Pavilion - Nevada Business Magazine · 6 August 2007 Nevada Business Journal is a division of...
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Transcript of Pavilion - Nevada Business Magazine · 6 August 2007 Nevada Business Journal is a division of...
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A MARK OF EXCELLENCE
4 August 2007
measured by business readership re-search. And, while we’re flatteredthey would include us in their hype,they really shouldn’t have. The factis we’re simply in a different catego-ry altogether. We’re a four colorimage statewide business maga-zine… they are a weekly newspaperdistributed only in Southern Nevada. A market the size of Nevada can sup-port both a business magazine andweekly newspaper. We each have ourniche… but they are different niches.
I have a tremendous amount of re-spect for Greenspun Media Group,parent company of In Business, andthe media empire they have built.They have been very successful in anindustry where success is out of thenorm. The publishing industry isnoted for failed start-ups and busi-ness closures. In the past year inNevada, two magazines, NevadaWoman, and The Business Report ofNorthern Nevada have both called itquits. The cold, hard fact is that
C O M M E N T A R Y
You’re defined by the company you keep…
L Y L E E . B R E N N A NPublisher
n Business Las Vegas, aSouthern Nevada week-ly newspaper, recentlylaunched a campaign
touting readership numbers reportedby Scarborough Research. Theycompared their readership numberswith the other Southern Nevadaweekly newspaper and added Neva-da Business Journal for good mea-sure. The information was widelydistributed through ads, editorial, e-mails and sales calls. It seems every-one at In Business has been spendinga lot of time spinning the numbers.
While I’m not one to steal some-one’s thunder and I hate being theparty pooper, there is a problem withthe research numbers. Scarboroughproudly touts themselves as the re-search organization for the “Ameri-can Consumer”. Nevada BusinessJournal is not a consumer magazine.We are a business magazine and ourreadership is comprised of 82,000business leaders throughout the stateof Nevada.
I don’t doubt the value of the
Scarborough report as it relates to theconsumer market. The organization isa leader in gathering information formass media. The methodology usedby Scarborough includes randomphone calls to consumers and the 15minute conversation that takes placeallows the research firm to capturedemographics including such thingsas radio listening, newspaper reading,and television viewing.
When is the last time you gave aresearch firm 15 minutes of yourtime? The answer is probably never.Because in that time you can signpayroll, make half a dozen phonecalls or get caught up on your e-mail.The fact is, the vast majority of ourreaders are top-level executives andtheir time is a precious commodity.On the other hand, the consumermarket, with a much broader demo-graphic, typically have more expend-able time than a busy top-level busi-ness executive.
While In Business may measuretheir readership by a consumer report,our readership is more accurately
As the father of five teenage daughters (and that’s only half our children), this old say-ing is just one of the many tools I find myself using to direct our girls (and trust me,I need all the tools I can get). Defining yourself by the company you keep also holdstrue in the business world. It’s important to know your market in any business, andit is especially true in the publishing industry.
Continued on Page 8
I
6 August 2007
Nevada Business Journal is a division of Business Link, LLC. 375 N. StephanieSt.,Bldg. 23, Suite 2311, Henderson, NV 89014. It is listed in Standard Rates andData, #20A-Business-Metro, State and Regional. TopRank Nevada – AnnualStatewide Book of Lists is a publication of Nevada Business Journal.Advertisers should contact Sales at (702) 735-7003, or write to: Nevada BusinessJournal, 375 N. Stephanie St., Bldg. 23, Suite 2311, Henderson, NV 89014. Demo-graphic information available upon request. Month-to-month circulation may vary.Nevada Business Journal is published monthly with one additional issue each year.Subscription rate is $44.00 per year. Special order single-copy price is $7.50. TopRankNevada – Annual Statewide Book of Lists, a compilation of lists which have ap-peared in Nevada Business Journal over the past 12 months, is published on an an-nual basis.All contents ©2007 copyright, and reproduction of material appearing in NevadaBusiness Journal and TopRank Nevada – Annual Statewide Book of Lists is pro-hibited unless so authorized by the publisher.CHANGE OF ADDRESS: POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Nevada BusinessJournal, 375 N. Stephanie St., Bldg. 23, Suite 2311, Henderson, NV 89014. Sub-scribers please include previous address or mailing label. Allow six weeks.EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS: Address all submissions to the attention of April McCoy.Unsolicited manuscripts must be accompanied by a SASE. Nevada Business Jour-nal assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials.DISCLAIMER: Editorial views expressed in this magazine, as well as thoseappearing in area focus and industry focus supplements are not necessarilythose of the publisher or its boards.
PUBLISHERLyle E. Brennan • [email protected]
PUBLISHER / CEOConnie Brennan • [email protected]
ASSOCIATE EDITORApril McCoy • [email protected]
ART DIRECTORJoe Thomasula
CIRCULATION DIRECTORMark Keays • [email protected]
RESEARCH / RANKING [email protected]
WEB EDITORMcKensie Keever • [email protected]
ONLINE MARKETING DIRECTORHarry Benson • [email protected]
CONTRIBUTING WRITERSDoresa Banning • Bradley W. Beal
Tony Illia • Mark Keays • Bill MartinR. Keith Schwer • Michael Sullivan
Cameron C. Taylor • Jeanne Walpole
ADVERTISING / SALESSheri Lautherboren • [email protected]
Dawn Perkins • [email protected] Richardson • [email protected]
EXEC. ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHERHollie Howard • [email protected]
CORPORATE OFFICE375 N. Stephanie St., Suite 2311 • Henderson, NV 89014
(702) 735-7003 • FAX (702) [email protected]
NORTHERN NEVADA ADVISORY BOARDChuck Alvey • EDAWN
Krys T. Bart • Reno Tahoe Airport AuthorityTom Clark • Tom Clark Consulting Company
Connie Fent • Community RepresentativeValerie Glenn • Rose Glenn Group
Rick Gray • Fallon Convention and Tourism Authority
Web Site: nbj.com • nevadabusiness.com TopRank Nevada: topranknevada.com
A division of BUSINESS LINK, LLC
C O V E R : Nevada’s Most Respected CEOs asnominated by the business commu-nity are (from left to right): FrankMartin, Martin-Harris Construction;Doug Roberts, Panattoni Construc-tion; Curt Anderson, Fair Anderson& Langerman; and Chuck Alvey,EDAWN. Not pictured: HeatherMurren, Nevada Cancer Institute.
Photo: Opulence Studios
B U I L D I N G N E VA D A :Dick Rizzo, vice chairman of PeriniBuilding Group, is one of the manywho are building some of the largestcommercial projects. Find out whereprojects stand and when they arescheduled for completion.
Photo: Opulence Studios
S P E C I A L R E P O R T : This special report is a celebrationof 20 extraordinary individualswho are being honored for theircontributions to Nevada’s health-care industry.
August 2007 • Volume 22 • No. 8
August 2007 7
B U I L D I N G N E V A D A
4 CommentaryLYLE BRENNAN
You’re defined by the company you keep…
10 Business Up Front• Complying With New Tax Rules• Small Business Concerned With Taxes• Graceful Exits: Departing Employees Matter• Clear Communication in Hiring
11 Face to FaceStephanie Sand, Stewart, Archibald & Barney, LLPDoug Fries, Mellon’s Wealth Management Group
92 Nevada Briefs• Recruitment Providers Combine Resources• Land Donated to Public Education Foundation• Manhard Consulting, Ltd. Acquires Capital Engineering, Inc.• Nevada State College Gets Additional Land• LRS Systems Offers Alcohol Awareness Classes
93 State the IssuesBanks vs. Credit Unions: Is it a fair playing field?
94 Speaking for NevadaCONGRESSMAN JON PORTERDoes Nevada have the resources to become energy independent?
95 Money ManagementNEVADA SOCIETY OF CPASWhat To Do When You Need Emergency MoneyEvaluate Your Funding Options
96 Expert AdviceCAMERON C. TAYLOR
Hiring Beyond QualificationsSix Questions to Assist in Hiring Good Character
97 Power of AttorneyRelative Newcomer Partners with Long-Time Nevada FirmThe “New” Lewis and Roca LLP
98 Compassionate CapitalismThree SquareWorking to End Hunger in Las Vegas
99 Inside PoliticsMICHAEL SULLIVAN
Searching for Challenging CandidatesThe Heat is Just Beginning
100 Banking On ItService1st Bank of NevadaMaking Its Investment in Technology
101 People FirstMARK KEAYS
Exit InterviewsWhat They Can Tell You
102 Business IndicatorsR. KEITH SCHWER
78 View from the TopA Look at Nevada’s Largest Commercial ProjectsTONY ILLIA
66 Building Nevada News in Brief• New Retail Center Opens in North Las Vegas• Educational Technology Campus Breaks Ground • Longford Properties Offers Incentive• Inspirada Town Center Plan Approved• RCS Development Starts Two New Projects• Commercial Real Estate Firm Goes Green
91 Tradewinds ConstructionEasing the Burden of Tenant Improvements
91 Commercial Real Estate Market ReportFirst Quarter 2007 – Industrial Report
F E A T U R E S
12 Most Respected CEOsThe Best of the BestDORESA BANNING
22 High-Rise ConstructionThe Changing Nevada SkylineJEANNE WALPOLE
29 Industry Focus: Telecommunications
C O N T E N T SD E P A R T M E N T S
22
Our July Vital Signs article stated that Comprehensive Cancer Cen-
ters of Nevada (CCCN) was affiliated with the University of South-
ern California (USC). CCCN is actually affiliated with the University
of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). We apologize for the error.
8 August 2007
publishing is a tough business and it’snot for the faint hearted. It requiresdeep pockets and an even deepercommitment to educate and inform.
Nevada Business Journal has beenin print for more than 21 years. Like allbusinesses, we’ve had bad times andwe’ve had good times. Thankfully, thegood times far outweigh the bad onesand we’ve enjoyed success within thebusiness community. We never takethat success for granted and are thank-ful to our readers and advertisers.
It’s always been our business strat-egy to work hard, report solid storiesand focus on making sure the Neva-da business executive benefits fromreading our magazine. It’s a simplestrategy and it works. The marketingstrategy we’ve employed includestaking the high road and never, everbad-mouthing other media outlets.After all, Nevada is a growing, dy-namic state and there’s room for usall to grow.
But this thing with reporting con-sumer numbers for a business maga-zine is ridiculous. If In Businesswants to report our numbers, we’d behappy to share the most recent read-ership survey, hot off the press. It isunlikely they’d be running an adtouting these numbers, since thereadership of Nevada Business Jour-nal is 82,000* compared to In Busi-ness, readership of 31,300*.
• 82,000 based on July 2007 reader-ship survey (20,000 circulation, 4.1readers per copy)• 31,300 based on 2007 In Businessrate card (10,111 circulation, 3.1readers per copy)
COMMENTS email: [email protected]
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Wrong Audience!
82,000* BUSINESS DECISION MAKERS EVERY MONTH* Based on July 2007 Readership Survey
www.nbj.com
Using consumer research to measure business readership is like asking a toddler which car he prefers.
A weekly newspaper recently ran an ad touting readership numbers compiled by Scarborough, a consumer research firm. The problem is Nevada Business Journal is not a consumer magazine …we’re a business magazine that reaches the business decision makers. And, while we’re flattered tobe included in the consumer report … it’s not really who we are … or who we reach.
We’re proud of our 21-year history as Nevada’s only statewide business magazine … and we areproud to say our 82,000* monthly readers are the state’s industry, political and community leaders.
10 August 2007
Asurvey developed by Of-ficeTeam, the InternationalAssociation of Administrative
Professionals and HR.com reportedthat most administrative professionalshave lost an employee because he orshe was not suited for the company’swork environment. Nearly half claimmisreading a potential work environ-ment or misjudging someone’s fit for arole. To reveal if potential employeeswill jive with the company atmosphere,ask potential employees what type ofwork environment brings out optimumperformance in them, what type ofwork environment causes them tothrive. Also ask what they likedbest/least about their former job andwhy and, finally, ask what factors madethem successful at their last job. For po-tential employees, ask what it’s like towork at the prospective company, whatskills and attributes are needed for suc-cess, what characteristics the companyvalues in its employees, how success isdefined there and how performance ismeasured and rewarded.
On Jan. 1, 2005, new rules fornonqualified deferred com-pensation plans under Inter-
nal Revenue Code Sec. 409A wentinto effect. Grant Thornton LLP, aglobal accounting, tax and businessadvisory organization, offers sevensuggested steps to help companiesfollow the new rules:• Identify arrangements that providefor a deferral of compensation.• For each arrangement, decide be-tween removing the deferral ofcompensation or complying withthe rules.• Design each arrangement to com-ply with the rules.• Develop and implement policiesand administrative procedures• Prepare a written plan by Dec. 31,2007.• Obtain service provider elections asto time and form of payment by yearend.• Evaluate compliance for the periodbetween Jan. 1, 2007 and Jan. 1,2008.
Overall, small businessowner’s greatest concern forthe second quarter of 2007
was taxes, according to a survey con-ducted by the Small Business Re-search Board (SBRB) in conjunctionwith IPA, a privately-held providerof management consulting servicesto small and medium-size businessesin North America. In the Southern,
Southeast and Western regions, taxesranked as the number one concern ofsmall businesses, while the Midwestand Northeast regions said economicconditions top their concerns, withtaxes their second concern.
All regions of the U.S., albeit theWestern states who seem to be moreconcerned with foreign competition,the cost of materials and findingquality employees, ranked energyand fuel costs immediately followingtheir concern for taxes. In general,the survey revealed a dramaticchange in concern for healthcare –previously first among concerns. Ac-cording to the latest survey, health-care dropped to fifth among the con-cerns of small business owners.
Craig Kurtzman, Las Vegasbranch manager for RobertHalf International, suggests a
simple exit interview with departingemployees can provide perspectiveson your firm that may create a moreproductive working environment. Exitinterviews should be conducive togaining constructive criticism aboutyour company and should be conduct-ed by a neutral party – someone whoholds no personal bias against the em-ployee – in order to receive frank im-pressions of the work environment.Formulate questions that will harvestdetailed answers before the interview– specific questions that can’t receivea “yes” or “no” reply. An “employeesatisfaction survey” may also proveuseful. If completed before the exitinterview, the interviewer can evalu-ate the answers given and ask for fur-
ther explanation when necessary.While reviewing the interview, keepan open mind. Negative, but honestcomments can facilitate action thatwill improve the overall atmosphereand productivity of your company.
Graceful Exits: Departing Employees Matter
Complying With New Tax Rules
Small Businesses Concerned With Taxes
BUSINESS UP FRONT
Clear Communication in Hiring
August 2007 11
FACE TO FACE
Partner
Stewart, Archibald & Barney, LLP
Las Vegas
Biggest business challenge:Becoming the first female partner at ourfirm in a very male dominated industry.
What do you enjoy most about your job? I love meeting with clients and learningabout new business opportunities. I like tohelp my clients get through problems andmake the right decisions.
If you could start over and choose a different profession, what would it be?When I first went to college, I thought Iwanted to be an attorney. At some point, Iswitched and decided to be a CPA.
How do you spend your time when you’re not working?My time is 100 percent devoted to being amother when I am not at work.
Little-known fact about yourself: Prior to moving to Las Vegas, I never really
traveled. Since moving here, I haveclimbed Mt. Charleston twice, hiked thenarrows in Zion Canyon, gone Para-sail-ing, and traveled to Hawaii, Cancun andJamaica.
Best Business Advice:Always be confident in what you do andcontinue to learn every day. There is notone person in this world who knowseverything.
What advice would you offer other womentrying to balance a career and a youngfamily?Being a mother is the most rewarding andchallenging thing I have ever done in mylife. You need to remember that your fam-ily is always first. You will have clientscome and go but you will always haveyour children and your spouse in yourlife. They must always be your priority nomatter what happens.
Years in Nevada: 18
Years with Firm: 14
Type of business:Accountants and Consultants
Stephanie Sand
Regional President
Mellon’s Wealth Management group
Las Vegas
Years in Nevada: 3
Years with Firm: 11
Type of business:Mellon’s Wealth Management group
Biggest Business Challenge: Starting in a new market while I was inCleveland and adopting an acquisition inSouthern Nevada, Paragon Asset Manage-ment, into Mellon.
What do you enjoy most about your job? Interaction with clients – being involvedwith their lives, not regarding wealthmatters but emotional and spiritual con-cerns is what keeps me passionate aboutmy job. Dealing with wealth leads to al-truistic questions on greater good forfamily and community.
If you could start over and choose a different profession, what would it be?I’d be in the entertainment business, possi-bly promoting shows and events.
How do you spend your time when you’re not working?My family, of course, but I also love togolf, play tennis, hunt and fish. Any-
thing that keeps me active and outside.
Little-known fact about yourself:I’m an avid sportsman – and that may bean understatement. I’m a bow hunter, flyfisher and scuba diver. I’m a single digitgolf handicap and a devoted tennis player.
Best Business Advice: Never give up. When the difficulty of thesituation is at its peak, it is character andsingle mindedness that will prevail. Also,take everything with a grain of salt. Humorcan play an important role in keepingyourself sane.
What is the most important thing peopleneed to know about wealth management? How to understand and measure risk,and knowing how much risk you need toabsorb to get the best return on your in-vestment. It’s the most misunderstoodaspect of the entire wealth managementprocess.
Doug Fries
Chuck Alvey. Curt Anderson. Frank Martin. Heather Murren.Doug Roberts.
You may recognize some or all of these names and if you don’t,you should. They are Nevada’s Most Respected CEOs for 2007, aschosen by Nevada Business Journal’s readers. With countless nomi-nations for the coveted most respected CEO honor, the NBJ editorialteam carefully considered each candidate and are confident these fiveindividuals are among the states most respected business leaders. Theseenergetic, enterprising individuals love their work, are respected bytheir employees, have open, collaborative management styles and are involved within the community.
When asked what defines a strong CEO, they all replied: honest, passionate, visionary leaders,who are fair and open, accomplished communicators and intuitive listeners, and who possess ananimated sense of humor. Here’s a deeper look into each one’s operations and insights.
August 2007 13
Chuck Alvey EDAWN
For Chuck Alvey, all facets of lifeand business are based on relation-ships with people. “If you don’t havestrong relationships, you can’t besuccessful,” he said. Alvey, 58, ispresident and chief executive officerof the Economic Development Author i ty of Western Nevada
(EDAWN). Founded by communityleaders in 1982, EDAWN is a Reno-based, private, non-profit corporationthat works to recruit and expandquality companies to the region.EDAWN covers eight counties in thestate’s northwestern region.
Alvey began working at EDAWNin 1998 after a 31-year career in tele-vision management in Michigan, Ari-zona and Nevada. Under his leader-ship, EDAWN has reached andsurpassed its goal of an average an-nual economic impact of $376 mil-lion (starting at $131 million). It hasgone from an annual budget of$770,000 to nearly $2.4 million.However, the proudest achievement,Alvey said, is the strong partnershipsEDAWN has in the community.
The Kalamazoo, Mich.-born CEOmanages his staff of about 20 in a col-laborative way, using humor, commu-nication and honesty. He finds theright candidates and lets them dotheir jobs. “We have a great team ofpeople here,” he said. He takes his
cues from lessons learned from hismentor, Dick DeAngelis, underwhom he worked in the television in-dustry. The two still keep in touch,talking a few times a year. “Dicktaught me an awful lot about relation-ships and key things about honestyand integrity,” Alvey said.
In 2003, while at EDAWN, Alveybecame a certified economic devel-oper (CEcD). He also holds a degreein business administration, which heobtained in 1985 from the Universityof Phoenix. Alvey is a member ofseveral economic development-relat-ed boards, including those for the In-ternational Economic DevelopmentCouncil National and the Center forEntrepreneurship and Technology.
He puts in about 60 hours a weekand tries just as hard to enjoy his per-sonal life. “I have a strict policy ofwork hard and play hard,” he said.“When I get out of here, I am prettysuccessful at turning it off.” With histhree children grown and out of thehouse, it’s just he and Pam, his wife
Cover Story: Nevada’s Most Respected CEOs
14 August 2007
Cover Story: Nevada’s Most Respected CEOs
of 35 years. In the past, the couplehosted five exchange students, whomthey consider as their own children(they have two “exchange grandchil-dren”). Alvey enjoys movies, music,being outdoors and traveling, oftenincorporating side trips into businesstrips. He frequently visits the BayArea – sometimes for Giants games –and Phoenix, where he has friends.He loves to read and write, havingpenned two unpublished mysterynovels about a female reporter.
Alvey said his work doesn’t feellike a job. He loves the ability to becreative, achieve goals and help oth-ers to do the same. “You get to an agewhere you start considering whetheryou’ve made a difference, and ifyou’re done,” he added. “I’m notdone. I have a lot more I’d like to ac-complish.”
Curt AndersonFair, Anderson & Langerman
Curt Anderson, 57, thrives on prob-lem-solving. He’s the CEO of Fair,Anderson & Langerman (FAL), a LasVegas team of certified public ac-countants and business and informa-tion technology advisors. “I get greatsatisfaction from my involvement inothers’ successful achievements,” he
said. “I greatly enjoy working a clientissue – brainstorming it and comingup with a creative answer or a processto find an answer.”
Although he considered becominga lawyer (like his father), he enteredthe fields of accounting and tax. Heobtained a bachelor’s degree in busi-ness administration, with an emphasison accounting, from Notre Dame in1971. Three years later he became acertified public accountant. “Tax is alaw-driven, advocacy kind of processthat allows the client to make proac-tive decisions to achieve better re-sults,” he said. “It’s optimistic, and Ifell into that.”
He began his career with a nationalaccounting firm in the Midwest andthen moved to Los Angeles. In 1984,he quit to pursue other business ven-tures, such as real estate development.Unfortunately, some of those failed.“I know what it’s like to have toughtimes, when you have to fix thingsthat don’t work,” he said. Subsequent-ly, he co-founded FAL with Lee Fairand Jill Langerman in 1988. Clientsprimarily are businesses, such as con-struction contractors and large retail-type organizations. “When I look atour existing client base, our personneland the size of our organization, we’rea critical force as a local accountingfirm, we’re a force to be reckonedwith in Las Vegas,” he said.
Anderson manages by influenceand enjoys helping his staff membersachieve success. All employees mustattend “FAL University,” an in-house,four-year training program. In addi-tion, every employee can use up to$1,000 a year on any type of personaldevelopment program, whether aseminar or Pilates class. Anderson isalso working on ways to reduce thelong hours his employees work (heaverages about 50 hours a week andavoids the office on Fridays). Settingan example, he urges his staff to get
involved in civic affairs. Anderson istreasurer of the Police AthleticLeague and is a member of the LasVegas Arts Museum and the Opportu-nity Village Foundation boards. “Ithink you have to make the world abetter place,” he said.
For recreation, Anderson flies a he-licopter, exercises, reads, watchesmovies and travels with his wife,often to visit his two adult children.Suffering from a “low threshold ofboredom,” he’s involved with differ-ent businesses, he said. He typicallydevelops one or two commercial of-fice projects a year. He’s co-owner ofMDL Group, a commercial assetmanagement group and involved withService 1st Bank.
“Being a CPA is my vocation, and Iconsider my other business pursuits asavocations,” he said. “They help meimprove my ability to serve my clients.They make me more of a resource.”
Frank MartinMartin-Harris Construction
As a new graduate of Rancho HighSchool, Frank Martin worked as acarpenter for J.A. Tiberti Construc-tion, in Las Vegas. J.A. Tiberti, theowner, became Martin’s greatest men-tor. More than 30 years later, Martinis now the president and CEO of his
August 2007 15
Cover Story: Nevada’s Most Respected CEOs
own company, Martin-Harris Con-struction (MHC) and carrying on Tib-erti’s legacy of mentoring in his owncompany.
“I could call Tiberti and talk withhim at any point in time, even thoughback then, he ran the largest construc-tion company in Las Vegas,” the 60-year-old Martin said. “He alwaysfound time for me. That’s somethingthat I’m trying to do myself.”
One of Martin’s core values is giv-ing the company’s 900 employees op-portunities to succeed and meet theirgoals. Martin offers an education pro-gram, in which any employee of sixmonths or more can apply for and re-ceive scholarships covering 50 per-cent of tuition and 100 percent ofbooks for any career-related course.“I love having the ability to makepeople more successful than they everthought they could be,” Martin said.
Martin also promotes from withinand internal success stories abound. Asenior project manager began as aproject administrator 12 years ago,obtained an architecture degree andnow runs anywhere from $75 millionto $150 million worth of work.
Years ago, Tiberti stressed to Mar-tin those who put forth extraordinaryefforts, yield extraordinary returns. SoMartin’s made a habit of working 12-to 13-hour days. “You see financialsuccess everywhere but the biggestreturns are found in the opportunity tofoster success in the people aroundyou,” Martin said.
Martin co-founded MHC withFrank Harris in 1977. Based in LasVegas, MHC is a general contractorthat specializes in design-build, in-dustrial and commercial building,public works, schools and tilt-up con-struction. Today it incorporates two
additional entities: M&H BuildingSpecialties – an interior and exteriorfinish firm – and JBM Underground –a wet and dry utility company.
Among others, milestones achievedover the years include building Jerry’sNugget Casino and being selected asone of the contractors for the GreenValley master-planned community.
Martin’s success hasn’t come with-out setbacks, as he verged on bank-ruptcy twice. The first happened in1989. At that point, he learned aboutand implemented a business plan, astrategic plan and a budget. “Thosewere some of the most exciting timesas a businessman,” he said.
His wife and high school sweet-heart, Bonnie, has been with himthrough it all. His eldest son, Guy, isthe vice-president of operations forMHC, and second son, Jerrad runsJBM Underground. Martin has five
16 August 2007
Cover Story: Nevada’s Most Respected CEOs
grandchildren. When not working,Martin enjoys spending time at thefamily’s Utah cabin and competingwith their show horses. Each year heand his three brothers camp togetherwith their sons and grandsons.
Although J.A. Tiberti has passed,Martin sees him in Tiberti’s son, Tito.“I also want to be able to look in mysons’ lives and see myself,” he said.“That’s truly the largest compliment aman could hold.”
Heather MurrenNevada Cancer Institute
At age 41, Heather Murren alreadyretired from her first career and isfive years into her second. Aftergraduating in 1988 from Johns Hop-kins University with a bachelor’s de-gree, she worked 13 years as a fi-nancial analyst. She started hercareer on Wall Street with SalomonBrothers, then worked for JPMorganand lastly, for Merrill Lynch. In1993, she became a chartered finan-cial analyst (CFA).
“I sort of accomplished what Iwanted to do on Wall Street andstarted to get a little restless to dosomething different,” she said. It waswhile working as a volunteer transla-tor (she’s fluent in both Spanish andFrench) for the Nevada Health Care
Centers, a non-profit organizationthat provides healthcare to the com-munity, that she stumbled on a newpassion. She became interested incancer care and treatment, and soondiscovered the state lacked a placethat offered early-phase clinical tri-als and conducted leading-edge re-search. She began working with oth-ers on a way to provide the missingelements. Three years later the Neva-da Cancer Institute (NVCI) opened.
NVCI is a Las Vegas-based, non-profit cancer research and care cen-ter, which offers experimental thera-pies for cancer patients, along witheducation and support in preventionand treatment to the community. Ithas outreach offices in Fallon, Elkoand Sparks.
As co-founder, chairman and CEO,Murren is the keeper of the organiza-tion’s vision and corporate culture.She recruits staff and speaks on be-half of NVCI. She isn’t compensatedmonetarily for the work she does –about 60 to 80 hours’ worth a week.“I think it’s important for people tosee you have skin in the game,” shesaid. In fewer than two years of op-eration, NVCI was designated thestate’s official cancer institute by theNevada Legislature. The staff hasgrown to 275 employees. They haveopened 55 clinical trials and treatednearly 2,000 patients.
Murren encourages and welcomesemployee input. All workers areshown the strategic plan and allowedto comment and ask questions. Staffmeetings are held monthly, birthdaysare celebrated jointly and communi-cation with employees is regular. Theorganization also offers an activewellness program, encouraging thestaff to exercise and eat well, andsupporting flexible work schedules.
“We do all of those things to makesure NVCI is a place where employ-ees want to come to work,” she said.
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“The people who work here are ex-traordinary individuals.” Murren alsoloves to go to work every day. “It’stotally absorbing and unpredictable,”she said. “Often I hear from peoplefor whom we’ve made a real differ-ence. That’s enormously gratifying.”
Murren achieves balance by hiking,running and reading (mostly histori-cal fiction and biographies). In addi-tion, she does other community work.She’s a member of the Council for aBetter Nevada and Service 1st Bank’sboard of directors, among others.
Doug Roberts,Panattoni Development
For seven years after college, DougRoberts did social work for the Con-servation Corps in Sacramento. Usinghis sociology degree from Iowa State,he worked in various positions, from ateacher of mentally-handicapped chil-dren to a Juvenile Hall deputy proba-tion officer.
When the difficulty of supportinghis family (a wife and two younggirls) on a social worker’s income be-came too much, he ventured into con-struction work. Despite the switch, henever lost his giving spirit. Today, hestill helps others through charity work.
20 August 2007
Roberts, 46, is a partner with Panat-toni Development, a company that de-velops, leases, owns and manages in-dustrial, office and retail projects. Hebegan working for the company in1995, first in Sacramento, then inReno and Las Vegas. His focus pri-marily is industrial and office develop-ment. He works about 45 to 50 hours
a week, spending time in the Reno andLas Vegas offices each week.
“My job really is to take a project allthe way from land acquisition tobuilding completion, and oversee theentire process,” he said. Projects he’ssupervised include the twoAmazon.com distribution facilities inStead and Fernley, and the Lamb
Business Center in Las Vegas. “It’s re-warding financially and otherwise,” hesaid. “You get to see something fromthe ground up that you’ve built.”
Roberts works well with his staff. “Itry to make everybody happy while atthe same time making a profit,” hesaid. “I’d rather lose money than havesomebody be unhappy with his or herjob.” He credits his boss, Carl Panat-toni, with teaching him it’s possible tomake a fair profit in business whilebeing honest and treating people fairly.
The San Diego-born Roberts alsocreates camaraderie among his staff,by talking about their days, dis-cussing the week ahead and frequent-ly having lunch together. “We have a‘no-jerk policy’ inside and outside thecompany,” he said. Next to his profes-sion, Roberts spends a big chunk oftime working with non-profit groups.He, his wife Shirley Folkins-Robertsand another friend founded and areactive in the Reno chapter of theKeaton Raphael Memorial, a supportservice organization for children andfamilies afflicted with childhood can-cer. “It takes up a great deal of ourtime,” he said. Roberts also is a six-year member of the Reno Rotary andinvolved in Western Industrial Nevadaand EDAWN.
To balance his life beyond work,Roberts hikes, downhill skis and trav-els with his family. He has two chil-dren living at home, Breanna, 9 andPatrick, 6, and two residing in Davis,Calif. – Nikki, 26, and Jennifer, 23.Roberts’ hobbies include playing gui-tar and bass (typically rock ’n ’ rolland some country) with pick-up bandslocally and performing martial arts(kenpo karate). The one lesson he’dwant to impart to his grandchildren,when they come along, is: “Work hardand do the right thing.”
Doresa Banning is a freelance writerbased in Northern Nevada.
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When Nevada Business Journalpublished its first high-risearticle two years ago, there
were more than 100 high-rise condoprojects slated for Southern Nevadaalone. In response to a more stringentmarket, modified building conditionsand a need for capital, a good numberof the 100-plus projects have been de-layed or cancelled, including WHotel, Charlie Palmer Hotel, Sand-hurst, Vegas888, Las Ramblas, IconLas Vegas, Liberty Tower, Ivana LasVegas, Urban Village, Montreux (TheNew Frontier), 4275 Dean MartinDrive and Maxim Hotel and Casino.
Beginning in 2003, the condo boomin Las Vegas rode the crest of an ex-plosive residential market fueled byrecord-setting growth in SouthernNevada. Like miners pouring into Vir-ginia City following the initial discov-ery of gold, real estate speculatorsflooded the market convinced theycould make a fortune by flipping
properties. The strategy worked forsome investors, but only until the mar-ket slowed in what many financial ex-perts claimed was a natural correctionto more realistic conditions. At its peakaround 2005, more than 100 high-riseprojects were somewhere in thepipeline as developers scrambled tocash in on what they perceived wouldbe an increasing demand for condounits. As the market slowed and inter-est rates rose, however, spec buyerslicked their wounds and made them-selves scarce. “The residential investorhas moved on to other markets,” saidDusty Allen, managing partner forStreamline Tower condo development.
With around 7,000 new residentsarriving each month, Las Vegas con-tinues its steady advance towards apopulation of 2 million. The overallstrength and character of the markethas changed with the exodus of thecondo speculators. Investors havebeen replaced by buyers who intend
to keep the property for their own useor as a rental property. The condomarket has strong appeal for emptynesters – especially baby boomers –who want to downsize and young pro-fessionals without children who don’tneed the amenities of the suburbs.With commutes from outlying areasbecoming longer and longer, condobuyers are attracted by the conve-nience of living and working in thedynamic city core.
Among the class of people whoown a home in each of the popular hotspots around the globe, having a pres-ence in Las Vegas has become a must.Always an entertainment Mecca thatnever sleeps, in recent years, the cityhas broadened its appeal with world-class restaurants, shopping and cul-tural events. “It has changed from atacky gaming community to a sophis-ticated city,” said John Riordan, se-nior vice president of sales and mar-keting for Turnberry Towers.
High-Rise ConstructionThe Changing Nevada Skyline
High-Rise ConstructionThe Changing Nevada Skyline
August 2007 23
Survival of the Fittest
While today’s market favors thebuyer by offering a variety of prod-ucts to choose from, developers faceincreasing challenges. “It’s a timewhen the strong survive,” emphasizedJack Christie, vice president of salesand marketing for Trump Internation-al Hotel & Towers Las Vegas. Risingcosts and the scarcity of land have putthe damper on a number of projects.“Turnberry Towers’ constructioncosts have more than doubled since1998,” Riordan noted. To better en-sure the success of a high-rise condoproject, Christie said the followingconditions should be in place.• Builder and architect are experi-enced in high-rise construction.• Financing is secured.• Sales department has a positive trackrecord in the luxury market.• Project has local connections who
understand the local market.• The operator is a name brand, suchas Trump or Marriott.• The timeline of the project does notexceed 36 months.
Notable survivors in the residentialcondo market that have either beencompleted or are under constructioninclude Sky Las Vegas, One Queen-sridge Place, Turnberry, One LasVegas, Panorama Towers, City Cen-ter, Metropolis and Streamline Tower.Similar successes in the hotel condomarket include The Cosmopolitan,The Residences at MGM, Trump In-ternational Hotel & Towers LasVegas, The Platinum and Palms Place.
Turnberry
Situated on 15 acres at the corner ofParadise Road and Karen Avenue, theTurnberry project consists of four tow-ers at Turnberry Place and Turnberry
Towers. Amenities to the living quar-ters just one block from the Strip in-clude limo service, a concierge system,membership in Stirling Club (a privateclub), pool areas, putting greens anddog runs. Built by experienced condodeveloper Turnberry Ltd., units rangein price from $525,000 to $9 millionthroughout the development. About140 condos are available at TurnberryTowers and between 60 and 100 unitsare available for resale each year atTurnberry Place. While most initialbuyers several years ago were in their60s, the majority now are 40ish South-ern Californians who want a getawayhome to use several weekends amonth, according to Riordan. Thecompany discourages speculation byrequiring a 30 percent down payment,restricting rentals and not allowing re-sale before closing. “We want to makesure that the people are there to closeon it,” Riordan said.
Feature Story: High-Rise Construction
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Streamline Tower
The only condo high-rise in the newdowntown Entertainment District,Streamline Tower includes 21 storiesan luxury living above Las VegasBoulevard and Fremont Street. Pricesfor the 275 units range from around$400,000 to $1.4 million. Amenitiesinclude private balconies, a rooftoppool, a fitness center and conciergeservice. According to Allen, about 30percent of buyers (who range in agefrom 45 to 65) want a primary resi-dence they can move into right away.Around 40 percent want to put thecondo into a rental pool temporarilyand move in later. The remaining 30percent are buying for investmentpurposes. With about 60 percent ofthe units sold, the building is sched-uled for occupancy next year.
Trump International Hotel & Towers Las Vegas
Capitalizing on the brand name ofits developer, the Trump hotel-condoproject at 2000 Fashion Show Driveis characteristic of The Donald.Tower I is scheduled for occupancyearly next year with 1,282 units hav-ing been sold at an average cost ofaround $1,300 per square foot. Con-struction of Tower II will immedi-ately follow the completion ofTower I. About 95 percent of buyers,many of whom are “Trumpies” orfans of Trump, intend to put theirunits on the rental program, accord-ing to Christie. “The majority of ourbuyers are familiar with the Trumpname and want to be associated withit,” he explained. Christie believesthe sales are an indicator of the eco-nomic vitality of the country’syounger generations. “I’ve neverseen such a wide variety in age inthe buyers. I’m amazed at how manyyounger people can spend $800,000on a unit,” he said.
26 August 2007
Even though many high-rise pro-jects have been derailed recently, realestate movers and shakers agree thatLas Vegas will continue to grow sky-ward, albeit at a slower pace than dur-ing the early years of condo mania.“We’re down to 5 percent buildableland left in the Valley. The limitedland inventory drives the vertical con-struction,” Allen said. Riordan agreedthat there will always be a demand forcondos. “The high-rise lifestyle ishere to stay,” he emphasized.
The Urbanization of Reno
While growth in the Truckee Mead-ows has caused suburban sprawl inevery direction, it has also breathednew life into downtown Reno. Effortsto revitalize the declining city core overthe past decade have been successful inattracting new restaurants, cultural andentertainment options and a host ofspecial events that bring people down-town. Each addition to the mix, such asthe Truckee River Whitewater Park, hasincreased the synergy that convincesvisitors and residents alike that down-town Reno is the place to be. Onlywhen people begin living downtown,however, will the renovation of Renohave created a viable neighborhoodwhere residents live, work and play. “Ithink we have to give our mayor andcity council a huge amount of credit forwhat’s happening downtown. Theyhave vision,” said Kathie Bartlett, a Re-altor with Dickson Realty, who is sell-ing units at The Palladio.
Somewhat like Las Vegas, the targetmarket for downtown condos in Renois largely upwardly mobile young pro-fessionals and older empty nesters whoseek a more worry-free lifestyle. “Wethink our market is a combination ofempty nesters who may have multiplehomes and want to be able to just un-lock the door and have access to anurban lifestyle,” said Martha Shelley, apartner with Capstone Partners LLC,
Feature Story: High-Rise Construction
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August 2007 27
the company developing the Arterraproject. “Singles and couples also wantto establish residence in Reno, as wellas young couples with no children.”
With a few high-rise condominiumprojects welcoming new residents andwith other projects either in the con-struction or planning phases, it appearsthat the long-awaited makeover ofdowntown is finally coming to fruition.Projects completed or near occupancyinclude the Residences at Riverwalk(formerly the Comstock Hotel), SierraVista Towers (formerly the Reef Hoteland Casino), The Palladio and theBelvedere Towers (formerly the Sun-downer Casino). Those under con-struction include The Montage (for-merly The Golden Phoenix) and GrandSierra Resort and Casino (formerly theReno Hilton). Developments still onthe drawing boards include WingfieldTowers on Arlington Avenue betweenCourt Street and Island Avenue, TheWaterfront on Lake Street at the for-mer Bundox restaurant site and Arterraon Liberty and Sierra Streets.
Arterra
With 185 residences in 16 stories ofglass and steel on Liberty and Sierrastreets, Arterra will utilize an arttheme to position itself in the down-town arts district. Ground breakinghas been delayed until next year withcompletion scheduled for 2010, ac-cording to Shelley. Prices range from$300,000 to more than $1 millionwith amenities that include fitnessrooms, an outdoor terrace, a fire pitand spas. “The major challenge is re-sponding to the cyclical nature of allmarkets,” Shelley said. “If it was easyto do, a lot more people would bedoing it.”
Condo living is bound to play amajor role in the growth of the Truck-ee Meadows for some time to come,according to developers. “The de-mand will continue, but it’s hard to
Feature Story: High-Rise Construction
An aerial shot of the Strip shows the many high-rise projects under construction.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
Leo Brennan, Cox CommunicationsRob McCoy, EmbarqBen Brimhall, Verde CommunicationsJonathon Snyder, KeyOn Communications
Cheryl Hickman, DCSIBen Dubler, Amtel CommunicationsJack Huber, Aspen CommunicationsMike Ballard, 1 Velocity
30 August 2007
Industry Focus: Telecommunications
Recently, industry experts satdown at Cili in Las Vegas to dis-cuss Nevada’s telecommunica-
tions industry, including new legisla-tion, workforce issues, competitionand changing technology. ConnieBrennan, publisher of Nevada Busi-ness Journal, served as the moderatorfor the event as part of the magazine’smonthly Industry Focus series, whichbrings industry leaders together todiscuss issues pertinent to their pro-fessions. Following is a condensedversion of the roundtable discussion.
Legislation
Connie Brennan (Nevada Business Jour-nal): Let’s talk about the bills recentlypassed in the legislature.
Leo Brennan: AB 526 is called thestatewide media franchise bill. It'sunique because I think it's the first
time in the country that the telephoneoperators and the cable operatorsworked together. The whole conceptis to provide a statewide frameworkwhere a provider of multiple channelvideo could get a franchise to serveareas throughout the state. Right now,if you want to provide multiple chan-nel video, you have to go to everytown and go through the long fran-chising process, which can take quitesome time. With this bill, anybodythat wants to offer multiple channelvideo can go right to the state. And,with the statewide franchise, you canfranchise for a specific area in thestate. It levels the playing field and atthe same time, it continues to protectthe local governments and the localmunicipalities. They still have controlover the same things as they did whenthe franchise process was local andwill continue to get all the franchisefees for providing services, as well ascontinue to have public access chan-nels available. At the same time, it re-ally cleans up the process and makesit much faster. I think it's a benefit toall the providers. Rob McCoy: I think this legislation ishistorical in nature: having four big
players – Cox, Charter, AT&T andEmbarq – actually agree on legisla-tion like this. AB 518 was the telecomreform. The Telecom Act of 1996 wasdesigned to jump start competition.Anyone could get into the game andcompete with local companies and itworked. It worked so well, in fact, wesaid, “Wait a second. We're not on alevel playing field. There are certainthings that need to be fixed.” As a re-sult of 518, which was signed by thegovernor, incumbent telecom compa-nies will no longer be required to filerate cases. Additionally, companieslike Embarq, have always been re-quired by law to build-out to any andall developments. If a developer hasplans for a community 10 miles fromthe nearest development, and it’s inthe Embarq service area, we're re-quired to extend facilities. With AB518, the PUC (Public Utilities Com-mission) becomes the arbiter andwe’ll be required to make a case for oragainst – does it make good businesssense or doesn’t it?L. Brennan: Nevada is one of lead-ers on these issues. There aren’tmany states looking or talkingabout them yet.
August 2007 31
Industry Focus: Telecommunications
Competitive Marketplace
C. Brennan: How competitive is thisindustry?
Mike Ballard: Extremely competitive.It’s a big market, and there are a lot ofplayers out there.Cheryl Hickman: We are an intercon-nect company and we have other car-rier services that work in conjunctionwith us. They come to small compa-nies such as ours to form relationshipsso we can help sell their services. Iusually just focus on a couple of qual-ity or key companies that I can workwith, which is difficult, because thereare so many companies out there tochoose from.L. Brennan: Well, it became muchmore competitive when everybodystarted providing every other type ofbusiness. I don't think we have seenanything yet, based on how competi-tive it is going to get with everybodyfocusing on IT technology. Jonathon Snyder: And there's moneyin that. You couldn't convince anyonethat they needed anything telecom be-cause they were just licking all theirwounds five years ago.McCoy: Well, when the tech bubbleburst, it was big. An interesting devel-opment now is the emergence of piv-otal equity. It seems to have taken afoothold in the gaming industry. Timewill tell if PE becomes a player in thetelecom world.Snyder: Five years ago, you couldn'ttalk to anyone about telecom. Nowyou are seeing all telecom beingbought for whatever reason. Eitherway, there is so much money outthere looking at telecom or privatewhich is making the environmenteven more competitive because youhave new agents. Jack Huber: It's a time issue as primeequity has fewer and fewer deals tofund and, at the same time, telecom iscoming into its own light, that's a
32 August 2007
Industry Focus: Telecommunications
good combination for telecom.There's a lot of money available rightnow for this industry.
C. Brennan: With intense competi-tion, how do you stand out of thecrowd?
Snyder: Services. L. Brennan: Service and liability ofyour product.Ballard: Those are the things drivingyour market today, service and quality.McCoy: You can not overstate the im-portance of the hiring factor. The em-ployees can make or break you. Whenwe launched Embarq, we really fo-cused on that. They play a key role inthe service of our company.
Skilled Workforce
C. Brennan: How great is the demandfor technicians?
McCoy: There is a shortage of reallygood technicians. It's a big issue forEmbarq. We have partnered with theCollege of Southern Nevada (CSN) atthe Cheyenne Campus because re-cruiting technicians, getting themqualified and retaining them is a bigchallenge. L. Brennan: This is an issue for every-body. Technology is changing soquickly. It is really difficult to getquality people, and so much time isrequired for training.Snyder: It's hard to keep them. Theuniversity systems don't do a good jobtraining technicians. We have a biguniversity. We have a growing envi-ronment. We have the technologies,but the talent pool is limited. You lookat other regions in the country; half ofthose universities are feeding the SanFrancisco Bay area. Hickman: It's also the quality of thetechnicians, too. There are two typesof technicians – technical techniciansand network technicians – you need
Continued on Page 73
August 2007 73
both to really make the person-to-per-son VoIP work well. Ballard: CSN invested a huge effortover the last seven or eight years tobuild this Cisco school. It was theright time and place for the project butit just seems as if, in the last year anda half, they dismantled much of whatthey accomplished.Huber: Well, CSN is geared betterthan any other school to come up witha curriculum quickly and stay current.I'm on the board of advisers for thecollege of engineering at UNLV. Thebig problem is the university wants todo a good job of bringing well-trainedpeople into the community, but theaccreditation requirements preventthem from staying current. McCoy: The training process reallydepends on the individual involvedand then it’s a matter of ongoing edu-cation. Job-hopping creates difficul-ties for all of us. Our goal is to retainthe best and the brightest. Ben Brimhall:You really have to look atthe individual and discover his or herinterest, and motivations then, put forththe effort into retaining him or her.
Educating Customers
C. Brennan: Are business clients moresophisticated today?
Brimhall: I would say their needs aremore sophisticated. The businessowner himself is not necessarily so-phisticated.McCoy: Many have also retained consul-tants who drive the purchase decisions.Snyder: There's a lot more media at-tention about technology, too. So ifthey don't know what they're doing,they can certainly use the blurbs theyget from the media. Brimhall: When we started five yearsago, it was a challenge at times toconvince a small business they need-ed wireless Internet. Many of themwere satisfied with what they had and
Industry Focus: Telecommunications
Continued From Page 32
didn’t see a need for high-speed Inter-net. Now, they're much more aware ofwhat is out there.
Understanding VoIP
Hickman: VoIP stands for voice overInternet protocol. DCSI provides theapplication for companies that havemore than one location, especially if
they have out-of-town locations be-cause, as of this point, they can callbranch to branch for free. Businessescan eliminate a lot of long-distanceexpenses. Other applications must in-clude local businesses that may haveseveral branches. They might have alarge location and then a few smallbranches. We mainly use an in-housePBX-type of server in one location and
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have a lot of people who work outsideof the office. Instead of utilizing spacein the office, they can work fromhome, have an extension at home andutilize the voice application that way.Or, they can program the extensionthrough their cell phone, and it's as ifthey're actually answering calls andworking out of the office. Snyder:With the new phone systems, an ex-
tension can be set up in a matter ofseconds just by plugging in a phoneand assigning them an IP address. Itallows you to customize the way thecalls get routed into the system andyou can do things more efficientlyand effectively.Huber: Another big advantage withVoIP is the integration of the PC onthe network with phone systems. Out-look can be used right on your desk-top to call to and from voicemail.There's a lot of advantage to that inte-gration.Brimhall: As businesses look at VoIP,they can choose how they want tocommunicate with their customersand how they want to communicatewith each other in order to serve cus-tomer needs. There are a lot of advan-tages to the voice overwrite IP systemand the way that e-mail messages aredelivered and the way that you inte-grate your call center application withyour voice system. You can have aPRM system automatically talk andbring up the exact relevant customerdata when a call comes in. It givesyou so much more customizable ca-pabilities that you didn't have with in-house PBX systems or it was very dif-ficult to improvise. Now, rather thanbe tied into the box in the back ofyour office, you are on a leash to awhole new world of communicationwith your customers.
C. Brennan: Is it expensive for smallbusinesses?
L. Brennan: No.Hickman: It depends on what theywant. If they request every serviceavailable, it can cost them. But thebasic applications can be very cost ef-fective.Brimhall: I think it depends more onwhere they're at in their life cycle ofpurchasing hardware. If the existingPBX system is aged and the companyis looking to make a replacement or
Industry Focus: Telecommunications
then a couple of phones at each of theirbranches. A company doesn’t have tohave an actual phone system at eachlocation. Those phones can be utilizedas if they were in the main branch.Somebody can call the main numberand ask for a specific extension andthe person at that extension might beacross town, but it's as if they were inthe same location. A business might
August 2007 75
Industry Focus: Telecommunications
has grown past the PBX, the cost ofswitching to a VoIP system really isn'tthat much. If you had specific busi-ness reasons for expanded communi-cations, and if you had a lot of remoteoffices that you wanted to integrateinto one system, you could probablyput together a decent case for convert-ing to VoIP.McCoy: Speed and flexibility are thehallmarks of today’s communicationsindustry. The customer demands itand we have to provide it, whether it’svoice or data.Huber: VoIP has been around for along time. But initially, providers hadall kinds of trouble because the tech-nology had not really arrived to makeit a dependable service. Over the lastyear or so, some good equipment hascome out – this is a prime time forVoIP technology.Brimhall: It's not necessarily just thehardware but your proximity – you,from a network perspective to theend user's device, the IP phone, tothe network head where it actuallyhits a solid land line and goes out –and the quality, whether it's a localnetwork or a wireless network. Thenetwork is important because itflows from the handset to the in-boxwith all the logic. It's critical to un-derstand how that communicationflows and how solidly they systemwill work.
Bundling
Brennan: Bundling is when a customerhas the capability to buy a combinationof services from one provider. Whetherit's your telephone service, your videoservice, or your data service, you get itall from one company.Brimhall: By putting everything onone bill users need only call one com-pany for all of their technology ser-vices – cable, phone, Internet. Huber: Usually, the decision to bundlealso involves costs, since the service
may include more than one vendor.We are looking at partnerships withother companies to bundle servicesinto one package, the sales and mar-keting of which a new, separate com-pany will be set up to handle. That'sall happening behind the scenes. Soit's not just one company saying,“We're going to give you this serviceand this service.” That's not alwayspossible. But with the partnerships we
forge, we can offer a variety of ser-vices from different companies in onebundle.McCoy: Partnerships have become apopular vehicle in our industry. Weare leasing the wireless platform fromSprint and selling it under the Embarqlabel. Sprint is doing the same thingin the cable industry with Cox. Theseare strategic partnerships that makegood business sense.
Speed and flexibility are the hallmarks of today’s
communications industry. The customer
demands it and we have to provide it.
76 August 2007
Brimhall: We have seen a massivechange in the last five years in thecomplexity of services that businessesare looking for, including keeping in-frastructure tuned, as well as expand-ing to fill the rapidly growing needsof our customers.Huber: Businesses already know theywant it – we don’t have to sell theconcept – so our jobs are much easier.Snyder: The information penetrationhas increased probably 50 percent.Entertainment is being delivered moreefficiently – You Tube, DVR, etc.Now consumers will spend the moneyfor technology they wouldn’t haveeven considered purchasing a fewyears ago. L. Brennan: And that's just it. Oncepeople get a taste of accessing showswhenever they want, they arehooked.Snyder: Look at broadband, every-one was building business casesaround the option in 1998. Now,broadband is everywhere because itallows businesses to do so muchmore, and there are so many moreapplications to provide.Brimhall: Employee production con-
tinues to climb and it's all because oftechnological advances in communi-cations. Small businesses are able todo far more than they ever could andit's all based on the technical servicesthey're utilizing. It's kind of a cyclicalprocess where you have technologyserving customers, the customers de-manding services from communica-tion providers and communicationproviders are straining to deliver. I'mexcited to see what happens in thenext few years. McCoy: We are really energized bythe industry. And a lot of that excite-ment is due to progressive innova-tions in technology. We just lovewhat we do. I grew up watching TheJetsons and now I'm living it. It'swhat makes our industry so viableand exciting.
Industry Focus: Telecommunications
Wireless
Ballard: Consumers are taking advan-tage of much more technology today.I mean, the services and capacities areexpanding. Providers are thriving andmarket share is growing because thepie is getting bigger. I think that's atrend that has allowed all of us to suc-ceed. It's being driven now by mem-bers of this younger generation whohave demands for mobility. Many nolonger have a land line, instead, theyelect wireless service for both busi-ness and personal use. McCoy: Wireless substitution is bigand it's growing. I think it's probablybigger in the Las Vegas market than itis in any other market because of areagrowth and the somewhat transientnature of the market.L. Brennan: It’s not a huge issuetoday, but I think that capabilitiesgrow as time goes on and as technol-ogy continues to develop. It won’t bejust telephone. It will be video tech-nologies, as well. Ballard: Only 12 to 15 percent ofcommercial builders today install theinfrastructures for connections. Itcosts $120 a foot to lay fiber down, soit’s not inexpensive. Often, there’s notenough capital to install fiber optics.Wireless is the alternative for deliver-ing the connection; as well as futuretechnologies. For example, our com-pany is positioned to deliver a high-speed connection that also has video.
C. Brennan: What will be the biggestchallenge for this industry in the nextfive years?
L. Brennan: I would say just trying tostay one step ahead of technology andpositioning your company to stayahead is probably one of the biggestchallenges our industry faces.McCoy: I think it's delivering what ourcustomers want, when they want itand at the price they can afford.
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Dick Rizzo, vice chairman of Perini Building Group, is buildingsome of the largest commercial projects on the Strip.
August 2007 79
VIEW FROM THE TOPA LOOK AT NEVADA’S LARGEST COMMERCIAL PROJECTS
Nevada’s population growth andits bullish business climate hasresulted in a statewide building
industry with nearly $9 billion worthof construction spending in 2007, re-ported McGraw-Hill. Construction isthe state’s second largest and fastestgrowing employer, reveals the Neva-da Department of Employment,Training and Rehabilitation (DETR).The industry is responsible for nearly150,000 jobs statewide – about 11percent of the workforce.
“Nevada’s job growth has been run-ning three to four times the nationalaverage in the past several years,” saidTerry Johnson, DETR director. “Theconstruction industry is expected toincrease by 10,000 jobs in 2007, in-cluding positions for heavy-equip-ment operators, carpenters, electri-cians and other craftsmen.”
Construction contributes $5.1 bil-lion annually in wage and salaries,while generating $14.7 billion worthof economic activity, making it sec-
ond only to the leisure and hospitalitysector. For every $1.00 of construc-tion activity, it creates $1.57 in busi-ness activity.
“The industry is inextricably linkedto the state’s economic and fiscal suc-cesses during the past decades,” saidJeremy Aguero, principal of AppliedAnalysis, a Las Vegas-based econom-ic research firm. “There are numerousbillion-dollar-plus projects planned orunderway and a backlog of public in-frastructure improvements in the de-velopment pipeline.”
Much of that construction revenue isbeing spent along the Las Vegas Strip,with $35.46 billion worth of construc-tion projects planned through 2010, re-ported the Las Vegas Convention &Visitors Authority. Currently approvedplans will add 42,092 more hotelrooms, 2,562 timeshare units and 3.49million square feet of conventionspace. Another $13 billion in tentativeprojects calls for an additional 36,703hotel rooms and 7,088 timeshare units.
CityCenter
Yet no job is larger than MGM Mi-rage’s Project CityCenter – a $7.4 bil-lion, 18.67 million-square-foothotel/condo/entertainment complexbeing built on the Strip between theBellagio and Monte Carlo resorts. It’sthe largest privately financed projectin U.S. history, company officialsclaim. CityCenter will be the size ofRockefeller Center, SoHo and TimesSquare combined. The Empire StateBuilding, by contrast, is only one-eighth the size.
Perini Building Co., the projectcontractor, will employ up to 7,000people during the peak of construc-tion activity, or one-third of SouthernNevada’s total union trade workforce,said Perini Vice-Chairman DickRizzo. Situated on 76 acres, theseven-building development will con-sist of 2,702 condo and condo-hotelunits and a 500,000-square-foot shop-ping mall designed by World Trade
Building Nevada: View from the Top
80 August 2007
Center architect Daniel Libeskind.The site is anchored by twin 60-storyglass hotel towers, totaling 6.5 mil-lion square feet, with a 1,800-seatCirque du Soleil theater. Designed byCesar Pelli, architect of the PetronasTowers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,the non-themed, 4,000-room hotelwill have a 200,000-square-foot casi-no and a 225,000-square-foot conven-tion center. In addition, five distincttowers will feature 1,543 condo-hotelunits and 1,159 condos, as well as15,000 parking spaces. The residen-tial portion includes Helmut Jahn’sdual 37-story Veer Towers, combiningfor 700 condos; Rafael Vinoly’s 50-story, 1,543-unit Vdara condo-hotel;Kohn Pedersen Fox’s 442-room Man-darin Hotel and Residences; and SirNorman Foster’s 228-unit HarmonHotel & Residences.
CityCenter will be serviced by a2,090-foot monorail extension, a$150 million people mover systemand its own onsite fire and paramedicstation. It will have 12.8 acres of openspace with pedestrian trails, plazasand recreation areas. With 12,000 em-ployees, plus residents and visitors,CityCenter could see 30,000 people aday when it opens in November 2009.That’s roughly double the populationof Boulder City.
Cosmopolitan Resort
Immediately adjacent to CityCenterabuts the new $2 billion Cosmopoli-tan Resort Casino currently underconstruction at the northwest cornerof Harmon Avenue and the Strip, ad-jacent to the Bellagio. Perini is thegeneral contractor. Cosmopolitanconsists of two 53-story glass-and-concrete towers with a five-level re-tail, casino and entertainment podi-um. The 3,000-room condo-hotelproperty is being developed by IanBruce Eicher. Cosmopolitan ResortCasino is scheduled to open in 2009.
August 2007 81
Echelon
Boyd Gaming Corp., however, isn’tone to be outdone. On June 19, thefirm broke ground on the $4.8 billionEchelon, just north of CityCenter onthe Strip. The mixed-use complex islocated at the former site of the Star-dust hotel-casino, which was implod-ed in March. The project will havefive hotel towers with a combined5,000 rooms. Morgans Hotel Group,owner of the Hard Rock, is contribut-ing the Delano and Mondrian hotelsfor 1,600 rooms. The two hotels, de-signed by Miami architect Chad Op-penheim, will cost $950 million toconstruct. Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts will construct a353-room hotel, and Boyd will buildtwo hotels itself – Hotel Echelon andthe Suites at Echelon.
The project is situated on 87 acres,with 22 acres set aside for future de-velopment. The eight-building devel-opment will be constructed through aseries of low-bid individual projects,with New York-based Tishman Con-struction Corp. acting as constructionmanager.
“Boyd has made the project attrac-tive to contractors with strong finan-cial backing and a history of timelypayments,” said Daniel Tishman,company chairman and CEO. “This isa design-buy-build project.”
Echelon will have a 750,000-square-foot convention center, a140,000-square-foot casino and a$500 million, 300,000-square-footshopping center jointly developedwith Chicago-based General GrowthProperties, the firm responsible forthe Fashion Show Mall. The projectadditionally boasts two theaters –4,000-seat and 1,500-seat theaters –both operated by AEG Live, Los An-geles, plus 9,000 parking spaces and30 dining and entertainment venues.Echelon, despite its impressive bulk,is neatly bundled into an elegant,
August 2007 83
upscale environment that’s sure togenerate heavy buzz when its debutsin the third quarter of 2010.
But the Strip is already ablaze withconstruction projects like SteveWynn’s $2.1 billion, 60-story Encoreat Wynn Las Vegas, which consists of2,032 hotel rooms and a 72,000-square-foot casino. Tutor-Saliba Corp,Sylmar, Calif., the general contractor,is scheduled to finish the 20-acre un-dertaking by early 2009. Las VegasSands is building the new $2.6 billion,50-story Palazzo hotel-casino, justsouth of Wynn Las Vegas. Taylor Inter-national Corp., Las Vegas, is the con-tractor for the 3,025-room mega-resortthat includes a 105,000-square-footcasino and 375,000-square-foot shop-ping mall. The 4,000-employee Palaz-zo will open later this year. In Febru-ary, construction began on the $2.9billion, 3,889-room Fontainebleau LasVegas at the 25-acre former site of theEl Rancho hotel-casino. The 63-storytower will have a 100,000-square-footcasino, 60,000-square-foot spa and a3,200-seat theater. Developed byFontainebleau Resorts LLC – headedby Turnberry Chief Jeffrey Soffer andex-Mandalay Bay President GlenSchaeffer – the new Strip mega-resortwill finish in the fall of 2009. Mean-while, “The Donald” is building the$600 million, 64-story Trump Interna-tional Hotel & Tower across the street,adjacent to Fashion Show Mall (seestory page 26). Perini is the contractorfor the 645-foot-tall, 1,282-unit condo-hotel tower. The gold glass skyscraperis scheduled to finish in February2008. It will be followed by a secondidentical $700 million, 1,282-unittower to break ground next year.
World Market Center
Downtown is also awash in con-struction work with projects such asthe $3 billion, 12 million-square-foot
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84 August 2007
Building Nevada: View from the Top
Streamline Tower, a new 275-unitdowntown residential skyscraper, isscheduled to finish in February 2008at Ogden Avenue and Las VegasBoulevard North. Las Vegas-basedMartin-Harris Construction is thegeneral contractor. Cherry Develop-ment and Seegmiller Partners are de-veloping the $87 million, 168-unitNewport Lofts nearby at Casino Cen-ter Drive and Hoover Avenue. BreslinBuilders, the general contractor, willfinish the 23-story residential high-rise later this year. Between Third andFourth streets, CityMark Develop-ment is building the $167 million Juhlat 255 E. Bonneville Avenue.. Thesix-building complex will house 330residences, 13 live-work units and24,000 square feet of storefrontshops. CityMark, the firm creditedwith reenergizing San Diego’s Lamp-light District, was selected from a na-tionwide request-for-proposal processto develop the 2.38-acre city-ownedsite. Juhl’s first residents are expectedto move in by April 2008. New York-based Turner Construction Co. is thegeneral contractor.
The luxury condo and condo-hotelhigh-rise market is helping keep
World Market Center at Grand Cen-tral Parkway and Bonneville Avenue.Developed by World Market CenterLLC and the Related Cos., New York,the 57-acre home furnishings designcomplex will consist of eight build-ings ranging from 10 to 16 stories tall,all connected by skywalks. PENTABuilding Group, Las Vegas, is now atwork on the third and largest building– a 16-story, 2.1 million-square-footstructure. The $550 million additionis scheduled to finish in June 2008.
“The third building marks the mile-stone in our race to fulfill the vision ofWorld Market Center as the predomi-nant international market for the in-dustry,” said Shawn Sampson, co-founder and managing partner.“Home furnishings is a $120 billion ayear industry.”
Downtown Projects
Other downtown projects includethe $107 million, 852,000-square-footMolasky Corporate Center II at GrandCentral and City parkways, whichwill be Las Vegas’ only LEED-certi-fied Class A office tower when it de-buts in September. The $104 million
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World Market Center is a $3-billion, 12-million-square-foot furniture design complex at Grand Central Parkway and Bonneville Avenue.
August 2007 85
local constructors busy with 69 pro-jects, totaling 45,616 units, plannedin the first quarter, reported John Re-strepo, principal of Restrepo Con-sulting Group, a Las Vegas-basedeconomic research firm. While somewell publicized cancellations haveoccured, many developments are stillmoving forward.
“There should be sufficient demandto absorb the 6,616 units in the 14projects that have gone vertical andthe 24,809 units that are proposed orhaven’t broken ground,” Restreposaid. “Many of the vertical projectsthat have vertical are located alongthe resort and Harmon corridors.”
Palms Place
The Palms hotel-casino, for exam-ple, is building the $650 million, 50-story Palms Place at Flamingo Roadand Arville Street, a few blocks westof the Strip. The 599-unit residentialskyscraper will open in time forChristmas. M.J. Dean Construction,Las Vegas, is the contractor. The $190million, 41-story Allure Las Vegas onSahara Avenue, also just west of theStrip, is slated to debut in September.The 428-unit residential skyscraper isbeing developed by Chicago-basedFifield Cos.
Boca Raton
The South Strip is a beehive of con-struction activity, as well, with thenew $450 million, 756-unit BocaRaton at Serene Avenue and LasVegas Boulevard South. Developedby Palm Beach Resort Condomini-ums LLC, the 15-acre mid-rise condocomplex consists of four seven-storybuildings. The first two buildings, to-taling 378 homes, opened this springwith a two-level, 10,000-square-footclubhouse. Boca Raton is scheduledfor build-out by late 2009. Yet it’s justone of many emerging South Strip
88 August 2007
Building Nevada: View from the Top
building the 400-acre Beltway Busi-ness Park directly across from TheArroyo. The Beltway Business Parkwill eventually contain 55 build-ings, totaling 5.86 million squarefeet. Industrial space will make up54.6 percent of the completed pro-ject, with 3.19 million square feet in14 buildings; office space will ac-count for 33.2 percent; technologywill take up 7.8 percent; and retailspace will comprise 4.4 percent,with 12 buildings combining for260,500 square feet. The BeltwayBusiness Park is estimated to reachbuild-out in 2012.
“We’re developing different prod-uct types to meet a variety of businessneeds,” said Rick Myers, Thomas &Mack’s executive vice president. “Weare continuing to see strong and di-verse economic growth fueling de-mand for office, retail and industrialspace in Southern Nevada.”
Looking North
Northern Nevada, meanwhile, is ex-periencing its own building boom. Onenotable project underway in Reno is the$350 million, 600-room Peppermillhotel-casino expansion located onSouth Virginia Street. Plans call for an18-story hotel addition and 63,000-square-foot convention center to finishby early 2008. Sierra Bay Construc-tors/SMC Construction are the joint-venture general contractor. Meanwhile,the University of Nevada, Reno is un-dergoing a $131.1 million expansionwith the new four-story, 165,000-square-foot Joe Crowley Student UnionCenter, plus the adjacent five-story,295,000-square-foot Knowledge Centerlibrary that includes a 200-seat auditori-um. Q&D Construction is building thelibrary, scheduled to finish in May2008, while PENTA Building Group ishandling the new student union, which
is on track to finish this fall.
Virginia Lake Crossing
Further south, SilverStar Communi-ties is building the Virginia Lake Cross-ing, a mixed-use development consist-ing of 220 homes and 100,000 squarefeet of retail, restaurant and office spacebetween South Virginia Street and Vir-ginia Lake, across from Park LaneMall. “This is going to be a beautifulneighborhood ‘pocket’ where residentswill be able to get to most places with-out needing a car,” said Reno CityCouncil Member Sharon Zadra. “Thatmakes it a model for the more environ-mentally healthy lifestyles we’re plan-ning for Reno’s future. And it cleans upa very blighted corner at the southerngateway to our economic core.”
Tony Illia is a freelance writer basedin Southern Nevada.
90 August 2007
Longford Properties Offers Incentive
In an effort to help new tenants off-set relocation costs, Longford Plaza,a development of Longford Proper-ties, is offering new tenants month-ly rental rates of $1 for the first sixmonths with a five year lease. Theoffice and retail property is locatedon Warm Springs, between Easternand Pecos in Las Vegas. Completeda year ago, the one-story complexincludes 235,000 square feet withsuites ranging from 100 square feetto 8,000 square feet. Current ten-ants include dentists, doctors, chi-ropractors, mortgage companiesand construction companies.
Commercial Real Estate FirmGoes Green
By 2010, CB Richard Ellis Group,Inc., a commercial real estate ser-vices company, wants to becomethe first major commercial real es-tate service to go carbon-neutral.The firm plans to assist its clientsby introducing energy efficiencyprograms at the properties under itsmanagement, which encompass 1.7billion square feet of space. Fur-thermore, to reduce carbon emis-sions, the firm will employ invest-ments in carbon offsets whenevernecessary. Locally, CB RichardEllis’ Las Vegas office is workingwith clients to reduce energy costsand create greener space in a mea-surable way that increases value,yet takes a responsible approach toresources.
RCS Development Starts Two New Projects
RCS Development broke ground onSerene Neighborhood Plaza, an11,750-square-foot, $5 million retailcommunity center. Closely follow-ing, the company broke ground onthe 22,000-square-foot, $9 millionPatrick Neighborhood Plaza. PatrickNeighborhood Plaza is locatedacross the street from Del Sol HighSchool, not far from the 215 Beltwayand the I-15 freeway. Serene Neigh-borhood Plaza is located on Eastern,near the 215 Beltway and SilveradoHigh School. The general contractorfor both developments is MassengaleConstruction and leasing agent ofrecord is Gatski Commercial RealEstate Services. Both projects arescheduled for completion in the firstquarter of 2008.
Inspirada Town Center Plan Approved
The city of Henderson recently ap-proved a plan to develop a 300-acreparcel of land as the town center ofInspirada, a 2,000-acre master-planned community in southwest LasVegas. The town center will serve asa venue for civic and communityevents. This urban town center willbe developed with shops, services,entertainment and office space, aswell as various home styles from sin-gle-family homes to condominiumand town homes populating the towncenter area. Building for civic andmunicipal uses and a casino, also areincluded in the plan.
New Retail Center Opens inNorth Las Vegas
The first large-scale, commercial retailproject within the redevelopment areaof downtown North Las Vegas,Cheyenne Point, recently had its grandopening. The retail center is a result ofa public-private partnership betweenMontecito Companies and the city ofNorth Las Vegas RedevelopmentAgency. The $30 million, 95,000-square-foot retail center is near I-15and the Cheyenne Avenue interchange.Anchored by Mariana’s Supermarketalong with two additional anchor ten-ants totaling more than 20,000 squarefeet, Cheyenne Point saw the openingof Starbucks and T-Mobile along withseveral other tenants.
Educational Technology CampusBreaks Ground
Vegas PBS and the Clark CountySchool District broke ground on theirlatest partnership, the EducationalTechnology Campus. The $37.5 mil-lion building nearly completes a $61million capital :Campaign for theDigital Future" launched in 2000 byVegas PBS. The campus will houseVegas PBS studios and offices, theCCSD Virtual High School and theemergency response data casting op-erations to backup Nevada's Home-land Security capacities. The three-story campus totals 112,000 squarefeet and will be applying for LEEDGold Certification. Martin-HarrisConstruction is the contractor for thisproject which is scheduled comple-tion in October 2008.
Patrick Neighborhood Plaza
B U I L D I N G N E V A D A B R I E F S
August 2007 91
Southern Nevada statistics compiled by Applied Analysis.
Northern Nevada statistics compiled by NAI Alliance
ABBREVIATION KEY
MGFS: Modified Gross Full-Service
SF/MO: Square Foot Per Month
NNN: Net Net Net
TOTAL MARKET Las Vegas Reno
Total Square Feet
Vacant Square Feet
Percent Vacant
New Construction
Net Absorption
Average Lease sf/mo (nnn)
Under Construction
Planned
DISTRIBUTION
Total Square Feet
Vacant Square Feet
Percent Vacant
New Construction
Net Absorption
Average Lease sf/mo (nnn)
Under Construction
Planned
MANUFACTURING
Total Square Feet
Vacant Square Feet
Percent Vacant
New Construction
Net Absorption
Average Lease sf/mo (nnn)
Under Construction
Planned
R&D
Total Square Feet
Vacant Square Feet
Percent Vacant
New Construction
Net Absorption
Average Lease sf/mo (nnn)
Under Construction
Planned
FLEX
Total Square Feet
Vacant Square Feet
Percent Vacant
New Construction
Net Absorption
Average Lease sf/mo (nnn)
Under Construction
Planned
91,427,721
4,045,672
4.4%
2,330,227
1,405,231
$0.81
7,146,037
4,190,233
58,491,118
2,465,547
4.2%
1,489,809
948,522
$0.71
5,750,824
3,505,691
20,204,865
759,488
3.8%
564,572
324,393
$0.91
1,160,963
633,246
476,018
0
0.0%
0
0
$0.00
51,040
0
12,255,720
820,637
6.7%
275,846
132,316
$1.00
183,210
51,296
INDUSTRIAL– 1st Quarter 2007
Next Month: OFFICE
Commercial Real Estate Report
63,168,244
4,248,306
6.7%
492,909
-352,771
$0.34
2,208,960
1,529,000
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school!” Follmer noted that the prob-lem is not limited to doctors. Mostprofessionals, he explained, includ-ing dentists, lawyers, advertising ex-ecutives are ill-equipped to design anoffice. The answer for some is to hirean army of consultants includingspace planners, interior designers, ITand communication specialists,plumbers, etc.
Tradewinds Construction has beenworking with tenant improvementprojects since 1988. The companyfills a niche for small business own-ers who are either buying or leasingoffice space: Turnkey, one-stop de-sign/build services, including every-thing necessary to complete medical,dental, Class A offices oroffice/warehouse facilities.
Tradewinds Design/Build Interiorsprovides space planning, workingdrawings, interior design services,furniture, fixtures and equipment(workstations and furnishings), ITsolutions (hardware, software andmaintenance), communication andsecurity systems. Design/Buildmanagement team also is able to fa-cilitate all financing arrangements,including SBA loans.
Tradewinds Design/Build Interiorsis now operating a design center,which provides clients with one-stopshopping for everything they need tocustomize their office. “We provideeverything required for a medical,dental, professional office or of-fice/warehouse, right down to theplants in the corner, the pictures onthe wall, and the pens in the deskdrawer,” said Jeffrey Vilkin,Tradewinds president and CEO.
wning your own office isa growing trend in LasVegas among small busi-ness owners, doctors,
dentists and lawyers. According to Jessica Willett, se-
nior research coordinator in the LasVegas office of CB Richard Ellis,there are currently 675,000 squarefeet of the so-called “office condos,”with 735,000 square feet under con-struction and another 617,000 squarefeet planned. Las Vegas developer,Venture Corporation, recently com-pleted a 120,000-square-foot, “ownyour own office” business park atFort Apache and Russell and hasplans to develop similar parksthroughout the Valley.
However, many business ownersare finding that buying office space(units typically range from 2,500 to10,000 square feet) is a lot more likedesigning a custom home. Ownersliterally have to build out the entirespace and make arrangements foreverything from flooring to windowtreatments, work stations to receptionarea, break room to rest rooms, aswell as communication and securitysystems, computer hardware, soft-ware installation and maintenance.
“It can be a bit overwhelming tosay the least,” said Bruce Follmer, amedical office broker in the LasVegas office of CBRE. “Many doc-tors want to own their own office asa financial investment for the future,”said Follmer. “However, they are un-prepared for the time and expenseassociated with creating an office en-vironment. This is definitely some-thing they don’t teach in medical
Tradewinds ConstructionEasing the Burden of Tenant Improvements
O
A T T H E T O P
Manhard, president of Manhard Con-sulting said the merger will boost hisfirm’s presence in Northern Nevada –where Capital Engineering has servedclients for 18 years – and complementManhard Consulting’s Reno location.In the same manner, the merger willbring nationwide resources to Capi-tal’s clients in Nevada and delivertheir multi-disciplinary format toManhard clients nationwide.
Nevada State College Gets Additional Land
The Board of Regents of the NevadaSystem of Higher Education (NSHE)recently approved an agreement be-tween Nevada State College (NSC) andthe cty of Henderson conveying 500-plus acres of federal land, west of In-terstate 515 in southern Henderson, tothe college. The Henderson City Coun-cil approved the agreement the follow-ing week. NSC also teamed with thecity of Henderson and the NSHE topass a bill establishing a new taxingarea for the 509-acre development.Among other benefits, the bill stipu-lates that the area’s property taxes willbe used to develop the campus and aportion of the property must accommo-date affordable housing for low- tomoderate-income families.
LRS Systems Offers AlcoholAwareness Classes
LRS Systems, a licensed provider ofclasses on various subjects such as do-mestic violence and impulsecontrol/anger management, also offersonline courses to obtain alcohol aware-ness cards at alcoholawareness.com.Some benefits of obtaining alcoholawareness cards through LRS Systems’online courses include: LRS can caterto the specific needs of individual com-panies; the courses are in compliancewith the most recent Nevada legislation(adopted in 2005); and employees canreceive certification on the same daythey are hired. The total cost of the al-cohol awareness course is $19.95.
92 August 2007
Recruitment Providers Combine Resources
Jobing.com, an online recruitmentprovider serving seven states withbranches in 17 metropolitan areas(Southern Nevada included), recentlyacquired LocalCareers.com Inc.Launched in October of 1998, LocalCa-reers.com is an online network that en-compasses nearly 400 local and nicheemployment Web sites across the U.S.Aaron Matos who founded Jobing.comin 2000, said the acquisition will expandhis company’s focus beyond the state’s itcurrently serves. Brian Weis, founder ofLocalCareers.com, said combining re-sources with Jobing.com will better serve clients of both firms. LocalCa-reers.com will continue to functionunder Weis’ management, but will do soas a division of Jobing.com.
Land Donated to Public Education Foundation
More than four acres of land, valuedin excess of $2.6 million, was donat-ed by The LandWell Company to thePublic Education Foundation for thehousing of public school teachers inthe Clark County School District(CCSD). CCSD Although CCSDemploys over 18,000 licensed teach-ers, the fifth largest school district inthe nation suffers a shortage of qual-ified educators to serve in its 326schools with over 302,000 studentsin attendance. The land, located westof U.S. 95 in Henderson, will pro-vide affordable housing for teachersand aid in the efforts to recruit addi-tional prospects.
Manhard Consulting, Ltd. Acquires Capital Engineering, Inc.Manhard Consulting, Ltd., a civil en-gineering firm with more than 350employees, recently acquired CapitalEngineering, Inc. of Carson City. Thecompanies have partnered on a varietyof projects since 2003 – the acquisi-tion will allow them to work together on a permanent basis. Donald
N E V A D A B R I E F S
August 2007 93
he banking industry has long relied on thesame stock response regarding credit unioncompetition. The credit union tax exemptionis unfair, they repeatedly say, because it puts
banks at a competitive disadvantage and impedes theirefforts to maximize profits. Of course, credit unionshave continued to point out that the banking industry’srecord earnings tend to undermine such a view.
While banks have done a great job of ignoring creditunions for making this observation, they may have moredifficulty ignoring a recent government accountabilityoffice report that examines how their industry has faredfinancially since the 1980s. Requested by Sen. BernieSanders, I-Vt., the report documents the steady rise ofbank profits and how the banking industry has benefitedfrom substantial federal tax breaks.
Over the last 10 years, net income for banks grew at arate twice that of credit unions, and banks and thrifts in-creasingly availed themselves of subchapter S status toavoid corporate income tax. By 2006, the same year thebanking industry set a new earnings record, 31 percentof banks and thrifts – a total of 2,356 institutions – hadconverted to subchapter S corporations.
Sure, credit unions have a federal tax exemption,but it’s quite paltry compared to the $108 billion intax deductions that banks claimed in 2004. The reportalso estimates the significant cost to taxpayers for thethrift bailout in the 1980s at about $198 billion (in2006 dollars).
The banks are right about one thing: it isn’t a levelplaying field out there. Banks clearly have the advantageand are making the most of it.
he disagreement between banks and creditunions is simple: we pay taxes, credit unionspay virtually none. This includes FederalCorporate Income Taxes (36 percent), sales
taxes on purchases (7.5 percent), Nevada Business Tax(2 percent of employee compensation) and Nevadabank branch franchise tax of $7,000 per branch). Hereare some quotes from the credit union industry round-table transcribed in the May 2005 issue of NevadaBusiness Journal. “Our members [depositors] paytaxes on the dividends we pay them,” said William Fer-rence of Boulder Dam Credit Union. “We pay payrolltaxes,” said Sue Longson, Sonepco Federal CreditUnion. Alan Pughs of Community ONE said, Don’t taxyou, don’t tax me, tax the man behind the tree. Let’s allbeat the system. They say if it weren’t for their tax ex-empt status banks would gouge the public. “That’s oneof the reasons Congress put us in the game – to keepthe banks in check,” said Ferrence. That appearsnowhere in the legislative history of credit unions.Markets create competition, not government.
Credit unions ignore the tax exempt question, seeking hol-low defenses and promoting untrue statements. There is noreason to subsidize the public’s financial services. And now,Nevada Federal Credit Union offers real estate brokerage at4.5 percent listing fee and .6 percent rebate, and title work atdiscount prices. It is wrong for the government subsidy toallow them to compete in other private sector areas.
Congress never intended for there to be two financialsystems – one that pays taxes and one that doesn’t.Every taxpayer should be offended by the credit uniontax exemption.
Is it a fair playing field?
S T A T E T H E I S S U E S
T T
Ducking Taxes and Proud of itBy Bill Martin, Nevada State Bank
Question:
Record Earnings Prove Banks Have the AdvantageBy Bradley W. Beal, Nevada Federal Credit Union
Banks vs. Credit Unions
94 August 2007
monthly budgets. Americans mustlook beyond the current circum-stances and support programs thatwill produce long-term results, suchas the utilization of alternative en-ergy. Southern Nevada has been aleader in looking at alternative en-ergy options.
One of the most abundant renew-able energy sources in Nevada issolar energy. The ample supply ofthe sun's energy is evident as nightshifts to day, energy consumers candepend upon the reliability of thesun to supply their consumer energyneeds. The Nevada Solar One facili-ty, located in Boulder City, is onlineto provide 40,000 households withservice to meet their energy needs.This is significant given the de-mands that growth in SouthernNevada is putting on our public util-ity sources. As Southern Nevada ex-pands, so must our vision for theneeds of our growing community.Our state, under the leadership offormer Gov. Kenny Guinn, must beapplauded for setting an aggressivegoal of requiring 15 percent of allelectricity created in Nevada to bederived from renewable energysources. With companies such as
Solargenix and their Nevada SolarOne facility, Nevada is well on itsway to becoming an internationalleader in solar energy and renew-able energy production.
This year, Congress will be votingon legislation that will provide taxcredits for the renewable energy sec-tor of society. In particular, the Houseof Representatives will soon vote onlegislation that provides a business in-vestment tax credit for solar energyand fuel cell equipment at least for thenext eight years, until 2016. The mo-tivation behind this type of initiativeis healthy, however, we must not be soconfident that the needs of renewableenergy will be met in eight to 10years. As legislators, we must be pli-able in working to meet the demandsof this rapidly growing sector and wemust be willing to ensure that busi-nesses have the investment tools theyneed to ensure perpetual growth.
There is no doubt that to meet ournation's future energy needs, Con-gress must support initiatives thatprovide incentives and resources.Our investment in research andtechnology will go a long way toproviding greater security for Amer-ica as it seeks to become less depen-dent on foreign energy sources. Formany years, we have been reac-tionary in our approach to energyand it is beginning to cost us dearly.Americans must once again redeemtheir stronghold as visionaries in theenergy sector, for this generationand future generations.
ithout constructive solu-tions and innovative pro-grams that examine waysin which our nation can
become energy independent, wewill face this century at a tremen-dous disadvantage if we remain de-pendant on traditional sources ofenergy. This topic is a top priorityfor Congress with many pieces oflegislation examining ways to pro-mote alternative and renewable en-ergy sources. Criticism of the oilindustry is constant, yet, the indus-try is only one facet of the problem.For decades the government and theenergy sector have been short-sighted, lagging behind in promot-ing the utilization of alternativesources of energy. Either it is be-cause of a lack of innovation or be-cause of inadequate technology, ourefforts have fallen behind and wemust begin to aggressively supporta variety of options that promote along-term vision for the energyneeds of our nation.
In a survey of constituents inNevada's 3rd Congressional dis-trict, an overwhelming majority ofrespondents supported imposing atax on windfall profits for the oilindustry. In recent history, a wind-fall profit tax was instituted in ourcountry in 1980 and its short-livedexistence was celebrated in 1988when it was repealed. It is easy totarget the oil and gas sector, be-cause they are the face to the cur-rent pain consumers feel in their
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Does Nevada have the resources tobecome energy independent?Nevada Solar One Leads the Way
S P E A K I N G F O R N E V A D A
Congressman Jon Porter
“Nevada is well on its way to becoming an international leader
in solar energy.”
August 2007 95
balance on a plan loan, you’re requiredto repay the loan in full within 60 days.If you don’t and you’re under age 591/2, you will be subject to a tax penaltyin addition to the tax. Consult With A Cpa
A CPA can help you determine the bestway to raise the cash you need and canalso help you develop a plan for creatingan emergency fund. Preparation is the bestway to weather a financial emergency.
Contributed by the Nevada Societyof CPAs.
Fearless?
...check.©
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Tap Your Home EquityA home equity loan or home equity
line of credit is a good source of emer-gency funding because the interest rateyou pay is tax deductible and likely to belower than the rate for credit cards andpersonal loans. Just be sure you under-stand what you’re getting into – sincehome equity debt is secured by the equi-ty in your home – you’re putting yourhouse at risk in the event you can’t repaywhat you borrow. Use Credit Card Advances With Caution
With a credit card advance, you getimmediate cash with no paperwork.However, the interest rate for cashadvances is usually higher than therate for purchases and there may be aprocessing fee. Credit cards are agood alternative when you have ashort-term need and are reasonablycertain you can pay back the amountborrowed within a month or two.Think Long And Hard Before YouBorrow From Your 401(K)
Borrowing from your 401(k) retire-ment plan is tempting, especially since401(k)s often represent a large sum ofcash and most company plans make itrelatively easy to borrow. CPAs advisethat you borrow from your retirementplan only as a last resort. Not only willyou lose the benefit of compounding onthe money you withdraw, but you couldcompromise your long-term financialsecurity if you do not have a strategy torepay the money borrowed from yourretirement plan.
What’s more, if you leave your com-pany and still have an outstanding
t happens to the best ofus. When you least expectit, you lose your job, orthe car’s transmission
fails, or your dog requires surgery. Inthe best case scenario, you have anemergency fund set aside for unex-pected disasters like these. If youdon’t and you need to raise moneyquickly, according to the Nevada So-ciety of CPAs, you can pursue twomain courses of action. First, evalu-ate your options for raising cash, andthen, work with your creditors todefer or lower payments until you’reback on your feet financially. Here’ssome helpful advice.Sell Assets You Don’t Need
Perhaps your circumstances havechanged and you don’t really needthat second car or the boat that’sbeen sitting in your driveway. Byselling assets that you’ve determinedare expendable, you may be able toraise the cash you need withoutgoing into debt. Borrow Against The Cash Value OfYour Insurance Policy
If you have a life insurance policythat has built up some cash value,you may be able to borrow againstit. Because a loan against your poli-cy is a secure loan, the rate is likelyto be lower than other borrowingoptions. Just remember that themain purpose of life insurance is thedeath benefit and it will be reducedby the amount of the loan plus anyunpaid interest if you haven’t repaidthe full amount of the loan at thetime of your death.
I
What To Do When You Need Emergency MoneyEvaluate Your Funding Options
M O N E Y M A N A G E M E N T
96 August 2007
Attribute 2: Responsible or Irre-sponsible?
A responsible person uses goodjudgment and accepts accountabilityfor their behavior. In your interviewoffer the following scenario: A manattended a restaurant’s grand openingand stayed for more than three hours,drinking a cocktail. After leaving inhis car, he crossed the center line andhit a motorcycle. The motorcycle ridersued the steakhouse and the car driverand won $60 Million. Who should beresponsible for the settlement?
The ideal answer is the responsibil-ity should be placed on the car driver.The goal for this scenario is to start adialogue. If a candidate states that it isthe restaurant’s fault, this person willlikely be irresponsible.
Attribute 3: Charitable or Greedy? Someone who is charitable cares
about others. A good question wouldbe: What volunteer work have you donein the last month? If a potential employ-ee does not make time for others, theywon’t make time for others at work.
Attribute 4: Industrious or Lazy? Being industrious is more than beingbusy; it’s being persistent, energetic,and striving for perfection. Ask: Whatjobs did you have in high school andcollege? Those who worked in highschool and college are likely to havedeveloped good work ethic and are in-dustrious.
Attribute 5: Thrifty or Wasteful?
A good question to identify thrifti-ness would be: If you received an un-expected $10,000 inheritance, whatwould you do with the money? An an-swer showing thriftiness would in-clude paying debts, saving, or invest-ing. A wasteful answer would includeextravagant purchases with no consid-eration of debt or savings. If someonewould spend their own money care-lessly, they will also spend their em-ployer’s money carelessly.
Attribute 6: Humble or Proud?Ask the question: Who would you
give credit to for your major work ac-complishments?
Those who are proud will take allthe credit for their accomplishments.The humble will recognize that othershave helped them achieve success.
ConclusionIdentifying the attributes that define
character can be a difficult task. Asuccessful job interview must includeanswering question types that identifyand reveal attributes that define goodcharacter. Becoming successful atconducting character driven inter-views will have a positive impact onyour small business by enabling youto identify good character and to hirethe right people.
Cameron C. Taylor is the author of thebook Does Your Bag Have Holes? 24Truths That Lead to Financial andSpiritual Freedom.
iring new employees hasone of the greatest im-pacts on a small business.Typical interviews focus
on qualifications and how well indi-viduals present themselves. However,the most important quality is goodcharacter. Hiring decisions usuallycome down to intuition about the ap-plicant’s character. Unfortunately,those who perform well in interviewsdon’t always have the best character.
Using direct questions make it diffi-cult to expose true character. A dis-honest person will answer these ques-tions convincingly. Instead of directquestions. ask questions that do nothave obvious right answers and willrequire the applicant to justify theiranswer. Consider the six followingdesirable attributes and sample ques-tions to identify them.
Attribute 1: Honest or Dishonest? A valuable attribute of good charac-
ter is honesty. Employees who arehonest always tell the truth and are fairwith others; they do not lie, cheat orsteal. To determine whether or not ajob candidate is honest you could askthe following question. What are yourfeelings regarding chapter 7 and chap-ter 13 bankruptcies? (You may need toexplain that in chapter 7 bankruptcythe debtor doesn’t lose any assets andis not required to pay back the debt.Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the debts arerequired to be repaid.) If they are will-ing to take from their creditors, theywill likely take from their employers.
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Hiring Beyond Qualifications:
E X P E R T A D V I C E
Six Questions to Assist in Hiring Good Character
August 2007 97
n response to explosivegrowth and new businesschallenges, Nevada’s legalmarket continues to
change and evolve, with larger, re-gional firms establishing a presencewithin the state. At the forefront ofthis trend in 1999, Lewis and RocaLLP was the first out-of-market attor-ney firm to settle in Nevada, creatinga strong legal base in the state.
To maintain a competitive edge inNevada’s changing legal climate,savvy law firms observe trends, antic-ipate their clients’ requirements andrecognize benefits for their clientsand businesses. Partnering with an-other firm can strengthen business po-tential and generate new possibilitiesfor growth.
Employing this progressive ap-proach, on August 1, Lewis and RocaLLP partnered with Beckley Single-ton to become one of the largest lawfirms in Nevada with more than 200attorneys. “Lewis and Roca is pleasedwith the opportunity this joint ventureoffers and happy to partner with sucha well-respected firm,” said Ken VanWinkle, Jr., managing partner ofLewis and Roca LLP. “Beckley Sin-gleton provides strong resources andexpands our array of services, offer-ing enormous benefit to clients bothnationally and within Nevada.”
Significantly, Beckley Singleton,one of the oldest and most respectedfirms in Nevada, played a major rolein Nevada law development. As thestate grew, the law firm acquired a
diverse client base in multiple indus-tries. Located in Las Vegas and Reno,Beckley Singleton gained a strongreputation both nationally and withinthe Nevada legal community.
The firm has offices in Las Vegas,Reno, Phoenix, Tucson and Albu-querque. They are AV-rated, the high-est designation of professional ser-vice and accomplishment, as noted byMartindale-Hubbell.
Thomas Ryan, Nevada chair forLewis and Roca, said the firm plans toadd six or seven additional attorneysto its Nevada offices this year. “Thisis just further affirmation of our com-mitment to Nevada. It adds depth andbreadth, and increases our ability tohandle all types of legal services.”
Lawrence Epstein, managing part-ner of Beckley Singleton, states,“Partnering with the caliber of legalexperts at Lewis and Roca LLP bene-fits our clients and the business com-munity. We respect the outstandingreputation Lewis and Roca LLP hasearned in numerous industry and legalpractice areas.”
“It’s going to be a great match,”agreed Dan Polsenberg, a long-timeBeckley Singleton partner. “We aredoing this all together. We didn’t wantto go our separate ways.”
By offering a full-spectrum of legalservices, both law firms can maximizefulfillment of client needs. Lewis andRoca LLP’s comprehensive portfoliospans a wide realm of practice areasincluding: bankruptcy; commercial lit-igation; construction; corporate and
securities; gaming; government rela-tions; intellectual property; labor andemployment; products and profession-al liability; real estate; and sports andentertainment.
The formation of the new Lewisand Roca LLP represents an impor-tant step in Nevada’s legal history.The firm offers tremendous capabili-ty, resources and options to Nevadabusinesses as a partner in the commu-nity. It will undoubtedly play a majorrole in the next chapter of Nevada’slegal future.
I
Relative Newcomer Partners with Long-time Nevada FirmThe “New” Lewis and Roca LLP
P O W E R O F A T T O R N E Y
Experienced?
...yup.©
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the community’s ability to feed thehungry. The results of the extensive re-search reinforced Hilton’s belief thattoo many Southern Nevadan’s werewithout food. Approximately 150 non-profit agencies serving 4 million mealsper year were meeting less than halfthe demand. The survey also indicatedthat the real faces of hunger includedchildren, working adults and the elder-ly. An organized and efficient programwas needed to lift the food supply bur-den from non-profit groups and allowthem to focus on their missions. As aresult, the Hilton Foundation made a$2 million matching grant for the start-up phase of a new groundbreaking or-ganization named Three Square. Itsgoal is to provide the beneficiaries ofexisting non-profit agencies with threesquare meals every day to eradicatehunger in Southern Nevada.
Community leader Julie Murray wasnamed CEO and worked with Hilton torecruit key resort and business industryleaders to become partners in the cre-ation of Three Square. A board oftrustees and the culinary team weresoon formed. This executive team de-termined that a central location forfood donation and food preparationwas necessary and could be done withthe backing of both the Hilton Founda-tion and the resort and business com-munity. So began the vision of build-ing a state-of-the-art food productionand distribution center. Once built andin operation, Three Square will workwith food vendors to obtain deeply
discounted and donated foods to pro-duce nutritious meals for the hundredsof non-profit agencies feeding the hun-gry throughout Southern Nevada.
Five local non-profit organizationsthat feed the hungry were selected toparticipate in the initial proof-of-con-cept phase: The Las Vegas RescueMission; Salvation Army; Center forIndependent Living; Silver Sky assist-ed living facility; and WestCare addic-tion recovery agency. In March 2007,Three Square served a total of 3,000meals per week. The organization willtest various methods of food prepara-tion and delivery while working to de-sign and develop the national modelfacility. Once the proof-of-conceptphase is complete, Three Square willhave the opportunity to submit a grantrequest for an additional $6 millionfrom the Hilton Foundation.
The local community is also helpingwith funding requirements. The NevadaLegislature appropriated $1 million toassist with the capital expenses of ThreeSquare’s new food production facility.While many have already stepped for-ward with matching grants and dona-tions, more is needed to build the ThreeSquare facility and to fulfill the goal –to serve up to 10 million meals annual-ly. With help from the community, EricHilton will get his wish that no one inLas Vegas will go hungry.
atching local televisionone evening, Eric Hilton,son of the late Conrad N.Hilton – founder of the
Hilton hotel dynasty, was alarmed tosee that a non-profit organization feed-ing Southern Nevadans in need had toclose its doors for lack of funding.They were no longer able to preparethe 300,000 annual meals upon whichso many people depended on. The nextmorning he called the Conrad N.Hilton Foundation and said, “I want toend hunger in Las Vegas.” With thatphone call, Three Square was born.
The Hilton Foundation committed$250,000 from 2004 to 2006 to assess
by Michelle Danks
W
Three SquareWorking to End Hunger in Las Vegas
C O M P A S S I O N A T E C A P I T A L I S M
For more information,please contact Julie Murray at
702-644-FOOD or visit the Web sitewww.threesquare.org.
IT’S EASY
FREECOMPANYL I S T I N G
Go to:
www.NBJ.com
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Three Square Members Left to Right:Adam Odegard, Chef Daniel Nuss, Julie Murray, Eric Hilton,
Chef Brenda Hitchins, Walter Coffey, Andy Enrico, Victoria Hart
August 2007 99
been approached. He has yet to make adecision on whether to run.
This race has also moved up on theradar screen of U.S. Sen. MajorityLeader Harry Reid, D-NV, who seesPorter as a possible opponent when hecomes up for re-election in 2010. Reidis one of the best political players inthe business, and he has been success-ful in the past at knocking out poten-tial rivals before they even got achance to run. Defeating Porter will behigh on his to-do list.
Another race that will receive muchattention is in State Senate 7, the seatcurrently held by Republican Sen. JoeHeck. Again, the margins between theparties are slim – less than 3,000 votes.Democrats also feel that because theywere able to defeat Republican SandraTiffany in 2006, there’s a chance thathistory could repeat itself here.
Why is this race so important? TheGOP’s advantage in the State Senate isonly 1 vote, so this race could essen-tially be fought for control of the state’supper house. There are few other Sen-ate races up next year, including BobBeers’ seat in District 8, where the Re-publican advantage is only 2,500 votes.
Most observers, however, thinkBeers’ conservative base in that districtmake him much stronger than the num-bers would appear. Heck is also strong,and will undoubtedly beat his opponentin fundraising. Four years ago, he alsohad union support when he ran againstand beat conservative stalwart AnnO’Connell. While he may lose some of
those endorsements to a good Democ-rat, he had a strong voting record withkey unions like the police and firefight-ers, and they have a history of support-ing those who voted for their causes.
When the dog-days of summer cometo an end, there will definitely be morenames flying around and more trial bal-loons being floated.
Michael Sullivan is president of KnightConsulting, a statewide governmentand political affairs firm.
he stretch between summerand winter is an interestingtime in the political world,especially in the year lead-
ing up to a major election cycle.While the rest of the population is off
vacationing in cooler climates, politicalleaders and operatives from both par-ties are beginning the process that willcontinue until just before next spring:finding suitable candidates to challengeincumbents and compete for open seatsin the 2008 election.
While the search has not necessarilybegun in earnest, names are beingthrown around and potential candi-dates are receiving phone calls fromsuitors asking them to consider throw-ing their hats in the ring. For some, thechoice will be easy: it’s not as hard toconvince someone to run for an openseat (no incumbent) then it is to per-suade them to take on an entrenchedand well-funded opponent.
Ever since the seat was formed in there-districting of 2001, the first race thatis always talked about is CongressionalDistrict 3 (CD3). Since its creation, ithas been represented by Jon Porter, andhe has defeated some very good oppo-nents, including Tessa Hafen, who rana spirited and challenging effort in2006, but fell short at the end.
This year no major names have sur-faced yet. One person, Dr. Larry Lern-er, husband of Rep. Shelley Berkley,expressed early interest, but withdrewhis name last month. Clark CountyProsecutor Robert Daskas has also
by Michelle Danks
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Searching for Challenging Candidates
I N S I D E P O L I T I C S
The Heat is Just Beginning
Tenacious?
...oh yeah.©
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said some banks are reluctant tochange. “To implement the technolo-gy is time consuming and costly – butworth it if you’re willing to do it,”Olson said. “We knew when weopened the doors that Service1stBank of Nevada had to adapt to tech-nology quickly.”
The bank did just that. “Online ser-vices are in high demand by business-es,” said Michael Becknell, seniorvice president and cash managementofficer for Service1st Bank of Neva-da. “To have the ability to process re-mote deposits, view transactions im-mediately, originate deposits, makestop payments, have automated rec-oncilement capability and more with-out stepping foot inside a bank branchcan have a positive and immediateimpact on any business and its operat-ing efficiency.”
Becknell and Olson, both of whomhave worked in the banking and fi-nance industry in Southern Nevadaover the last 20 years, credit the Inter-net-based services and customer rela-tionships to the bank’s success. Thebank made Internet technology centralto its corporate philosophy to accom-plish several objectives: to better serve
customers; cut operational costs; andmanage competition. “Automation iskey to any service or product a bankhas today,” Olson said. “Technologyhas shifted from serving as a businessenabler to a business driver, which iswhy you must think beyond the basicsin technology if you want to remaincompetitive.”
According to Olson, today’s busi-ness banking customers don’t want togo to the bank. They want access to alltheir financial information at any time,any day, and that information needs tohave the ability to work with a partic-ular company’s accounting softwareand operational needs. But providingtechnology isn’t enough, which is whyit’s crucial to maintain customer rela-tionships, too.
Although Service1st Bank of Neva-da spends a good portion of its timereinforcing its position as a techno-logically-advanced financial systemprovider and Internet-friendly, inde-pendently-owned bank, the bank’steam also invests time in providing in-struction and guidance to customerson how to use the bank’s services.“Regardless of all the bells and whis-tles we provide, it still all comes downto relationships,” Olson said. “With-out relationships, we wouldn’t knowwhat the market needs in order to de-velop products and services, and wecertainly won’t continue to grow asquickly as we have without ensuringthat the relationships with our cus-tomers, board, community and othersare strong.”
n the ‘90s, having accessto your checking and sav-ings accounts via the In-ternet was practically un-
heard of. Today, nearly all bankinginstitutions provide customers 24/7access to checking and savings ac-counts in order to stay competitive.So what’s the next tech step for banks– particularly business banks? Totalbank automation.
In January, Service1st Bank ofNevada opened its doors to cus-tomers throughout the state with abang. The bank, which launched withmore than $50 million in capital – themost recorded by a bank created inNevada – reported more than $90million in assets within the first sixweeks of its operation.
According to President StuartOlson, the bank’s early success can beattributed to two things: relationshipsand technology. “It was clear to usthat, while we would concentrate oncustomer service as a business-orient-ed bank, we needed to step up the ser-vice department,” Olson said. “Weknew when we opened we had to bethe state’s foremost service leaderwhen it comes to offering technology-savvy banking services.” To date, Ser-vice1st Bank of Nevada is the onlybank in the state to offer a comprehen-sive degree of Internet-accessible cashmanagement services to its customers.
Although Nevada’s growing busi-ness banking market is a driving forcebehind the banking industry’s incor-poration of new technology, Olson
by Michelle Danks
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Service1st Bank of NevadaMaking Its Own Investment in Technology
B A N K I N G O N I T
“Automation is key to any service or product
a bank has today.”
August 2007 101
What They Can Tell You
rganizations typically ex-pend a great deal of re-sources to attract, hire andretain personnel who poss-
es the knowledge and skills key to a po-sition. Furthermore, each individualmust be well-suited to the organizationas a whole. In many cases, however, anew employee just doesn’t fit. Addition-ally, organizations often lose long-termemployees for no apparent reason.
The exit interview is a valuable tech-nique for identifying resolvable issuesthat can new and long-term employeesto seek opportunities elsewhere. To bemeaningful, however, exit interviewsmust be conducted in an environmentwhere departing employees feel com-fortable sharing the real reasons forleaving. In most organizations, exit in-terviews are conducted by those mem-bers of the human resources depart-ment who are perceived as credible,neutral parties.
Typical exit interviews include ques-tions such as: What is your primary rea-son for leaving? Did anything triggeryour decision to leave? What did youlike best or least about your job?
The challenge of conducting a usefulexit interview is in obtaining the realreason behind an employee’s decision toleave the organization. The most com-mon response received when an individ-ual is asked why he or she is leaving is,“For more money.” If you hired well tobegin with, you would expect the em-ployee to make more in a subsequentjob. However, what motivated the em-ployee to start looking in the first place?
It may take a little digging but you needto discover the determining factor forthe decision to leave. In most cases, em-ployees leave because of relationships,work environment, non-competitive payand benefits or other tangible reasons.
The ability of an organization to iden-tify why people are leaving determinesits ability to take action to address thoseissues. Many times interviewees are re-luctant to share information if their rea-son for leaving is due to poor leadership.If poor leadership is the problem, exit in-terviews may help develop enough in-formation to pinpoint significant man-agement issues and provide the meansto take action. If the results of the exit in-terviews indicate that work environmentor pay and benefits as factors, the orga-nization can implement needed changes.The challenge for any organization is torecognize trends or issues before theybecome serious problems. In far toomany cases, organizations attempt totreat the symptoms rather than solve thereal problem.
Excessive employee turnover canweaken a company and impede growth.Moreover, it is often indicative of muchdeeper problems within the organization.
Exit interviews can reveal underlyingareas of concern within an organization,and provide management with the re-sources to effect the necessary changesbefore the problems spiral out of con-trol. Exit interviews, if done well, maytake time, but can pay huge returns tothe organization.
Mark Keays is president of Desert Man-agement Services, a Las Vegas-basedmanagement consulting firm and a fac-ulty member of the University ofPhoenix.
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Exit Interviews
P E O P L E F I R S T
Th e perfect balancefor what comes next.
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a full-service, av-rated law fi rmpeccole professional park
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702-385-2500 • fax 702-385-2086877-HSNVLAW
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“Excessive employeeturnover can
weaken a company and impede growth.”
102 August 2007
evada indicators continueto soften, a reflection ofrebalancing in housingconstruction and slower
spending for consumer durables. NevadaApril taxable sales is down in the short-run (compared with the previous month)and the trend (same month year ago).Still, job growth continues to trend up,suggesting expansion at slower rates.
The picture in Las Vegas and Renolooks about the same, though tourism isweaker in Reno. On the employmentfront, job growth is up for May (samemonth year-over-year) at 2.3 and 2.1percents, respectively. The unemploy-ment rate is 4.3 percent for both of Neva-da’s urban centers, a favorable rate for aperiod of economic readjustment. Inshort, nonhousing business sectors con-tinue to do well, softening the adverse ef-fects of housing.
Housing remains the one weak busi-ness sector. Moreover, it is highly likelythat this situation will continue throughthe second half of 2007 and into 2008. Inshort, housing’s decline and recovery willbe U-shaped rather than a drop that hitsa bottom and quickly recovers, a V-shaped perspective suggested by veryoptimistic people.
National conditions, having seen amarked drop in overall activity in thefirst-quarter 2007, also continues togrow, albeit at slower rates than in 2006.Housing and consumer durable spendingremain soft. Other sectors remain strong.Consumer spending, the largest part ofour economy, shows signs of strength.Retail sales are up by 4.7 percent on atrend basis. So, housing, having takenabout 1 percent from U.S GDP growth,has slowed growth, but growth for 2007should still be in excess of 2 percent.
R. Keith SchwerUNLV Center for Business and Economic Research
units previous comments
GROWTHDATAlatestdates year ago recent year ago
(%)(%)
(%) (%)
(%) (%)
(%) (%)
SOURCES: Nevada Department of Taxation; Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation; UNR Bureau ofBusiness and Economic Research; UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research; McCarran International Airport; Reno/TahoeInternational Airport; Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority; Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority; U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau; U.S. Federal Reserve Bank.
1,000 employees
%, nsa
$ billion
$ million
passengers
million gallons
million visitors
1,000 employees
%, nsa
$ billion
$ million
units permitted
permits
million persons
million gallons
million visitors
1,000 employees
%, nsa
$ billion
$ million
units permitted
permits
million persons
million gallons
million visitors
million, sa
%, sa
82-84=100, nsa
82-84=100, nsa
89.06=100, sa
92=100, sa
$ billion, sa
million, sa
million, sa
$ billion, sa
97.01=100
$ billion, sa
monthly close
%, nsa
%, nsa
NEVADA
Employment
Unemployment Rate
Taxable Sales
Gaming Revenue
Passengers
Gasoline Sales
Visitor Volume
CLARK COUNTY
Employment
Unemployment Rate
Taxable Sales
Gaming Revenue
Residential Permits
Commercial Permits
Passengers
Gasoline Sales
Visitor Volume
WASHOE COUNTY
Employment
Unemployment Rate
Taxable Sales
Gaming Revenue
Residential Permits
Commercial Permits
Passengers
Gasoline Sales
Visitor Volume
UNITED STATES
Employment
Unemployment Rate
Consumer Price Index
Core CPI
Employment Cost Index
Productivity Index
Retail Sales Growth
Auto and Truck Sales
Housing Starts
GDP Growth
U.S. Dollar
Trade Balance
S&P 500
Real Short-Term Rates
Treasury Yield Spread
05/07
05/07
04/07
04/07
04/07
04/07
04/07
05/07
05/07
04/07
04/07
05/07
05/07
04/07
04/07
04/07
05/07
05/07
04/07
04/07
05/07
05/07
04/07
04/07
04/07
05/07
05/07
05/07
05/07
1q07
1q07
05/07
05/07
05/07
1q07
05/07
04/07
05/07
05/07
05/07
1,313.3 1,310.0 1,285.6 0.3 2.2
4.3 4.4 3.8 -2.3 13.2
3.907 4.480 3.936 -12.8 -0.7
1,053.25 1,054.77 989.97 -0.1 6.4
4.432 4.707 4.355 -5.8 1.8
97.51 99.76 96.80 -2.2 0.7
4.344 4.576 4.390 -5.1 -1.0
943.2 942.2 922.0 0.1 2.3
4.2 4.3 3.8 -2.3 10.5
2.909 3.341 2.950 -12.9 -1.4
892.76 889.67 824.36 0.3 8.3
1,789 2,037 3,788 -12.2 -52.8
120 105 113 14.3 6.2
4.021 4.221 3.939 -4.7 2.1
68.03 69.65 67.62 -2.3 0.6
3.739 3.915 3.755 -4.5 -0.4
228.2 226.9 223.6 0.6 2.1
4.2 4.3 3.7 -2.3 13.5
0.555 0.617 0.556 -10.0 -0.1
88.57 91.22 89.23 -2.9 -0.7
231 250 326 -7.6 -29.1
42 29 25 44.8 68.0
0.406 0.481 0.411 -15.6 -1.1
14.93 14.80 14.74 0.9 1.3
0.398 0.442 0.426 -9.9 -6.5
137.831 137.674 135.906 0.1 1.4
4.5 4.5 4.6 0.0 -2.2
207.9 206.7 202.5 0.6 2.7
210.3 210.3 205.7 0.0 2.2
104.3 103.2 100.8 1.1 3.5
138.3 138.1 137.4 0.1 0.7
377.885 372.631 360.915 1.4 4.7
16.10 16.19 16.10 -0.6 0.0
1.474 1.506 1.944 -2.1 -24.2
11,532.8 11,513.0 11,316.4 0.2 1.9
104.400 105.300 107.340 -0.9 -2.7
-58.495 -62.390 -62.336 -6.2 -6.2
1,530.62 1,482.37 1,270.09 3.3 20.5
3.28 4.24 4.22 -22.6 -22.3
-0.12 -0.32 0.27 -62.5 -144.4
Slower Growth
Still Favorable
Down
Mixed
Mixed
Mixed
Down
Slower Growth
Still Favorable
Down
Holding
Down
Up
Mixed
Mixed
Down
Slower Growth
Still Favorable
Down
Down
Down
Up
Down
Up
Down
Improving
Still Favorable
Still a Concern
Still a Concern
Up
Continues
Good
Weak
Down
Slow
Weak
Down
Up
Down
Down
B U S I N E S S I N D I C A T O R S
N
