All in all, it’s been a pretty good few days for Nevada.
Steve Hill, director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, presented Gov. Brian Sandoval with the state’s first Gold Shovel award on Sept. 17 in recognition of Nevada’s economic development efforts during 2014.
The award, given by Area Development magazine, is a prestigious award in the economic development world.
Nevada’s award is a result of the significant number of high-value-added jobs added to the Silver State’s economy in 2014 as well as investment by those companies.
“In the first quarter of this year, Nevada led the nation in job creation – private sector job growth in our state outpaced every other state in the nation,” Sandoval said in a statement. “That is an incredible achievement and a true testament to the entire state working together to not only put Nevadans back to work, but also create a New Nevada focused on high-paying jobs that drive innovation to make Nevada an industry leader in several of our targeted sectors.”
And he’s not running for anything.
“The economic development effort has changed the way the nation and the world view Nevada,” Hill said in a statement. “We will always be a global leader in terms of our hospitality and gaming industry, but we are also making a name for ourselves as the place that industry leading companies want to call home. Tesla has been heralded as the Investment Deal of the Year, and we are very proud of that. As a state, we are equally proud of the Nevada-grown companies that are expanding, and the new Nevada companies that are moving to our state to create high-paying jobs, partnering with our education and workforce development entities, and changing the future for working Nevadans.”
Area Development magazine recognized Tesla as an Investment Project of the Year as it invested $5 billion and created 6,500 jobs in Reno.
In addition to Tesla, Las Vegas-based Switch, Inc., K2 Energy Solutions Inc., Catamaran, LLC., and Asurion, as well as Reno-based Ashima Devices, Petco Animal Supply Stores, Inc., Cenntro Motor Corp., Ghost Systems and Amazon.com.kydc LLC were also acknowledged.
Meanwhile, Kiplinger, a Washington, D.C.-based publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice, ranked Nevada ninth among the nation’s most tax-friendly states.
The list, unveiled as part of Kiplinger’s third annual Tax Map, compares income tax, sales tax, gas tax, “sin” tax (for products such as alcohol and tobacco) and other tax types, rules and exemptions across all 50 states.
Kiplinger’s 10 Most Tax-Friendly States ranked from first to tenth are Delaware, Wyoming, Alaska, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and South Carolina.
Kiplinger’s 10 Least Tax-Friendly States ranked from first to tenth were California, Connecticut, New Jersey, Hawaii, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Minnesota and Illinois.
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Now, ads keyed to weather
The Weather Channel has formed an exclusive advertising partnership with local media station KVVU, the FOX affiliate in Las Vegas owned by Meredith Corp.
Through this partnership, KVVU can offer local advertisers the ability to target the large user base of The Weather Channel online and in the company’s ubiquitous mobile applications. The targeting can be based on a user’s location and/or on the weather. The station also will offer the ability for businesses to target an audience based on weather conditions and sophisticated triggers that take into account sales activity and weather conditions.
“The partnership leverages the national scale of The Weather Channel digital operation, while tying in the community knowledge of a strong local media brand like KVVU,” Ryan Davis, vice president overseeing The Weather Channel Local Platform, said in a statement. “We both care deeply about weather and how it impacts the daily lives of our audience. It’s a perfect fit.”
KVVU offers locally relevant content and local advertising sales relationships, while The Weather Channel brings national weather storytelling and advanced advertising products.
The partnership integrates video from the media partner into location-specific pages on weather.com and The Weather Channel mobile products as well as provides national weather-related video and products to partners for their digital properties.
