About 500 Southern Nevada business leaders gathered at the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance’s State of Economic Development event March 4 at Red Rock Resort.
Their common goal was how to develop workforce and diversify the economy so that it isn’t overly dependent on the hospitality sector.
Although that economy has nearly rebounded from the effects of the pandemic, Covid is still a factor in everyone’s minds. So is the example of Northern Nevada, which has diversified with technology, energy, manufacturing, mining and tourism.
A report just released shows that Las Vegas had 1 million jobs at the beginning of the year, 25,000 below levels right before the pandemic.
The southern part of the state lags in diversity to its immediate neighbors such as Arizona, Utah and California. Nevertheless it has advantages those states don’t have, such as electricity prices significantly lower and a large and hungry work force from the hospitality industry whose jobs are mainly gone.
The kinds of industries Southern Nevada needs to attract, LVGEA President and CEO Tina Quigley told the Las Vegas Review-Journal must be able to live with drought, land scarcity and a workforce that is hospitality top-heavy.
“We have the bodies here in Southern Nevada, whereas Phoenix, Salt Lake (City) are struggling to find bodies to fill jobs,” she said. “The challenge at this point is making sure that those bodies are properly trained to meet the needs of the companies coming in.”
An economic consortium of municipalities has applied for and is a finalist for a federal grant of up to $100 million for workforce development.
