Nevada Briefs - October 2006

The City of Las Vegas recently received a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development totaling nearly $800,000 to help with its $32 million project of renovating the former post office and courthouse building in downtown Las Vegas. The 73-year-old building will be transformed into a cultural center and museum. The city council has approved a $7.5 million contract with architectural firm Westlake Reed Leskosky, which includes the interior and exterior core and shell of the building, museum planning, and exhibition development and design. The adaptive use of the building is widely viewed as a centerpiece of the city’s downtown revitalization efforts. It will feature approximately 13,000 square feet of exhibition space and will accommodate cultural, civic and educational programming and receptions, special events and conferences. It is scheduled to open in early 2008.

Officials at Reno-Tahoe International Airport recently unveiled more than $4.5 million worth of enhancements to the airport’s security system. A new Emergency Operations Center (EOC) enables emergency workers to manage security from a remote site near the airport. Internet-based software integrates with the Washoe County Regional EOC and the emergency management system at the federal Transportation Security Administration. A new communications center features state-of-the-art equipment, including fiber-optic cabling, closed-circuit television cameras and a new telephone and paging system. The project was funded through a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, which provided 93.75 percent of the cost, with 6.25 percent matching funds coming from the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority.

The Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas recently released the 2006 edition of the Nevada KIDS COUNT Data Book, which contains county, regional and state data on the well-being of Nevada children. The publication includes data on health conditions, economic well-being, education, safety and juvenile justice. This year’s book revealed that three indicators of child well-being improved from last year (child death rate, high school dropout rate and juvenile violent crime arrest rate). Three other indicators showed worsening conditions (percentage of low-birthweight babies, infant mortality rate and percentage of children in poverty). A digital copy of the publication may be downloaded from: http://kidscount.unlv.edu.

Great Basin College, based in Elko, has expanded its service territory to include Nye County, Nevada’s largest county. The college’s 62,000-square-mile service area, which now includes Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Nye and While Pine counties, is larger than more than 20 states in the U.S. One way the college successfully meets the challenge of serving such a large territory is through distance education technology, using interactive video, Internet classes and other high-tech methods to communicate with students seeking associate’s or bachelor’s degrees. Great Basin College is a community college unit of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

EIG Mutual Holding Company, the parent holding company of Employers Insurance Company of Nevada (EICN), recently announced plans to convert from a mutual insurance holding company to a publicly traded stock company. In 1999, the State Industrial Insurance System was dissolved and EICN was established as a mutual insurance company owned by its Nevada policyholders. If the plan receives the necessary regulatory approvals, EICN’s current surplus of approximately $554 million will be distributed to its 6,500 eligible members, and the parent company will conduct an initial public offering of common stock. The company anticipates the conversion will be completed in the first quarter of 2007.

The 2007 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup will take place at the Siena Hotel and Casino in Reno on April 26, 2007. In Nevada’s first and only collegiate business plan competition, graduate and undergraduate students compete for cash awards in excess of $100,000. Three graduate teams and three undergraduate teams will be awarded $20,000 first prizes, $10,000 second prizes and $5,000 third prizes. The Lieutenant Governor’s Award will be presented the same evening to the best business plan employing clean, renewable or efficient energy technologies and services. "The event brings together faculty, students, and businesses from all over the state to participate in the entrepreneurial culture that defines Nevada," said Dave Archer, managing director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, which is co-sponsoring the event. Teams must announce their intent to compete by February 14, 2007.

Nevada employers expect to hire at a brisk pace during the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, published by Manpower Inc. From October to December, 45 percent of the companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while only 8 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 41 percent expect to maintain their current staff levels. Nationwide, employers expect to close out 2006 the same way it began – with strong, steady hiring plans, according to seasonally adjusted results. Of the 14,000 U.S. employers surveyed, 28 percent expect to add to their payrolls during the fourth quarter of 2006, while 8 percent expect to reduce staff levels and 58 percent expect no change in the hiring pace.