Bringing new business: Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance aims to get community on the same page

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Bringing new business to town isn't as easy as cold-calling companies that might be thinking of moving.

It starts a lot closer to home, with conversations about what kind of businesses the region wants to attract, what industries it needs and what resources Las Vegas has that might be useful when it comes time to make a pitch.

"A hundred percent, it's overwhelming," says Danielle Casey, the president and CEO of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance. "But that's why we build off these partnerships. You know, what do they say? The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, or today. So if we're not aligned in those partnerships, we are not going to move the needle."

But the alignment isn't always easy, even with the help of groups such as the Governor's Office of Economic Development or the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada.

That's part of the reason why Casey has been overseeing the production of a strategic plan that sets goals approved by her agency's board to measure progress. She knows some people are cynical about planning documents that are never put into practice, but insists that this one is different.

"This is very critical, because we need to align all the leaders at LVGEA to what our outcome is going to be and then drive toward that," she said, after a breakfast meeting on the state of economic development. "We have to also pick what we're going to spend our time on if we really want to change things and make an impact, because it's very difficult to make change if you are trying to do everything at once."

The meeting featured short presentations by a variety of industries, including a short talk by the president and CEO of NV Energy, Brandon Barkhuff. He discussed new businesses, including artificial intelligence and data centers, and pledged that newer customers would not shift their costs to locals, either residents or existing businesses.

"We welcome growth. We're excited for the opportunities it brings, for the tax revenue, for the jobs, for the new faces it brings to our community. But we are unwilling to put that risk and expense on our current customers, residential, small business and industrial," Barkhuff said. "Growth must pay for growth."

At the meeting, consultant Jason Hickey told the packed room at the Las Vegas Aces headquarters that the region has plenty of advantages. It's relatively safe from natural disasters, he said. It has an airport that's easy and relatively inexpensive to get into and out of, and the state maintains a business-friendly climate.

Even so, there are some problems to solve, Hickey said.

"Like most regions, Las Vegas needs more and more sites. They need locations, they need land, they need opportunities for new investment to come," he said. "New buildings, new infrastructure. And the infrastructure that follows along with roads and schools and everything else continues to build. So the region has been able to keep up with it, but the demand will continue to increase. So all the community leaders need to work together to make that happen."

The strategic plan is expected in late April and covers a three-year period. It will build on the alliance's previous work, which saw 20 new companies relocate to Las Vegas, 1,187 jobs created or retained, and a capital investment of $230 million.

One of those new businesses was Neurogum, which makes nutritional supplements. Co-founder and CEO Kent Yoshimura relocated from Los Angeles, where he said his company was a small fish in a large pond.

Moving to Las Vegas not only allows him to operate warehouses more cheaply than in California, but also to access a steady stream of customers that he says you can't find anywhere else.

"The consumer business, everyone comes to Las Vegas," he said. "It is absolutely crazy. And our ability to be right next to the Strip and sample our product or showcase our product to all these conferences, to different people that will take it back to their state, is something you can't do, honestly, anywhere else with the ease that Las Vegas allows you to do."