"Why reports of Nevada's Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated"

This morning I had the privilege of attending a joint breakfast sponsored by the Northern Nevada Development Authority, the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Business Council of Douglas County.  The two main topics were to recognize the export achievements of Aervoe Industries and to hear Nevada Secretary of State, Ross Miller speak about what he called "Forging a Path to a New Nevada Economy".

For more than 40 years, Aervoe has been a recognized leader and manufacturer of industrial use products including paints, specialty coatings, cleaners and lubricants.  Today they were recognized for executing a strategic change in their approach to export markets throughout the world.  When the construction and commercial real estate markets crashed, Aervoe CEO David Williams watched many close friends lose revenues and lose businesses.  They realized that they needed to make a real change.  Today, they were recognized by national and local officials for the success of efforts to expand into new international markets.  Kudos to Aervoe, their management team and US Commercial Services staff that helped make their dreams a reality.

Mr. Miller started his talk with a lightness that beguiled many of the challenges that the local economy is facing.  He showed headlines that broadcast doom and gloom yet to tell us that many of them were decades old.  And he used this to make the point that when a roadblock was put in the way of the Nevada economy (i.e downturns in mining, changes in California divorce law), that Nevadans always bounced back with new ideas and new industries.  And he backed it up saying that the numbers are showing that a recovery is happening right now.

And how is his office doing their part?  By launching whynevada.com, his office is providing a central source of information about why businesses should locate in Nevada.  They also want to eliminate barriers to licensing and reporting so that business ideas can get out of the garage.  They are also going launch a business portal this spring that will guide businesses through the process of starting a business in Nevada.  He said that it would be a "do it yourself hub" that would minimize the need to have an attorney to just get started.

To show that turning around the Nevada economy was possible, he cited the turnaround in Denver that started in the '90s and the industry clustering strategies employed by Utah as examples of successes in the Western US.  Yes, he admitted that there are still media reports broadcasting economic doom in the state and in conclusion, he confidently stated that "we are on our way back".