For Sunshine Minting Inc., a small precious metals manufacturer in Henderson, expanding to Nevada 10 years ago was a simple decision.
“The logistics, the tax structure, the diversity of the workforce here, the cost of living … there are some great assets,” said Thomas Power, the company’s president and CEO. “This area is a great place to do business.”
The company, which is headquartered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, supplies silver blanks and similar products to the United States Mint and companies around the world.
The 175-employee company is one example of how the manufacturing industry is taking some pressure off the region’s tourism-heavy economy.
“The manufacturing sector here in the Valley is still in its infancy, because there’s always been so much emphasis on travel and tourism and gaming,” Power said. “Look, that’s rightfully so. We were attracted here because there was, at the time, an abundance of workforce, and because of the proximity to things like the port in Long Beach [California].”
A city that welcomed 32 million visitors last year—and 42 million during pre-pandemic 2019—Las Vegas will likely always have an outsized tourism component within its economic infrastructure. That said, regional leaders have long talked about how a more diverse economy can ease the sting of the next recession, which is inevitable.
In January, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 26,300 people were employed in manufacturing in Las Vegas. That’s compared with over 260,000 jobs classified as “leisure and hospitality” in the region during the same month.
Manufacturing jobs in Las Vegas reached a high of 27,700 during the fall of 2006, before the onset of the Great Recession, then fell to just over 19,000 in late 2010 and early 2011.
At the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, one of the main goals for the public-private partnership organization is to help diversify Southern Nevada’s economy.
“We’ve been talking about it since I came here, which was 32 years ago,” said Tina Quigley, president and CEO of the organization and former CEO of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. “I’m trying to think of a nicer way to say it, but we really just need to grow up. We suck at diversifying our economy. We need to get the region together in order to make that happen, but I think that is starting to happen.”
Another example that champions of economic diversity often point to lately is Haas Automation, a California machine tool manufacturer that is building a 2.5 million-square-foot plant just south of Henderson Executive Airport. The first phase of that project is expected to be done later this year.
As part of a deal with the state, Haas is set to receive $10.5 million in tax abatements, as long as it creates at least 500 jobs that pay an average hourly wage of about $24. Within five years of opening the plant, Haas expects to have close to 1,400 employees in Henderson.
As Quigley points out, however, Southern Nevada needs to have the advanced manufacturing workforce available in order to attract companies.
“We are seeing more companies choosing to relocate here,” Quigley said. “We have to pump out the appropriate workforce so these companies know they have a fire hose of available workforce here. It will take a little time, but we’re seeing some programs now that will help with those workforce training efforts.”
Jaime Cruz, executive director of Workforce Connections, Southern Nevada’s workforce development board, said manufacturing jobs are vitally important in the effort to diversify the Las Vegas economy.
As part of its “Workforce Blueprint” plan, a collaboration between the LVGEA and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, manufacturing is one of seven target “emerging” sectors.
“We see real growth in this sector right now, not just off into the future,” Cruz said. “We have Ocean Spray here for a while now, along with companies like Ethel M chocolates, Levi Strauss & Co., and Sunshine Minting. Haas Automation will have a huge presence in West Henderson.”
Cruz said a collaboration between Workforce Connections and other workforce stakeholders with manufacturing industry officials will begin soon.
“We’re looking at the short- and the long-term,” Cruz said. “We’re going to work with the school district, with CSN, Nevada State College, UNLV and others to produce a sustainable pool of talent. That’s never been done here in our region.”
Click HERE to subscribe for free to Vegas Inc’s BizClick newsletter. Stay up to date with the latest business news in Las Vegas sent directly to your inbox each Monday.