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DOWNTOWN EMPLOYMENT REPORT SAYS JOBLESSNESS HAS DECLINED By Steve Greensenior staff writer A recent report confirms there's been a slight improvement in the Las Vegas job market. The Conference Board Inc. in New York, which tracks business data, reported that for every job advertised online in the Las Vegas area in November, there were 4.4 unemployed workers. That's down from 4.63 in October. The unemployment rate in the Las Vegas metro area ranks among the highest in the nation at 13.1 percent. But the Conference Board report indicates job seekers in some competing metro areas may face even bleaker prospects of finding employment. In the Riverside, Calif., area, for NEWCOMERS: Peter Seid, leſt , and Keller Rinaudo of Romotive Inc. are among entrepreneurs drawn to Las Vegas by Zappos initiatives to foster new businesses. Zappos Becoming Magnet for Startups By Joe Schoenmannstaff writer Inside The Beat coffeehouse on Fremont Street, Tony Hsieh reviewed a calendar on his laptop computer. It listed eight people from startups — tech companies, eateries and other businesses — planning visits to Las Vegas to decide whether to relocate here. "I mean, look at all these people," he said. The list represents a handful of the dozens of entrepreneurs who have heard pitches from Hsieh, CEO of online shoe and clothing retailer Zappos, which moves into City Hall in 2013. With sizable investments from Hsieh, these startups are the kind s of businesses he hopes will help fulfill the vision of a resurgent downtown to surround his company's new headquarters. It has been a year since Hsieh and city officials announced this "watershed" moment for the area. City Hall was to be sold to Resort Gaming Group for $18 million, then leased | 12 DECEMBER 2011 | by Zappos. The company expects to put about $40 million into renovations before moving in. But Hsieh didn't want to simply move his company into City Hall. He wanted others to buy into the vision of a downtown community, to see Las Vegas as more than a brightly lit resort that creates empty pockets and hangover weekends. The 37-year-old talked of helping to revitalize and transform downtown within five to 10 years. So how is it going after year one? Miki Agrawal, 32, was a New York Deutsche Bank investment banker, then a semipro soccer player, then a banker again before opening her first organic pizza joint, Slice, in Manhattan in 2005. She has two locations in New York now and is planning a third. She met Hsieh at an entrepreneurship conference about six months ago. She's planning on becoming one of the first businesses to SEE DOWNTOWN PAGE 10 instance, there were 8.87 unemployed workers for every advertised vacancy in November, the Conference Board said. Nationwide, the job supply/demand rate was 3.53, which was flat compared to October's rate of 3.54. These numbers indicate there were 3.5 unemployed people for each job opening posted online. Online advertised vacancies were down 76,200 in November from October, to 3.857 million nationwide, the Conference Board said. Conference Board analysts called the job market nationwide "lackluster" after five consecutive months of declines in online advertising. But for Las Vegas, at least, the Conference Board report confirms data from the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation showing slight improvements in a job market hit hard by the recession. The latest DETR statistics put the Las Vegas area's unemployment rate at 13.1 percent in October, down from 13.6 percent in September and 14.8 percent in October 2010. 7 CHRISTOPHER DeVARGAS