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Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 | 2:01 a.m.
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Southern Nevada business leaders gathered Thursday at Preview Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce’s annual kickoff event, which asked the question “What’s next?”
Analyst Jeremy Aguero opened the session with a swift overview of the business climate and economic indicators in the Las Vegas Valley. His assessment: The numbers aren’t where anyone wants them to be, but they’re headed in the right direction. Aguero singled out several innovative businesses and education programs and highlighted a slew of numbers to support his conclusion: The unemployment rate is high but declining, housing prices are up, banks are lending and there is a significant amount of investment on the Strip and downtown.
“Opportunity,” Aguero said, “is everywhere.”
From Aguero to Zappos.com chief Tony Hsieh, who closed the session to a rousing ovation, opportunity was a key theme. Speakers talked about several ways to prime Southern Nevada for the future, including remaking the convention center to keep Las Vegas as the country’s top meeting destination, adding a world trade center to attract more international business, and improving transportation systems to better accommodate people and goods, locally and regionally.
But the event wasn’t just about laying out big-picture plans and visions. Chamber CEO Kristin McMillan said, “‘What’s next’ isn’t just a question; it’s a call to action.” She said the opportunities for Las Vegas depend on people moving out of their “silos” — such as their industries or cities.
“We’ve got to work together in partnership at every level of government on the issues that will make us a great global city,” she said to applause. “And we can’t just focus on the business community in isolation. All of the people in this town, whether employees or employers, who live here and raise their families here, who strive for a bright future here, need us to get this right.”
She listed several issues — education, transportation, health care, housing and water — that she said shouldn’t be viewed individually but seen “as part of one giant system that forms the basis for the future to our economic health.”
McMillan is on point, and it was good to hear such an emphasis. People are going to have to take a larger, more holistic perspective when addressing the state’s problems, particularly in this session of the Legislature.
In the political process, issues are often parsed, taken out of their contexts and viewed through ideological or political agendas. Consider the debate over education, which often gets reduced to reforms vs. money, or the reactionary view of some politicians to any tax proposal or the tired pitting of government against business. What’s lost in that kind of debate is any sense of what role — or benefit — services play in society.
That needs to change. One of the realities in the aftermath of the recession is that the good old days of seemingly unlimited growth aren’t coming back soon. Yes, there are good signs that things are improving, but to stoke the economy, Nevada has significant challenges that need to be addressed.
For Nevada to reshape itself into a competitive state with a vibrant economy, there needs to be a break from the past; elected and civic leaders will have to put their ideologies aside and focus on what’s best for the state.
Nevada must advance e-schools to leapfrog the evolution in schools
"What's best for the State," should be to strengthen what remains. Growth has to be more about strengthen what remains, rather than continuing to UNSUSTAINABLY build massive housing tracts and shopping centers that our current infrastructure cannot sustainably maintain.
It is encouraging to hear, "She listed several issues -- education, transportation, health care, housing and water -- that she said shouldn't be viewed individually but seen "as part of one giant system that forms the basis for the future to our economic health." All are interconnected, as we are in this together for the long haul folks!
Education is realizing measurable growth thanks to changing from the dysfunctional No Child Left Behind mandate/model, to the Nevada Growth Model. It has been a positive move and has made a positive difference. More needs to happen, especially in the lines of accountability with parents/caregivers and students. We will continue to see lop-sided results when only making educators accountable in this process, and not the others. We call upon our Nevada Lawmakers to legislate ENforcement teeth in the yearly signed, "PARENT/TEACHER/STUDENT INVOLVEMENT ACCORD" that is paid by the Taxpayers.
In closing, there continues to be the opportunity to change. Clark County School District Superintendent Dwight D. Jones, in his State of the School District speech, made the analogy of running a marathon race as we actively run the race towards change. It is not an easy one, and we must always keep our sights on what we desire to see at the finish line.
Blessings and Peace,
Star
I beg to differ. Business leaders are NOT giving Nevada education the attention and consideration it deserves and needs. Why would business want to come to a state where the education system is failing and no one, particularly the State Legislature and the Governor seem to want to do anything about it. Simply put, most of them head for Arizona or New Mexico or Oregon...not here.
Education is NOT realizing any significant growth, but rather is in serious decline in Nevada. Jones is implementing cookie-cutter education processes that stifle creativity and student achievement. His drive is to get rid of experienced teachers and the teachers association (union..ha!) and he wants teachers to do the works of Deans, Counselors, and rote education with less pay and fewer benefits. Education in the State of Nevada will NEVER improve until the job of teaching isn't demonized but instead is attractive enough to bring 5000 applicants for every 1000 jobs. That isn't going to happen any time soon and particularly CCSD students will continue to be assessed as D- by UNLV professors for college preparedness.
Every 4-5 years CCSD in particular tries some new ideas espoused by proported education "experts" to try to get our student achievement up to the point where it was in the 1950s and 1960s. We need to get back to the point of teaching reading, writing, and economic survival skills rather than trying to water down the curriculum so everyone can graduate and go to college (where a huge percentage drop out after the first semester or two). Demand better student performance and rigorous requirements in classes and make graduation from a Nevada high school something respected rather than scoffed at. If we have a 20+% failure rate in the first few years, including drop outs, so be it. Higher expectations achieve higher results. Quit watering down curriculum. And to those invdividuals who think there's "tenure", they should read the Nevada Revised Statutes to see all the reasons Nevada government employees can be terminated. Administrators need to do their jobs...and they aren't.
My wife and I are VERY successful and respected 20+ year Nevada High School teachers and this is the last year for both of us. We have 6 kids who all graduated from Clark County public schools and went on to college, mostly on scholarships. They graduated, most with advanced degrees. If we had kids in Southern Nevada today, we'd send them to private schools.
Where is the STATE ??? They are invisible and have been.This cannot remain a one horse town with gambling being OUR ONLY INCOME.Small businesses are great but they support the "local economy". The jobs dried up and the people left..along with that they took the tax base.No taxes collected, no services.The state should be ashamed of the miserable job they are doing with education.4 out of 10 student DO NOT graduate in this state.Since we're on education....the report card is in on the state and it's a "F"......in my books.
As long as "What's Next" doesn't include the developers seeking nor land to develope into residential housing. For longer than my 15 years here (I've had family here for over 25 years, and I'm a news freak) we've heard the truth about the water situation that sooner or later could sharply infringe on our standard of living.
But Developers don't care about that. They come in, do their damage, rack up their outrageous profits and skip town when it suits them.
I know we've all heard this before, but just looking at Lake Mead should inspire us to maybe, just maybe, take a SERIOUS LISTEN this time around,
JohnCheney88