Nevada Briefs - October 2004

Nevada Briefs

Two Manufacturers Move to Northern Nevada

Production Pattern & Foundry Co. (PP&F) will open its new 100,000-square-foot facility in Mound House this month. The company, which manufactures aluminum castings, was formerly located in San Leandro, Calif. Ron Weisinger, head of Northern Nevada Development Authority, said the company left California seeking a more business-friendly environment. Only thirty of PP&G’s 120 workers moved with the company, so it will have to eventually hire about 80 workers as it ramps up to full production. Another California refugee is Modern Stainless and Design, which moved to Dayton several months ago. The company makes stainless steel tanks used by wineries. It moved from a 19,000-square-foot facility in California to a 109,000-square-foot plant in Dayton, which is already operating at full capacity. One of the reasons the firm left California was the high cost of workers’ compensation insurance, according to Weisinger, who said the company expects to save almost $300,000 annually in premiums.

IGT to Consolidate Las Vegas Operations

Gaming supplier IGT recently announced it will consolidate its operations in Las Vegas and move from nine separate buildings into one new facility. The new 600,000-square-foot "campus," which will be located at Sunset and Buffalo, will contain 300,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space, 230,000 square feet for offices and 700,000 square feet of accessory space. Multiple IGT departments will be housed at the new building, including manufacturing, engineering, sales, casino services, IGT Systems and Barcrest USA. Construction is scheduled to begin in November and be completed by October 2006. Architect for the project is HDR, Inc., and the contractor is Big D Construction Corp.

Nevada’s Most-Wanted Jobs Revealed

The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation has released figures showing which jobs are most in demand in the state, and projecting that information forward to 2010. Figures are based on the average number of annual job openings and also on how fast demand for certain categories of employees is increasing. For occupations requiring at least a bachelor’s degree, the top three positions are general and operations managers, elementary school teachers and accountants and auditors. For occupations requiring an associate degree or post-secondary vocational training, those most in demand are gaming dealers, registered nurses and gaming supervisors. For skilled workers, the top three positions are carpenters, bookkeepers/accounting clerks and truck drivers. For occupations requiring only short-term preparation, retail salespeople, cashiers and waiters/waitresses are most in demand.

Reno-Tahoe International Airport Receives Grants

The Federal Aviation Administration presented grants totaling $17.9 million to Reno-Tahoe International Airport in September. The majority of the funds ($10 million) will help reconstruct and rehabilitate aircraft parking pavement in the terminal area. Another $7.9 million will be used to enhance the airport’s noise-abatement program. The noise-abatement grants include $4 million to insulate approximately 230 homes affected by noise from the airport, as well as $2 million to acquire land and homes in the path of aircraft, including relocation assistance for affected residents. Another $1.9 million will fund a noise-monitoring system at the airport to assist noise-reduction efforts.

Community-Owned Store to Open in Ely

Ely’s Community Owned Mercantile Project (CROP) has succeeded in raising the funds needed to open a full-service department store in Ely to replace the JC Penney store, which closed in July. After the JC Penney Company announced last year that the city’s only department store would be closed, community residents banded together to sell shares in the new venture, which will be called The Garnet Mercantile. More than 300 people bought shares in the cooperative, raising $404,000. The store is scheduled to open in November.