Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

$12 billion, 14,000 jobs, 33 new companies: Nevada’s economic recovery by the numbers

Tesla Special Session Sept. 11, 2014

Cathleen Allison / AP

Steve Hill, with the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, answers questions on the Senate floor during the second day of a special session at the Nevada Legislature, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014, in Carson City, Nev. Lawmakers are considering an unprecedented package of up to $1.3 billion in incentives to bring Tesla Motors’ $5 billion battery factory to the state.

It’s been three years since Gov. Brian Sandoval unveiled plans to remake Nevada’s economic development efforts, launching a Governor’s Office of Economic Development and regional authorities like the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance to oversee efforts ranging from job creation to workforce education. Today, representatives from both offices took inventory of their progress, challenges and the road ahead in the first State of Economic Development Address.

Speakers Steve Hill, executive director of GOED, and Jonas Peterson, chief economic development officer of LVGEA, were explicit in their message.

“I’m pleased to be able to report that the state of our economic development is strong,” Hill said, speaking to a room filled with local leaders from education, politics and business.

Nevada ranks second in the country in per capita job growth in 2014.

With the state’s jobless rate at a six-year low, Hill and Peterson emphasized a shift in policy from the unemployment issues that reigned in 2011 to renewed focus on growing high-value sectors like science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields and investing in education.

“High-value companies tell us that the single most important factor in where they set up their next business is availability of a highly skilled workforce,” Peterson said. “If we have it, they’re coming. If we don’t, they’re going to another market. It’s really just that simple.”

Peterson likened the state of Nevada’s economy to “a new Corvette that’s stuck in third gear.”

“Just over the horizon, you can see our rightful destination,” he said.

Getting to an innovative economy that supports high-wage jobs, he said, still means navigating the many obstacles that lie ahead.

“We’ve got some forks in the road — strategic decisions that we need to make as a community if we’re going to make it,” he said.

So just how does Nevada’s economic development break down? Here’s a by the numbers takeaway from today’s meeting:

What’s going well

3.6 percent: Nevada’s per capita job growth rate in 2014, ranking second in the U.S. behind North Dakota’s 4.6 percent.

14,000: The number of jobs the economic development effort has helped create by recruiting new companies to the state. The projected three- to five-year buildout for those companies is 25,000 jobs in fields including renewable energy, software development and health care.

33: The number of new companies the LVGEA helped expand or attract to the state in 2014. Those businesses represent 3,821 jobs, up from 1,554 in 2013 and 1,314 in 2012.

$12 billion: The amount of money recently or soon to be invested in Southern Nevada over the next two to three years through its 10 largest projects: The Las Vegas soccer stadium ($200 million), Interstate 11/Boulder City Bypass ($350 million), the MGM/AEG Arena ($375 million), Downtown Summerlin ($500 million), First Solar ($1 billion), Switch ($1 billion), Union Village ($1.5 billion), Project Neon ($1.8 billion), the Global Business District ($2.5 billion) and Resorts World Las Vegas ($4 billion).

Where we still need improvement

4 percent or less: The job share in Clark County represented by target industries like aerospace and defense, manufacturing, logistics and operations and business information technology. They fall well below the national average, but Peterson said that also creates a low barrier of entry to grow those industries locally.

$40 million: The amount of business incentives offered by Nevada in 2012 to fuel economic development efforts. That compares with $19.1 billion offered by Texas, $4.17 billion by California, $3.98 billion by Florida and $1.47 billion by Arizona. “We are simply not in the game of a lot of these projects. They want to come here, but other states will write a bigger check. Those jobs should be ours, but they’re valued by other states at a higher price point,” Peterson said. It’s worth noting, the state did break open the piggy bank more recently to fund $1.3 billion in incentives for Tesla’s expansion in Northern Nevada.

251: The number of prospective companies, representing about 22,000 jobs, that ultimately chose not to relocate to Nevada in 2014. More than a third of those said they were dissatisfied with the workforce quality and availability. Twenty percent were offered a better incentive package by another state. Fifteen percent cited a lack of industrial and office space, while others were deterred by the local brand or other community development factors. “You have to build both (jobs and education) at the same time,” Hill said. “UNLV can do a great job training STEM students, but if the jobs aren’t here, those students are an export.”

Follow Andrea Domanick on Twitter at @AndreaDomanick and fan her on Facebook at Facebook.com/AndreaDomanick.

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