Clark County and Henderson economic development officials are touting technology and manufacturing that will help diversify the Southern Nevada economy as they face the challenge of the presidential election slowing decisions of business relocations.
Shani Coleman, director of Economic Development for Clark County; and Jared Smith, director of Economic Development and Tourism for the city of Henderson, highlighted some of the latest happenings in those jurisdictions during a recent breakfast meeting at The Orleans of NAIOP Southern Nevada, the development organization.
Moderated by outgoing NAIOP President Cassie Catania-Hsu, managing director at CBRE, Smith talked about Haas Automation bringing its manufacturing operation from California to West Henderson. Groundbreaking ceremonies were held earlier this month on the facility that measures 2.4 million square feet that will cost more than $400 million and employ up to 1,400 people.
Haas, which manufactures machine tools such as mills, lathes and drills that use computer automation, had planned to finish the project in 2022 but was delayed by the pandemic that affected supply chains and increased construction costs. It will be completed by late 2026.
“Haas has already spent $100 million on their land so far,” Smith said. “It’s moving forward, and it’s very exciting. Delays happen, and they were very communicative with the city during the delays. We never had a doubt as a city that the project was going to happen. Kudos to them for keeping those lines of communication open.”
Across the street from the planned facility, Haas has another 60 acres in which the company is planning to build 2 million to 4 million square feet of speculative space.
“The original idea was for their suppliers because in West Henderson we just don’t want to see Haas go up, we want to see their suppliers and that ecosystem,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of pencils down in manufacturing right now, so to see Haas moving forward is not only good news for Henderson but good news for economic diversification of the region to know that they’re going to move forward with that spec property is incredible. The city made that investment, and guess what, they’re (creating jobs) going to thousands of employees in manufacturing, just in Henderson. That’s not counting what’s planned across the rest of the city in the Eldorado Valley. We have to do our part as a community to ramp that workforce and change the hearts and minds of our children that a career in manufacturing is not what granddad would have described. It’s different now and a cool place to go to work.”
Smith said manufacturers across the country are figuring out that they have to create that ecosystem for young people to want to be a part of and not just viewed as gigantic machines in a building with little air conditioning.
“Manufacturing is in its infancy in Southern Nevada compared to other places in the country,” Smith said. Coleman highlighted the county’s planned innovation district in the southwest valley along the 215 Beltway from Buffalo Drive to Decatur Boulevard. It includes Switch, the UNLV Harry Reid Technology Park and UnCommons mixed-use development.
“The idea is for creating an environment where innovation can thrive, and Clark County is putting some money behind it,” Coleman said. “We have spent money and dropped in a dark fiber line that connects to UNLV computers. Two things are happening. The UNLV research park is connected to the super computer but then Clark County also connected to the super computer for the sole purpose as we recruit new innovation companies, all of those things require high computing power. We’re the only municipality in the entire state that will have access to a super computer and allow that as an amenity for those companies coming into the innovation district. We’re excited about the opportunity.”
Smith tried to temper the enthusiasm for what’s happening, however, saying leads to attract businesses to not only Nevada but the region are down, which further adds to the challenge of diversification.
“We have to get through the election cycle,” Smith said. “Our companies are going to have a sense of what 2025 is going to look like as they make these decisions. Interest rates are going to have to come down a little bit more.”
Smith said the region also has to deal with workforce development to make the region attractive to land companies to the region.
“We’re shaking the trees harder than we ever have before and producing more data to make company decisions easier,” Smith said. “It’s just hard work and sometimes it’s unsexy.”
Smith talked about how the governmental jurisdictions work together and cited how he recently got a lead for a technology company that wants to consider Henderson and other locales.
“They said they want to vet Henderson and maybe some of the other areas,” Smith said before eliciting laughs from Coleman and the audience. “I called Shani and said I’m going to send you a lead, and then I’m going to compete with you to win it. I think that’s a good partnership.”
Coleman said everybody wins despite the friendly competition. They all work for elected officials who love to cut ribbons and to make the announcement.
“But at the end of the day as long as it ends up in Clark County whether it’s Henderson, Las Vegas or unincorporated, it’s a win for our community,” Coleman said. “Most people don’t know. They think it’s all Las Vegas. We banter and play with each other, but it’s all a win. If someone calls me, and I can’t deliver what they’re asking for, my next call is to Jared or North Las Vegas. I want to keep that company in our community regardless because that’s jobs.”
Coleman said California is “Nevada’s biggest cheerleader” when it comes to leads for businesses wanting to relocate. She said her team gets two calls a day from a California business looking to move out of the state, sometimes because their employees can no longer afford to live there.
“Our regulatory climate and distance from the port of Los Angeles and distance to places like Phoenix and Utah where you can easily get to in a day and our airport make us attractive to companies from Southern California who are done,” Coleman said.
Smith said at their economic development and small business awards in Henderson gave an honorary award to California Gov. Gavin Newsom for business development. Taxes and regulations are cited by companies leaving.
“We get lots of California companies,” Smith said. “If you want to do business with Californians but not deal with California, you come to Southern Nevada. As long as California keeps doing what they’re doing I think that helps us get through this lull a little bit easier.”
