While the national economic downturn hasn't been pleasant, it has created new opportunities, and Las Vegas has some new jobs coming to town. I've mentioned the jobs in hospitality coming on line in 2009 - 2010, with M Resort opening in March with nearly 2000 hires, 12,000 more jobs coming to MGM Mirage's City Center later this year, followed by thousands more expected from Fontainebleau and Cosmopolitan Resorts. These jobs have historically created multiple spin-off jobs in the local area to not only support the properties, but additional services needed for more business and residents added in the community.
A recent announcement could be bringing as many as 1000 more jobs. The City of Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency has an agreement for a new call center in a 104,000 square foot building on Decatur Blvd. International communications giant, Tellus plans to open in March with 100 new hires, and anticipates having a staff of 500 by the end of the year while estimating 1000 total workers as they grow. The English-Spanish bilingual speaking center will add new capabilities to their current company service offerings. Employment inquiries can be emailed to ushr@tellus.com.
Today Ecompass Group Affiliates, an electronics repair, parts, and logistics firm, announced they will be opening their own 38,000 square foot Las Vegas center. It will be located in ProLogis Park, where Amazon.com and Monster Cable have located in a 513,000 square foot building.
A few weeks ago the San Diego Electronics firm Orbital Enterprises put out a press release stating they were opening a circuit board refurbish and repair facility in Las Vegas and had a contract with Encompass. They had been asked to retract that release prior to this announcement being made, so while I'm not certain, it could have let the cat out of the bag about talks for this development.
These latest non-hospitality jobs are not only a further diversification of the Las Vegas economy, they are a sign that the lower commercial and industrial rents and property pricing have made Las Vegas an even more appealing market to enter. With it's low-to-no tax structure, technology, communications and connectivity infrastructure, and logistics capabilities it offers so much to business locating in Las Vegas.
Even in this downturn, there has been other opportunity tucked away in Las Vegas. As I mentioned in an earlier post, there had been ongoing diversification going on in 2008. One was the creation of the World's Highest Density High Speed Data Center, the SuperNap. Another has additional future promise with the current Washington, DC ideals of alternative energy development. The world's largest Solar Thermal Manufacturing facility was opened in Las Vegas by US Senate Majority Leader Nevada Senator Harry Reid in June of 2008.
The Ausra manufacturing facility came online tripling the world's solar thermal production capacity, just as we all experienced the need to explore new energy sources from our shock at the gas pumps. Most likely why the company was able to announce $60.6 million in new funding in October, even as financing had been choked off only the month before. More than the production facility itself, there is an enormous potential for job creation for Nevada with it's abundant sunshine, both for construction and then operation of Solar Power Plants, like the Nevada Solar One facility in the nearby Eldorado Valley of Boulder City.
All this is located in and around Las Vegas, a place that seems to have strong relocation appeal. Relocation.com ranked Las Vegas as their top relocation city for 2008, and has predicted Las Vegas as the top relocation destination again for 2009. Other predictions and surveys have also ranked Las Vegas high among top relocation cities of 2009. This doesn't come as a surprise as many in recent years have been looking to escape the cold and snow for the warmer climates of the Sunbelt.
With it's obvious entertainment choices, abundant recreation, growing Arts and Culture, and no personal income taxes it becomes more obvious. Combine this with the incredible bargains in current Las Vegas home prices, and it becomes an even more attractive destination. All this also provides businesses an ability to present these perks to potential hires, and to their additional advantage, an apparent desire of many wanting to relocate to Las Vegas.
So while we still have obstacles to overcome in today's economy, there can be a silver lining. In Las Vegas, the pricing downturn has created new opportunities for both business and homeowners, and making it appear it's optimistic glass is half-full.
If you are interested in relocating to Las Vegas or would like more information on Las Vegas real estate, please email me, Roberta LaRocca, at roberta@search4lasvegashomes.com,
or call 702-354-8988. I look forward to hearing from
you!
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