Carson City Gets New Medical Facilities
Sierra Surgery and Imaging opened for business in Carson City in March. The hospital serves patients from Carson, Douglas and Lyon counties, offering inpatient and outpatient surgery and diagnostic medical imaging services. Operated in partnership with Carson-Tahoe Hospital, the 49,000-square-foot facility has 15 inpatient rooms, six operating rooms, a 10-bed recovery room and a 15-bed admit/second stage recovery unit. Phased expansion of the facility is planned for 2006. In related news, construction is scheduled to begin this spring on the Carson-Tahoe Cancer Center, a $10 million project affiliated with the Carson-Tahoe Regional Medical Center. The 34,000-square foot facility, designed by the Sacramento office of HGA Architects and Engineers, will be located on a five-acre site on the medical campus. The two-story building will house medical and radiation oncology departments, a cancer resource center and library. Completion is slated for the first quarter of 2006.
Visitor Volume Tops 50 Million
Nevada welcomed a record 50.5 million visitors in 2004, a milestone for the state’s tourism industry that surpassed projections announced late last year. “Tourism not only is Nevada’s No. 1 industry, but also contributes $40 billion to our state’s economy,” said Bruce Bommarito, executive director of the Nevada Commission on Tourism (NCOT). The $40 billion value includes $10 billion in gross gaming revenue. Bommarito said NCOT’s adventure-oriented advertising, “Nevada: Wide Open,” has generated a 42.7 percent increase in responses from viewers seeking information, and 52 percent of those surveyed said the materials influenced their decision to visit. Web site visits were up 12.3 percent over 2003. The Commerce Department ranks Nevada the No. 5 most-visited U.S. state for overseas visitors and the Travel Industry of America reports it is No. 6 in domestic and international visitor spending.
Wal-Mart Distribution Center Slated for Storey County
Wal-Mart recently closed escrow on 140 acres at Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, 15 minutes east of Reno in Storey County. The retailing giant plans to build a nearly 1 million-square-foot state-of-the-art distribution center on the property. The center will service Wal-Mart stores within a 120-mile radius. Wal-Mart said it will initially hire about 500 employees, and over the next few years that number will grow to 700, with hiring of area residents is expected to begin in 2006. The distribution center is expected to contribute more than $50 million annually to the regional economy. Ground will be broken this quarter for the facility, which will take about 15 months to complete, and Wal-Mart has an option for 10 additional acres for possible future expansion.
Las Vegas Manufacturer Receives SBA Honor
A skilled casting and mold-maker who went on to open his own manufacturing firm in Las Vegas has been named Nevada’s Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Scott Acton, owner of Trevi Manufacturing, was invited by SBA Administrator Hector Barreto to participate in National Small Business Week activities in April in Washington, D.C., where other small business owners and entrepreneurs were honored. Trevi Manufacturing makes products for homes and gardens, as well as commercial construction projects, out of glass fiber-reinforced concrete, which is stronger and lighter than traditional cast stone. Growing from two employees in 2001 with total revenue just under $40,000, Trevi employed 24 people in 2004 and grossed $3.4 million.
Cabela’s Plans Reno Store
Pinnacle Entertainment recently announced that it has entered into agreements to sell a total of 38.5 acres of land to Cabela’s Retail, Inc. The land, adjacent to the company’s Boomtown Reno property, is intended for the construction of a 150,000-square-foot Cabela’s retail store, similar in design and concept to the other Cabela’s outdoor sporting goods stores located in South Dakota, Michigan, Kansas and Minnesota. The transactions are expected to close in the second half of 2005, with the store opening slated for late 2006 or early 2007. Projections indicate the store will create about 184 new full-time and 216 part-time jobs, with a payroll of more than $8 million the first year. In addition, gross sales estimated at $55 million would generate about $3.6 million in new sales tax revenues.
