CEO Updates

Time to Think Differently About Housing: Steffen Lehmann, Director of Architecture at UNLV and internationally recognized scholar, was the keynote speaker at the recent EDAWN Housing Summit. Thank you to our following sponsors: Dickson Realty, Grand Sierra Resort, Greater Nevada Credit Union and THE ROW. The presentation highlighted the need for more housing density and options to address the growing housing shortage in the region.  The RGJ provided an excellent article on the event – go here to view the RGJ article, and the slides from the presentation are here.
 
The NORTHERN NEVADA OPPORTUNITY ZONE SUMMIT is just around the corner – Come learn from the country’s top experts! The event is taking place on March 19th and 20th at the Reno Ballroom, 401 Center Street.  There will be a VIP Cocktail reception with Steve Glickman, a Chief Architect of OZ and Kate Marshall, Nevada Lt. Governor.  For more information to attend or sponsor,  go here.
Lesson Learned on Incentives – The Amazon Deal?  For those critical of incentives, it is prudent to learn from others. The deferred taxes offered as incentives are only a part of the total taxes a company would pay, not to mention the taxes paid by their employees and suppliers. The deferred taxes (incentives) cannot be spent by the local and state governments if the company does not locate here.  According to the New York State Budget Director, “at the end of the day, we lost $27 billion, 25,000-40,000 jobs and a blow to our reputation of being ‘open for business.’ The union that opposed the project gained nothing and cost other union members 11,000 good, high-paying jobs. The local politicians that catered to the hyper-political opposition hurt the economic interest of every constituent in their district.” Go here to learn more.
EDAWN Foundation and Initiatives – The EDAWN Foundation is a private, non-profit 501c3, founded by the EDAWN Board. It’s purpose is to communicate awareness and educate visitors, businesses travelers and the community about our region’s economic development activity and quality of life. The Foundation introduced initiatives to enhance our image as a business and family-friendly community. Two such initiatives were successfully launched. Here is more information about the two initiatives, The Taxi Top Campaign and the Diversified Marketing Campaign. If you would like to support the Foundation or these initiatives, please contact Tamera Pitts at 775-829-3700.
Northern Nevada Economic Planning Indicators Committee (“EPIC”) Report 2.0!  The update of the original EPIC report was released at the EDAWN State of the Economy event.  The forecast for the next 5 years is for continued job growth of 51,585 with population growth of 54,470 for a five county region.

Here is the final report with county by county data. 

 
Housing remains a serious concern: The chart below shows that we are well off the goal for the number of permits for new housing units (including apartments and condos). As of December, we are almost 1,500 permits short of where we should be for the year.  The shortage of new housing continues to drive our housing prices up.

 
Below is the latest RGJ article:

 

Time for Another Update of the EDAWN Strategic Plan  – Almost seven years ago, after several years of a painful recession, nearly 200 agencies and individuals participated in the development of the regional economic development strategic plan, which focused on the three legs of economic development: quality job attraction, retention/expansion, and entrepreneurial job creation. After several years of success, we updated the plan and made some adjustments based on the changing economy and the needs of our region. Now, almost 4 years later, it is time to look ahead again and make some changes. Here is the full article.
EDAWN articles, published in the RGJ, are stored on our website. Here is the link to the library.

Business Development Updates

The Business Development team announced one new company in the month of February.
  • Confidential (manufacturing) | 50 jobs | $4M capital expenditures
There were 25 new leads and projects were added to the pipeline and 9 site visits were hosted (despite 3 cancellations due to inclement weather). The majority of these clients came from the manufacturing and technology ecosystem industries and bring higher paying jobs.
Stan Thomas will be representing two companies at this month’s Incentive Board Meeting.
To contact the Business Development team, please email EVP, Stan Thomas, VP, Chris Ault, Jr.or Program Manager, Norma Yamaji

Partner Updates

The NCET Technology Awards celebrate the Northern Nevada individuals and companies who have greatly enhanced the growth and prestige of technology community.  Winners will be honored at the NCET 20th Anniversary and Tech Awards Gala on Thursday, March 28th at the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa. Tickets and tables for the Awards Dinner available here. Contact Dave Archer for sponsorship information at Dave@NCET.org or call 775.315.7635.
Attention all  professionals in logistics, distribution and E-Commerce! Mark your calendars and get registered for the 2019 Logistics Leadership Conference scheduled for Thursday, May 2, 2019 at The Grove at South Creek, presented by TMCC and the Frank N. Bender Center for Applied Logistics Management. Go here, for more information.
The Stat Pack is a monthly business e-report, co-authored by Mike PeQueen of HighTower Las Vegas and John Restrepo of RCG Economics, with input from Brian Bonnenfant of UNR. It combines important metrics relevant to business decision makers and financial commentary on current issues facing the Nevada economy. The Stat Pack features data and dialogue about the Southern and Northern Nevada economies.  Here is latest Fact Pack!