Magazine ranks Nevada sixth-best for business

Nevada is ranked No. 6 in the nation by Chief Executive Magazine in its recently announced Best and Worst States for Business in 2019. Nevada moved up from its ranking of No. 12 in 2018.

The magazine reported CEOs find the Silver State is business-friendly, citing lower cost of living, quality middle-class life, no state income taxes, and low taxes in general.

The top five states in order are Texas, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina and Indiana.

The magazine said Nevada’s rise in the rankings has clearly come partly at the expense of states CEOs don’t regard well, most notably California.

Nevada remains increasingly attractive to CEOs such as Billy Thompson, who recently moved his startup active-wear company, Thompson Tee, to Las Vegas from California, escaping high costs of doing business and of living there.

“The people we interact with in Nevada just generally seem to be happier,” Thompson tells Chief Executive. “Our theory is that it’s less crowded and has a lower cost of living, meaning people can enjoy middle-class jobs and income here and a quality middle-class life.”

Echoing such sentiments is Elaine Hodgson, who moved the brain trust of her company, Incredible Technologies, to Las Vegas from Vernon Hills, Illinois, several years ago, said Nevada “is very business-friendly. There are low taxes in general and no income taxes, and low property taxes. It’s a different vibe.”

The magazine stated Nevada is elevating its global profile. Former Gov. Brian Sandoval made recent trade missions to Africa and Spain and used the Nevada Global initiative to partner with economic development agencies abroad to identify businesses to connect with the state’s startup accelerator community. Sofidel, Cascade Financial Technology and Axion all announced investments in Nevada in 2018. And Tesla’s Gigafactory continues to expand, with total investments in the project now nearing $4 billion.

The Nevada Global Initiative aims to attract high-growth international companies looking to establish footholds and expand in the U.S. The Governor’s Office of Economic Development has worked with foreign partners to identify companies with success in their domestic markets that are preparing to enter the U.S. market and are a good fit in targeted sectors. The first major Nevada Global recruiting and vetting event took place in Poland in 2018.

Nevada offers the following incentives:

Data Center Abatement: Offers abatement of up to 75 percent of the taxes due for 10- to 20-year periods for personal property tax and sales and use tax.

Modified Business Tax Abatement: Offers a tax abatement of half of the 1.475% rate on quarterly wages exceeding $50,000.

Sales and Use Tax Abatement: Offers a tax abatement on quality capital equipment purchases, with reductions in the rate to as low as 2 percent.

Silver State Works Employee Hiring Incentive: Offers up to $2,000 per employee in incentive reimbursements and training allowances for new employees.

Business development in the state includes:

Sofidel America, one of the world’s largest tissue producers, announced in January 2018 it will expand operations in southern Nevada and create 67 jobs.

Cascade Financial Technology announced in March 2018 an expansion in Clark County with the potential for 300 jobs over the next five years.

Axion, a provider of satellite broadband-based entertainment, announced a $30 million investment in May 2018 in Washoe County that will create 205 jobs.

In August 2018, Tesla’s Gigafactory surpassed capital investment benchmarks tied to state tax incentives. It currently has 3,249 employees and total capital investments of $3.7 billion.

Ryze Renewables Holdings announced in August 2018 it would build two diesel fuel plants in Nevada and create more than 750 jobs.

Other big companies in the state include Zappos, Switch, SolarCity and BrightSource.

Four Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the state: Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resorts.

For more on the rankings visit https://chiefexecutive.net/best-worst-states-business