ZZZ - GMG - VEGAS INC 2011-2014

the basics Pick 'Em Get smart Power tweets Power Lunch The Numbers Sin City Media Overheard talking points Done Deal the numbers Chatter Smith's world We hear .com YOUR AD HERE Buy high Sell low Mike Smith is an award-winning editorial cartoonist featured daily in the Las Vegas Sun. Smith's work also is distributed nationally by King Features Syndicate. See archives of his work at lasvegassun.com/smithsworld. $1.3 billion VEGASINCmag Executive class Read this! The Pitch is back Moonlighting NOW SERVING LAS VEGAS Vegas then ? ? ? ? ? ! The innovator 95 VEGASinc2021 Gate keeper American dream FortuneCookie Grilled The Survivor The anticipated cost of Project Neon, which will widen I-15 from Sahara Avenue to the Spaghetti Bowl and make ma$ jor changes to other area streets. Some lawmakers have questioned the feasibility of financing the project. 2 percent The amount of a proposed business margins tax that would benefit Nevada's education system. Teachers and other voters are promoting the Education Initiative as a way to boost the quality of schools. 2,700 Jobs created in Southern Nevada during the most recent fiscal year. $200 million The amount North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee says has been "looted from the utility fund." The city's past financial representations have come under scrutiny as North Las Vegas attempts to untangle its finances. Lee 230 The number of Hacienda employees who were given the option of reapplying for their jobs after Dotty's casino owner Craig Estey and his company received a gaming license to develop a new casino on the property. 54 percent The percentage of people surveyed who expect American life to go downhill by 2050, according to a December study from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 70 percent The percentage of medical students who go on to work in the city in which they completed their residency. The statistic is one reason some are calling for a medical school to be developed at UNLV. 101 The number of police officers Sheriff Doug Gillespie plans to hire with revenue from a proposed More Cops sales tax. A third version to the tax was brought to the Clark County Commission in December. $70 million The price tag of Kevin Plencner's proposed plan to develop commercial and office space, as well as a parking garage, downtown. | 13 JANUARY 2014 20140113_VI19_F.indd 19 | Reader comments We want to hear from you. Visit vegasinc.com to post your opinion. On Eli Segall's Dec. 16 vegasinc.com story about Zions Bancorporation's investment securities problems due to a new rule forcing banks to shed collateralized debt obligations by July 2015 ("New law to cost Nevada State Bank owner $387 million"): This is one reason I prefer to bank with the major banks. They are not virtuous, but they are so closely scrutinized that something like this would be less likely to threaten the solvency of the institution. Save at the big banks, borrow from the smaller ones. — oldPSUguy On Eli Segall's Dec. 17 vegasinc.com story about Barclaycard US opening a credit card call center in Henderson ("Banking company bringing call center to Henderson, filling some of the space Zappos left vacant"): Public money to attract call centers — who's next to get subsidies? Spas and smoke shops? How about using the money to educate the population and attracting jobs that need a highly educated workforce? — NLVProg On Rick Velotta's Dec. 19 vegasinc.com story about Dotty's chain owner Craig Estey and his company receiving a gaming license for the Hoover Dam Lodge ("Dotty's owner gets gaming license for revamped Hacienda casino"): The casino will be gutted and rebuilt floor by floor while remaining open. However, the casino will close for several days to change out the gaming mix on the floor? Sounds like a flimsy excuse to lay off longtime employees, eliminating benefits and seniority. Shame on Dotty's. — jaquekeno Dotty's operates small storefront slot parlors. They have no experience running a full-service casino-hotel. — bouldersteve On Rick Velotta's Jan. 6 vegasinc.com column about allowing the public to attend trade shows such as the Consumer Electronics Show ("Would you pay to gawk at CES?"): Conventions like CES and SEMA are aimed specifically toward upper-level retail buyers (not consumers, there's a difference) and media within the industry. Buyers from companies like Costco or Newegg or Best Buy or AutoZone or Pep Boys go to these conventions to scope out what products they could be selling at their stores. The public doesn't care about products at these conventions. They just want free swag bags. Allowing the public in conventions like AVN and the Mr. Olympia expo works because they are marketing a product aimed specifically toward consumers. — much_doge They should set aside specific day(s) just for tourists, that way the business could still get done, but the convention still could be a money-maker for all. — DoubleDownNow7 19 1/9/14 1:28:59 PM

• Cover