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IN BUSINESS POLITICS STATE TOURISM CONTRACT DELAYED OVER DEMOCRATS' CONCERN By David McGrath Schwartz staff writer D of contracts. emocrats stalled a $3 million con- tract to promote tourism in rural Ne- vada, potentially delaying an advertis- ing campaign to bring visitors to the state that is supposed to be rolled out for the fall and winter. Lawmakers at the Legislature's Inter- im Finance Committee on June 21 ques- mittee, said about the issue of the state issuing contracts to out-of-state firms. The state offers a 5 percent prefer- ence in bids to Nevada companies on many contracts. tioned why an out-of-state firm won the competitive bid for the advertising, public relations and digital marketing contract. When tourism officials said that the national firm, Burson-Marsteller, had partnered with a Nevada company, RedRock Strategies, Democrats ques- tioned that company's credentials. Red- Rock Strategies' Ryan Erwin is a well- known Nevada political consultant for Republican candidates. One lawmaker, Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, said the legislative committee was exceeding its authority by delaying the contract, which had been competi- tively bid. "I think we're setting a very danger- ous precedent," Kieckhefer said. The Legislature's "job is to set the policy that guides bidding processes and to appro- priate and allocate money to the execu- tive branch to spend." But Democrats said the public expect- ed the Legislature to provide oversight ENERGY SOLAR ENERGY PROJECT APPROVED ON TRIBAL LAND NEAR LAS VEGAS h By Conor Shine staff writer T tary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. Construction of the solar field on the he federal government on June 21 ap- proved a massive 350-megawatt solar en- Moapa Band of Paiute Indians land will be handled by K Road Moapa Solar LLC. The project is expected to generate 400 construction jobs and up to 20 perma- nent jobs, according to the Department of the Interior. ergy project to be built on land in Clark County belonging to the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians tribe. It would be the first utility-scale solar project on tribal lands. The project, covering about 2,000 acres, would be located 30 miles north of Las Vegas and occupy about 3 percent of the tribe's land, which is held in trust by the U.S. government. electricity to power 100,000 homes, the Department of the Interior said in a state- ment. "Tribal lands hold great renewable energy potential, and smart develop- ment of these resources has the power to strengthen tribal economies, create jobs and generate clean electricity for com- munities across Indian Country," Secre- | 2 JULY 2012 | When finished, it will generate lease income for the tribe and connect its exist- ing power infrastructure, lessening reli- ance on diesel-powered generators. The project furthers the Obama ad- The operation would generate enough ministration's efforts to accelerate the development of renewable energy proj- ects on publicly held lands. Prior to 2009, no utility-scale proj- ects were under development on public lands. There are now 17 solar projects, six wind farms and eight geothermal plants under development, with the combined potential to power more than 2 million business.unlv.edu/mba 9 LEE BUSINESS SCHOOL omes, according to the Department of the Interior. In May, Salazar visited the 50-megawatt State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas and a can- didate for Congress, said companies in Nevada need work. "That includes PR firms," he said. He questioned what an out-of-state company knows about rural Nevada. Similar concerns had been raised by Valerie Glenn of the Nevada-based Glenn Group earlier in the process. The IFC's vote to delay the contract was along party lines. Since Democrats currently control both the Assembly and state Senate, the contract will come back again at the August meeting. Jeff Mohlenkamp, the state budget director, said after the IFC vote, the con- tract would not be re-bid. "This was a valid bid that went through the bidding process," he said. None of the losing bidders filed a com- "I think we're setting a very dangerous precedent." — State Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno plaint about the award. "People in the state care a lot about this," Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks and chairwoman of the com- Tourism Director Claudia Vecchio gushed about the winning bid's pro- posal. She gave particular attention to a proposal for a mobile application for smartphones pitched by the company. The request for proposal received 19 bids, which were whittled down to the The state has a separate contract to come up with a new brand for Nevada, which is still being developed. "It will be difficult to roll out the brand without this agency on board," said Bethany Drysdale, spokeswoman for the Commission on Tourism. She said the winning bid was chosen unani- mously by the selection committee. "They totally blew us away." Maury Lane, president of Burson Campaigns, a subsidiary of the winning bidder, said the company is eager to get started. "Right now, we're hoping this issue can be solved as rapidly as it can be so we can promote ... Nevada and stimu- late the economy even further," Lane said. "We put a great plan together. Now it's time to implement it." He said Burson-Marsteller has been partnering with RedRock Strategies for almost a decade. Erwin, the principal behind RedRock Strategies, is best known for his politi- cal campaigns. His latest campaign was Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, and her failed bid for the Republican nomination to Congressional District 4, where she would have faced Horsford. Another of his clients is Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, who heads the Nevada Com- top five, Vecchio said. None of those mission on Tourism. were Nevada firms. Erwin said the company did not lob- by any lawmakers and did not think it would be an issue at the Interim Fi- nance Committee meeting. Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton, D- Las Vegas, raised questions at the Inter- im Finance Committee meeting, includ- ing why RedRock Strategies' website is still under development. In an interview June 22, she said she wanted to understand how the contract would work better and expected it to come up again at the August meeting. "Part of it didn't make any sense," she "An out-of-state company hires said. a Nevada company. How is this whole thing really going to work?" Carlton said she'd prefer in-state com- panies to get contracts but recognizes that the state can't put up a wall or other states could punish Nevada bidders. 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