ZZZ - GMG - VEGAS INC 2011-2014

In business The economy health and wellness experts say Nevada's rebound will continue in years to come By Cy Ryan staff writer CARSON CITY — State financial experts say preliminary numbers show that the Nevada economy is slowly growing and will continue to do so in 2014. Testimony confirming that prediction was presented to the Economic Forum, a panel of five economic and taxation experts from the private sector, which must in December 2014 estimate how much tax revenue the state will collect in fiscal years 2015-2017. Deputy Legislative Fiscal Analyst Joe Reed said that for the first four months of this fiscal year, tax collections were $1.3 million higher than the forum predicted and one-tenth of a percent higher than the predicted $3.3 billion fiscal 2014 budget approved by the Legislature. Reed said the receipts from gaming, sales and business were down slightly. But statistics show there has been a 14.3 percent increase in the live entertainment tax collected by gaming properties and a 38 percent gain in the real property transfer tax, which signals the recovery of home sales. Tax collections from cigars and chewing tobacco have grown 27 percent in the first four months of the fis- cal year, but collections from cigarette sales are 4.6 percent lower than forum forecasts. Leanndra Copeland, economist for the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said the unemployment rate — currently slightly higher than 9 percent — is expected to decline 1 percent in 2014 and half a percent in 2015. Copeland said Nevada lost 200,000 jobs during the recession but has recovered about 50,000. Steve Hill, executive director of the state Office of Economic Development, told the forum that 4,386 jobs — with an average wage of $22.89 an hour — have been created this year in companies that have been given tax breaks for sales, business and personal property. Tina Quigley, general manager of the Southern Nevada Regional Transportation Commission, said the gasoline tax increase in the Las Vegas area will allow the issuance of $700 million in bonds for road projects, including the first phase of Interstate 11 — which will eventually connect Las Vegas with Phoenix — and construction on the 215 Beltway. These projects also will put more people to work, she said. taxes Nevada businesses to save $70 per employee next year By Cy Ryan staff writer CARSON CITY — Nevada businesses will be getting a break on their unemployment tax next year. Renee Olson, administrator of the state Employment Security Division, set the tax rate this month at an average 1.95  percent per worker, down from 2.25 percent. The tax rate is assessed on an annual salary of $27,400. Kelly Karsh, deputy administrator, said the lower tax rate would save employers an average of $71 a year per employee. The annual payment per employee will go from $605 to $534. About 36,000 employers in the state pay a rate ranging from 0.25 to 5.4 percent based on the turnover in their company. Just over 21,400 new employers currently pay a 2.95 percent rate for three years until they are rated on their turnover. | 23 DECEMBER 2013 20131223_VI11_F.indd 11 | Karsh said the Employment Security Division is trying to keep the rate low because many employers are still struggling in current economic conditions. The division recently sold $612 million in bonds at an interest rate of below 1 percent. Karsh said $580 million went to pay off the federal government, which loaned Nevada about $800 million during the recession to pay unemployment benefits. The federal government was charging the state more than 2 percent interest on the loan, so selling the bonds to pay off the loan will save the state about $24 million. Karsh said there would be a special assessment next year to help pay off the bonds, which are to be retired in four years. A small part of the bond money will be used to help restore Nevada's unemployment trust fund. pill popping: The DrVita.com distribution center in Las Vegas. Richard N. Velotta Who is Dr. Vita? Hint: You might be buying his vitamins at Costco By Richard N. Velotta senior staff writer There's a painting by Las Vegas pop artist John "Ziggy" O'Leary in the executive offices of Las Vegas vitamin company DrVita.com that sums up the passions of founder Wayne Gorsek. A bottle of DrVita vitamins is wearing boxing gloves and knocking out a bottle of Vitacost, vitamins made by Gorsek's former company, now his competitor. In the background sits an aircraft — Gorsek's beloved private jet. There also are images of a wine bottle and Playboy bunny ears. The painting is set beneath a flaming sunset and Las Vegas mountains. Gorsek is a self-taught vitamin and supplement manufacturer who arrived in Southern Nevada in 2012 after taking his first company, Vitacost, to Inc 500 prominence. Gorsek never finished high school, getting a GED instead, but continued to learn about dietary supplements, vitamins and flying. "In my early years, I had to have a medical dictionary that I kept by my side," he said. "In medicine and science, there are thousands of words not taught in normal education. A lot of my doctor friends said it was a good thing I didn't go to college or medical school because it would have ruined me." Applying what he learned in books, Gorsek set out to develop a multivitamin to sell online cheaply. He started with a single multivitamin, devising the ingredients he wanted, then turning the formula over to lab personnel to create. Vitacost had operations in Florida, North Carolina and Las Vegas. With Gorsek at the helm, the company had 1 million customers, processed 3 million orders a year and generated annual revenue of $160 million, according to Gorsek Gorsek's Nevada application for tax abatements. Vitacost was included in the Inc 500 five years in a row. Then, as the recession began cutting into sales, the board of directors made a move that shocked Gorsek. It fired him in 2009. There's no background about Gorsek on the Vitacost website, nor did the Florida company return phone calls. Gorsek calls it corporate betrayal by greedy investors who didn't agree with his way of doing business. Gorsek signed a noncompete clause as part of a buyout but almost immediately started making plans for a new company. He opened the DrVita manufacturing and distribution plant in 2012 after receiving tax abatements and deferrals from the Nevada Economic Development Commission. Southern Nevada's low humidity was ideal for manufacturing vitamins. The plant also is close to California, where several of his customers and vendors live. Most of Gorsek's products are distributed through DrVita.com, but he also has a distribution deal with Costco and manufactures his products under other labels. DrVita has just under 300 products on the market, including multivitamins, fish oil and chia seeds. 11 12/18/13 3:52:56 PM

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