Diversifying Nevada’s Economy
Gaming and tourism will always be the financial lifeblood of Nevada’s economy, but we must diversify our industries and our revenue sources so that downturns in the economy do not devastate our lower-income residents.
Currently, approximately 25 percent of the state’s revenues come from taxes and public monies generated by gaming revenues. When tourism becomes subject to a weak economy, this extremely high percentage can put Nevada in a perilous position.
This means that Nevada must be pro-active in developing other industries to shoulder some of these public money burdens.
Nevada Needs to Remain a Tax-Friendly State
With tax incentives for businesses, such as the tax breaks given to Tesla’s gigafactory outside Reno ($1.25 billion for 20 years), Nevada has already cemented a reputation as a tax-friendly state. We need to use this to our advantage and make attracting businesses like Tesla a top priority.
High-profile, high-tech companies spur job growth because they draw other related businesses and businesses that will support the needs of new employees.
We Need to Foster an Environment that Encourages Entrepreneurship
While these big-name companies are clear wins, our state also needs to foster an environment that encourages entrepreneurs to launch smaller businesses as well. This will require a streamlined process and the removal of the red tape that impedes start-up performance and discourages entrepreneurship.
We Need to Make Education and Job Training a Priority
While Nevada has made strides in attracting impressive companies and manufacturers, our state must also keep up with the housing and education needs that service this influx of new business workers and residents.
Thus, economic development needs to be stressed while also ensuring our economy accommodates the growth that comes with new business.
We Must Reduce Growth-Hindering Regulations
There are too many regulations that work as roadblocks for business growth. I’m in favor of de-regulating and reducing the bureaucracy for small businesses.
This way, Nevada can compete with high-tech states such as California and Massachusetts.
Nevada Can Learn from the Private Sector
The Nevada government can benefit from examining successes from the private sector. I built one of the most environmentally-efficient structures in Nevada, thanks to the support I received from the Summerlin development company, Howard Hughes Corp. My business is thriving from a groundbreaking, net-zero energy building because the Howard Hughes Corporation identified the land site and encouraged us to re-locate our retail operation there.
That’s how I see Nevada forging ahead with businesses—We will identify entrepreneurs with great ideas while also providing them with assistance and helping them to maintain professional standards.
We Can Utilize Renewable Energy
I support the Sandoval administration’s economic diversification efforts. I would also support taking their efforts one step further by expanding income and revenue generation sources outside of the traditional gaming and tourism industries.
For example, I support attracting renewable energy businesses that would manufacture and sell items—such as solar panels—right here in Nevada.
Nevada is poised to attract modern, responsible manufacturing and high-tech plants with new technologies that would not contribute to the pollution of our environment.
That means building plants that are more technologically advanced and using resources in a more efficient manner. The productivity of these plants and industries needs to be higher than the productivity occurring in the factories of our counterparts in countries such as China.
Nevada Needs to Become a Leader in High-Skill and High-Tech Education
We want industries to start and relocate in Nevada but we want to ensure they have a high level of productivity that adds to the GDP, which, in turn, can increase the income of Nevadans.
Our state needs to deepen our pool of high-tech workers, which means investing closer to home in universities while also recruiting the best and the brightest from other nations that have a proven pipeline of high-tech students.
We cannot bring high-tech and innovative industries to Nevada if we cannot staff those industries. This will require cutting red tape and improving our educational and work-training programs as well as creating incentives to stay in Nevada
We Must Invest in Multi-faceted Transportation
To fuel our economic growth, our state needs to invest in multi-faceted transportation. This will include more than just roadways. I support the continued development of the I-11 corridor to connect southern Nevada with Phoenix, but I also like rail as a conduit between Las Vegas and Southern California.
I also support the RTC initiatives in Las Vegas and Reno to encourage more people to leave their cars at home and utilize public transportation sources.
