Southern Nevada’s big year ahead culminates decade of growth in the Valley

Mark Damon / Las Vegas News Bureau

Jeremy Aguero, principal of Applied Analysis, speaks at the Latin Chamber of Commerce business and networking luncheon on Friday, June 21, 2019, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. (Mark Damon/Las Vegas News Bureau)

NOTABLE NUMBERS

Aguero’s presentation at Preview Las Vegas was filled with data illustrating Southern Nevada’s growth over the past 10 years and its prospects for the next 10. Among the numbers that stood out …

• 67 new jobs added daily on average in Las Vegas over the past 10 years, a total of about 250,000 created positions.

• 76 feet of decline at Lake Mead over the past 10 years. “Let’s imagine if we repeat the same 76 feet of decline. These are realities we need to deal with,” Aguero said.

• 90 new residents moving to the Valley per day over the past decade. It’s the third-highest total nationally.

• 15,000 dollars per year on average that wages have increased. That’s $127 a day.

• 2.7% decrease in the amount of children enrolled in public schools over the past 10 years.

Jeremy Aguero, the principal analyst with the fiscal and policy research firm Applied Analysis, late last month detailed the economic growth experienced in Las Vegas over the past 10 years to an audience of the business community at Preview Las Vegas.

Aguero, a master at presenting his findings after more than two decades of economic and fiscal impact dissection, certainly caught everyone’s attention.

With each number, the over-the-top growth of Las Vegas—from stadiums and sports teams, to resorts and the jobs sector—became more clear. He presented his findings January 23 at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the annual Preview event hosted by Vegas Chamber.

The 10-year stretch included the opening of T-Mobile Arena, Allegiant Stadium, Circa Las Vegas and Resorts World, to name a few. It also brought a major transportation initiative in Project Neon to expand Interstate-15, a $2.4 billion expansion at Harry Reid International Airport and record-setting tourism.

The period was also marked with the economy emerging from the Great Recession of the late-2000s as well as managing the COVID-19 pandemic that brought a historic shutdown of the resort corridor in 2020 and a record jobless rate.

Still, Aguero says, the region created 250,000 new jobs over the past decade.

“Not a bad 10-year stretch for us overall,” he boasted. “In fact, it is pretty incredible.

“But what’s next? That’s the question I get more than any other.”

And what’s next, Vegas Chamber President Mary Beth Sewald told the audience, will be unprecedented—even by standards for a city accustomed to grabbing the world’s attention.

That’s because another addition to the resort corridor—the 17,500-seat auditorium, $2.18 billion MSG Sphere—is scheduled to open in the second half of 2023, to go along with a pair of marquee events in the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix from November 16-18 and the Super Bowl on February 11, 2024.

“The greatest arena on earth, Las Vegas,” Sewald told the audience. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

The F1 race, where cars will zoom upwards of 212 miles per hour on a 3.8-mile street course that includes part of the Strip, is projected to shatter revenue marks with an impact of $1.3 billion. By comparison, the Super Bowl—the standard nationally in marquee, money-generating events for a city—will bring $600 million in economic impact to the Valley, officials said at the Preview event.

Steve Hill, president of the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority, stated the obvious to Preview attendees when describing the spotlight Las Vegas will be in during the upcoming months. “The entire world will be watching us,” he proudly said.

The Preview event included a presentation from officials with MSG Sphere, which at 336 feet tall and 516 feet wide will be the world’s largest spherical structure. It will also have the highest-resolution LED screen in the world, which at 160,000-square-feet will wrap over the audience to create an immersive environment.

In 2033, when Aguero—or one of his economic and fiscal impact analyzing colleagues—takes 10-year look at the growth of Las Vegas, 2023 will surely take up most of the conservation.

“In most cities, to have one of these opportunities is a really big deal,” Sewald said. “But to have all three of these monumental events happening within six months [of each other] is unbelievable, and only Las Vegas can make that happen.”

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This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.

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