ZZZ - GMG - VEGAS INC 2011-2014

10 | 3 F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 | LasVegassUn.com named "Best Website in Class" by the Nevada Press Association 2013. by richard N. Veloa senior staff writer Battered and bruised from what seemed like a relentless recession, Las Vegas is poised for a rebound, a series of speakers told businesspeople gathered for Preview Las Vegas recently. But it won't come without leadership, investment and political fortitude, they added. The fast-paced, mostly upbeat presen- tations at Preview, the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce's largest net- working event, had several common de- nominators: They acknowledged South- ern Nevada got slammed worse than most of the country; they concurred there's recovery in the air; and while optimistic, they know there's going to be a lot of hard work to keep the region ahead in the areas it leads and catch up in areas in which it's behind. "My biggest fear," said Robert Lang, director of Brookings Mountain West at UNLV, "is that if we stall in our efforts, we'll fall further behind competitors like Orlando." The event drew about 2,000 people and included a trade show with 125 ex- hibitors along the Thomas & Mack Cen- ter concourse. Many of Lang's remarks included comparisons with the central Florida destination because it's one of Las Ve- gas' biggest tourism and meetings in- dustry competitors, and it has made serious runs at Las Vegas, including pitching a formidable bid to move the National Finals Rodeo there. After the event concluded, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Author- ity announced that rodeo executives signed a 10-year contract extension to keep it in Las Vegas through 2024. Lang listed five infrastructure needs for Southern Nevada to stay competitive in the industries in which it competes: n The Interstate 11 transportation corridor linking Las Vegas with Phoe- nix. Lang said it could be the easiest challenge since most of the work would be done in Arizona. But it could also be the most frustrating because Nevada would have no control over the direc- tion of the project. Orlando, Lang said, is well connected to the rest of Florida with its highway system. n A light-rail transportation system. While many have scoffed at the need for light rail or prefer the less expensive op- tion of beefing up bus lines, Lang noted it's important to be able to move tourists throughout the city as well as get resort- corridor employees to work. Orlando is working on a 31-mile system. Other western cities — Phoenix, Denver and Salt Lake City — have successfully in- stituted light-rail systems. Public trans- portation is becoming a favored mode of travel for the next generation of em- ployees who don't care about buying a car or getting a driver's license. n A medical school. While Southern Nevada advocates have sown the seeds for a school here, Lang said Orlando was way ahead with a $68 million facil- ity at the University of Central Florida. He suggests that if the state puts up a seed-money investment to get it started, a facility here could repay the money with dividends within five years. n A stadium. Lang doesn't view it as a need to attract a professional football team or to accommodate UNLV football as much as it would be a tourism venue for attractions and special events that currently can't be housed here. n Transforming UNLV into a Tier 1 re- search university. Expanding infrastructure would push Southern Nevada past the high point of its economic life, in 2007 before the recession, Lang said. Speakers preceding Lang shared sim- ilar optimism. Opening speaker Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst of Applied Analy- sis, said while the state's economy has shown signs of diversification and most of the economic trends were positive, Southern Nevada still had to be wary of blips in the housing market, the reli- ability of the region's water system, in- creasing crime and the philosophical and political battles involving the state's education system. But Aguero's optimistic message was that Southern Nevada has seen the worst of the recession. Aguero applauded the Governor's Office of Economic Development for winning the competition to make Ne- vada one of six test sites for drones, the Switch data storage center and a new program for the development of com- puter games at UNLV that already has developed 12 patents. The event's second speaker Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Au- thority President, said history shows that the city's innovators have been re- silient in keeping Las Vegas as the lead- ing tourism and convention destination in the country. He said the next challenge for the city will be to develop a transportation in- frastructure. A transportation component is a key part of the LVCVA's effort to develop the $2.5 billion makeover of the Las Vegas Convention Center into the Las Vegas Global Business District. Playing off the LVCVA's new "Las Ve- gas Enabler" advertising campaign, an offshoot of the "What happens here, stays here" theme, Ralenkotter encour- aged attendees to help enable Las Vegas leaders to complete some of the projects needed to keep the city's lead as a travel destination. preView las Vegas as las Vegas rebouNds, it's No time For complaceNcy In busIness sa m m o r r I s lookiNg ahead: Analyst Jeremy Aguero struck a cautiously optimistic tone at Preview Las Vegas. 20140203_VI10_F.indd 10 1/30/14 12:00:50 PM

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