Business Briefs

Report: Nevada experiencing 'existential whiplash'

A Las Vegas-based think tank ranked the Reno-Sparks economy poorly in the third quarter among 17 small metro areas in the Intermountain West, according to a report released Tuesday.

While many economists say the recession may be over nationwide, recovery in the Intermountain West is patchy, with some areas improving while others continue to lag, especially in Nevada, according to the Brookings Mountain West, a partnership between the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C., and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"No multistate region has been hit harder by the last year's economic crisis than the six-state intermountain zone," which includes Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, according to the report.

The Reno-Sparks area only performed better than Lake Havasu City-Kingman, Ariz., while Pueblo, Colo., ranked first overall in the report. The Reno-Sparks area ranked last for changes in unemployment ending in September, rising from 5.8 percent in 2008 to 13.1 percent this year. The region did rank 12th in gross metropolitan product, falling 6.8 percent in the amount of goods and services produced.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas fared among the worst performing economies for large metros in the region, including Boise, Idaho, and Phoenix.

The report's authors noted that in many Intermountain West locations, "the sheer abruptness of the shift from hyper-growth early in the decade to a severe contraction in the last year has spawned a sense of almost existential whiplash."

NBC to continue Calif. trips

The Nevada Business Connections will continue its trips to California to lure businesses to Northern Nevada, said director Kris Holt in a statement on Thursday.

The privately-funded economic development organization plans on making at least four recruiting trips to the Golden State in 2010.

"Their pitch next year," the statement said, is, "Nevada's business climate easily surpasses California's.

Nevada ranked fourth in Chief Executive's Magazine most recent best business climate survey. For the fourth straight year, California ranked last."

Holt said dozens of manufacturing companies from California have relocated to Nevada in the past 15 years, many of them bringing 10 to 100 employees each to Carson, Douglas and Lyon counties.

Workshop on selling strategies

Two business consultants, one from Nevada, are offering a seminar on sales strategies.

Valerie Cardenas, owner of Strategic Essentials, and Alice Heiman, a national sales expert, speaker and author, are offer the workshop to business owners. The workshop is limited to 15 participants.

For more information, go to www.powerfulsalesstrategies.com, call 775-826-8282 or e-mail info@powerfulsalesstrategies.com.