Economic Diversification Providing The Necessary Freedom To Get Us From Here To There
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
In the next meeting of the Nevada Vision Stakeholders Group the topic for attention will be economic diversification. That meeting is scheduled for Thursday morning (starting at 9 a.m.), February 25th at the Grant Sawyer Building in Las Vegas and the Legislative Building in Carson City (these two sites are linked by a compressed video connection). For those interested in following along and able to connect to the Internet, the Nevada Legislative Website offers an ability to view and listen in.
The goal of diversifying Nevada’s economy has been a point of emphasis for the past 21-plus years that I’m aware of and has focused mostly on attempting to attract business enterprises based elsewhere to come to Nevada. Having mostly antidotal evidence to go on at this time, it would seem that there has been some success in bringing new business ventures to Nevada. During the February 25th meeting we hope to hear from the Nevada Economic Development Commission, providing details and insights on what has been going on and what is in the works currently.
To a certain extent the reason for the frustrations over not having an economy as diversified as we would deem to be ideal (at least working from my current theory) is the domination of one sector of the state’s economy (gaming) being so large that it has caused a shadow effect which doesn’t allow for a complete appreciation on how the new business ventures show up in the numbers. I also think that the desire for more economic diversification is a hoped for “silver bullet” of economic vitality, generating greater numbers of jobs and other forms of economic output.
Wanting economic diversification is a very logical and commendable objective to work to achieve. The question really is more about how? As opposed to whether?
In trying to catch up with the inside details, a great deal of accent is placed on being positioned to bring home the ventures of “the new economy”. Those fitting into this category are high-tech fields with much ado about innovation and other forms of pizzazz that make money circulate, providing for highly compensated employees and exciting life-styles. Examples like businesses connected to the green energy fad are highly prized by virtue of being socially worthy, even if their economic viability credentials are extremely shaky and for the most part are best located in someone else’s backyard.
In working to recruit the components of “the new economy” to become part of Nevada’s economic fabric we need to take care in avoiding an elitist approach which jeopardizes economic diversification. With the current level of unemployment of Nevada’s workforce, having viable business should be more of a priority than the political correctness of the enterprises being sought. The role of state government should be establishment of a business climate where potential profitability and ease of doing business are hallmarks, rewarded, celebrated and revered.
No, having a low tax burden is not the only essential for such a favorable business climate. Yes, having an appropriately educated and skilled workforce of hardworking and productive citizenry is vital to being what we want to be included in our attributes for promoting Nevada as a good place for business.
Having pointed these facts out, the bottom line though seems to be a need for stressing the importance of “freedom” serving as the cornerstone for a vibrant economy. This concept embodies the advantages of individual, entrepreneurial pursuits over the socially-engineered manipulations of government, looking for a payoff.
While working to lure the right kind of business enterprises to the state and carving out arrangements and structuring the landscape to fit their desires or needs falls into the arena of legislators, bureaucrats and special interests – having an overall healthy economy which serves to benefit all (including those business enterprises already in Nevada) should be a greater priority. Imposing greater and heavier governmental burdens (destroying “freedom”) on the business enterprises struggling to be successful in order to finance the quest of relocating or establishing businesses we don’t have seems to be counter-intuitive…and actually inappropriate.
In the next meeting of the Nevada Vision Stakeholders Group the topic for attention will be economic diversification. That meeting is scheduled for Thursday morning (starting at 9 a.m.), February 25th at the Grant Sawyer Building in Las Vegas and the Legislative Building in Carson City (these two sites are linked by a compressed video connection). For those interested in following along and able to connect to the Internet, the Nevada Legislative Website offers an ability to view and listen in.
The goal of diversifying Nevada’s economy has been a point of emphasis for the past 21-plus years that I’m aware of and has focused mostly on attempting to attract business enterprises based elsewhere to come to Nevada. Having mostly antidotal evidence to go on at this time, it would seem that there has been some success in bringing new business ventures to Nevada. During the February 25th meeting we hope to hear from the Nevada Economic Development Commission, providing details and insights on what has been going on and what is in the works currently.
To a certain extent the reason for the frustrations over not having an economy as diversified as we would deem to be ideal (at least working from my current theory) is the domination of one sector of the state’s economy (gaming) being so large that it has caused a shadow effect which doesn’t allow for a complete appreciation on how the new business ventures show up in the numbers. I also think that the desire for more economic diversification is a hoped for “silver bullet” of economic vitality, generating greater numbers of jobs and other forms of economic output.
Wanting economic diversification is a very logical and commendable objective to work to achieve. The question really is more about how? As opposed to whether?
In trying to catch up with the inside details, a great deal of accent is placed on being positioned to bring home the ventures of “the new economy”. Those fitting into this category are high-tech fields with much ado about innovation and other forms of pizzazz that make money circulate, providing for highly compensated employees and exciting life-styles. Examples like businesses connected to the green energy fad are highly prized by virtue of being socially worthy, even if their economic viability credentials are extremely shaky and for the most part are best located in someone else’s backyard.
In working to recruit the components of “the new economy” to become part of Nevada’s economic fabric we need to take care in avoiding an elitist approach which jeopardizes economic diversification. With the current level of unemployment of Nevada’s workforce, having viable business should be more of a priority than the political correctness of the enterprises being sought. The role of state government should be establishment of a business climate where potential profitability and ease of doing business are hallmarks, rewarded, celebrated and revered.
No, having a low tax burden is not the only essential for such a favorable business climate. Yes, having an appropriately educated and skilled workforce of hardworking and productive citizenry is vital to being what we want to be included in our attributes for promoting Nevada as a good place for business.
Having pointed these facts out, the bottom line though seems to be a need for stressing the importance of “freedom” serving as the cornerstone for a vibrant economy. This concept embodies the advantages of individual, entrepreneurial pursuits over the socially-engineered manipulations of government, looking for a payoff.
While working to lure the right kind of business enterprises to the state and carving out arrangements and structuring the landscape to fit their desires or needs falls into the arena of legislators, bureaucrats and special interests – having an overall healthy economy which serves to benefit all (including those business enterprises already in Nevada) should be a greater priority. Imposing greater and heavier governmental burdens (destroying “freedom”) on the business enterprises struggling to be successful in order to finance the quest of relocating or establishing businesses we don’t have seems to be counter-intuitive…and actually inappropriate.
Posted by Doug Busselman at 2/15/2010 8:50 AM 
Categories: Nevada Vision Project
Tags: Nevada Taxes Economic Development Building A Better Business Climate Economic Diversity
Categories: Nevada Vision Project
Tags: Nevada Taxes Economic Development Building A Better Business Climate Economic Diversity
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