VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more
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COVER STORY youth on the scholarships and educational initiatives. He funds an MBA scholarship at UNLV, where he is on the UNLV Foundation board of trustees, and also donates money for undergraduate Garcia scholarships. Garcia helped pay State College that for a program at Nevada tries to set at-risk right path through college courses and mentoring, and he has sponsored programs at West Preparatory High School for kids to go to parks, museums and on other cultural trips. "I'm most passionate about giving young adults an opportunity that they otherwise would not have," Garcia said. "I have strived to create positive, systemic change within the Hispanic community." BRIAN AYALA , 47 - TAGS EVOLUTION International Airport and the Miracle Ayala's For 25 years, Brian Ayala worked for Inc., his started with a 150 father few candy stores that today has employees and annual sales of $13 million. Ayala More recently, Ayala and his wife, Michelle, branched out on their own with Tags The friend referred Ayala to Three Evolution, a jewelry and accessories retail store with locations at McCarran Square. the DOMINGO CAMBEIRO, 71 - DOMINGO CAMBEIRO CORP. ARCHITECTS For one of his It's hard to go anywhere in Las Vegas without seeing the work of architect Domingo the mind the designs Thomas Clark Cambeiro, behind the for and Mack Center, Terminal C at McCarran the Government Cambeiro and more than 100 local schools. Cambeiro, who emigrated 1970 and immediately from Cuba in 1962, founded his company in employing sustainable practices into his designs. "I was practicing architecture even years prior sustainable to it being a trend," Cambeiro said. "Form follows function and buildings have to be functional most of all. Then, the architect can add his flare." started Cambeiro is a strong supporter of education, has raised money through the Latin Chamber for scholarships and also has served as a mentor to younger students. And he's still designing. "I still got the fire in my belly, and I love architecture," he said. "I'm fired up every day, and I don't think I'll ever retire." "I was practicing sustainable architecture even years prior to it being a trend. Form follows function and buildings have to be functional most of all. Then, the architect can add his flare." – Domingo Cambeiro | 4 JUNE 2012 | Southern Nevada's bright spot — misfortune and opportunity. While Nevada has its tourism and gaming industries — has shown sustained growth for about two years with visitor volume climbing gaming. at a faster pace than Brown said Clark County gaming revenue was rising at a rate parallel to U.S. gross domestic product, an indication that tourists have been the most underwater homes — an estimated 62 percent — lower housing costs will enable opportunities for new buyers as well as investors. Southern Nevada also has nation's best yields for the rentals with an 8.55 percent return for investors. 17 Airport, County Center early projects, a housing authority building, Cambeiro incorporated a solar heating system to cut down the facility's energy usage. He experimented with extra insulation, the thickness of walls and grey water recycling. "I was a firm believer early on of using grass, but not complimented it with too much," Cambeiro said. "Grass is good to soften the look of building, but I kept it to a minimum and desert landscape." The Las Vegas unemployment rate stands at 11.6 percent, but Brown said it was considerably higher — possibly as high as 23 percent — because so many people had quit looking for work, a phenomenon that is occurring nationwide. capital of the gaming industry." On the housing front, home prices have fallen steadily since 2006 — which Brown said presented both are coming back to Las Vegas," Bernhard said. continue to be "Las Vegas will the intellectual that disrupted relationships between financial institutions and investors and the uncertainty that resulted are making the U.S. recovery slower than anticipated. Rising energy costs have played a role, Brown said, but — because economic impact turmoil have on a the airport concessions Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood. business Ayala serves on the board of directors for the Latin Chamber of Commerce and Three Square food bank, which distributes 24 million pounds of food to the needy each year. "I used to buy an extra Subway sandwich for a homeless person and finally a friend said to me, 'You know, you can do a lot more with that money,'" Ayala said. REPORT SUGGESTS TOURISTS WILLING TO SPEND AGAIN FORECAST, FROM PAGE 1 nation's highest underwater homes percentage and negative equity mortgages of near- stand in the way of significant economic improvement. "Our construction index is low by historic standards," Brown said. "But there's evidence that it's coming off the bottom, but it's a really deep bottom." Brown's hourlong presentation was framed around effects of the world economy, U.S. is conditions and details about why Southern Nevada so slow to recover. Following the presentation, a panel of economic experts drilled further into specific regional issues confronting sustained growth for the area. Brown said he didn't think being experienced in several European countries would negative But domestically, direct Southern Nevada, nor would the slowing of Asia's economy. the meltdown "When people come to Las Vegas, you don't hear them say, 'I've got to see the pinnacle (of the gaming world) at Macau,'" Bernhard said. But there are many Asian players in Macau who want to make a trip to Las Vegas. "Those baccarat numbers aren't coming from Des Moines," he said. He added that Americans have been more fuel- Marina Bay Sands efficient and it's oil and gasoline, not natural gas, costing more — it's not seen as a major concern. think the luxurious in Singapore, operated by Las Vegas Sands, was a giant billboard for Las Vegas. "I overseas investments executive economic International Gaming Institute, said concerns that Macau has surpassed Las Vegas as the top gaming revenue- generating destination in the world were overblown and that it was a foregone conclusion that Macau's revenues would Nevada's pass eventually because Southern of the volume of the nearby market. He said Las Vegas had withstood competitive pressures in the past and would do so again. In the panel session, Bo Bernhard, director of UNLV's indicated a higher percentage of people were coming to the city by plane than were getting here from Southern California drive-in markets. and other getting more comfortable with the idea of spending money when they vacation. Las Vegas visitor volume could reach a record 40 million people. Brown said an analysis of taxi trips compared with visitor volume