ll buy tomorrow.