News Archive

  • Economic Forecast: 2015 Preview

    December 1, 2014 | Nevada Business | Chris Sieroty

    Economists and industry analysts can, and will, argue over whether an economic recovery is as strong as numbers seem to indicate. However, they do agree the numbers show Nevada’s economy is on track to strengthen and add more jobs in 2015 because many of the impediments to faster growth have subsided.
    The unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest level in more than five years, real estate is on the rebound, manufacturers and construction companies are adding jobs and gaming, especially on the Strip, has shown consistent improvement.

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  • Wyoming company acquiring assets of Martin-Harris Construction

    November 14, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Buck Wargo

    Martin-Harris Construction announced Thursday it’s selling the assets of the Las Vegas commercial and residential construction company with revenue of more than $200 million a year.

    The company name will remain and founder and President Frank Martin, 67, will remain in his role through 2016 before serving as a consultant for five years after that. His son Frank “Guy” Martin was promoted to senior vice president and will become president and assume day-to-day management.

    The sale is to be completed next week to Wyoming-based Big-D Corp., which also owns Big-D Construction.

    Terms weren’t disclosed.

    Founded in 1967, Big-D is one of the top builders in the nation and operates through eight locally managed offices in Nevada. Arizona, California, Minnesota, Utah and Wyoming.

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  • Quick Take: Jeremy Aguero on Our Economy
    The featured speaker at this month’s Rebel Business Network luncheon on the silver bullet for community prosperity.

    November 10, 2014 | UNLV News | Cate Weeks

    Economist and UNLV alumnus Jeremy Aguero is the featured speaker at the Rebel Business Network’s Nov. 18 luncheon. His talk, “Local Economic Forecast: How Will Your Business Be Affected?,” will offer a candid conversation about Southern Nevada’s future.

    A fourth-generation Nevadan, Aguero received a BS in Hotel Administration in 1997 and his law degree in 2004 from UNLV. He is the principal analyst of Applied Analysis is Las Vegas.

    What drove you to become an economist?
    It was somewhat serendipitous. As I was completing my bachelor’s degree I worked for the firm Coopers and Lybrand, so that opened the door for that kind of work. Then, my professor, (the late UNLV economics professor) Shannon Bybee, asked me to help him write a paper for the federal gaming impact study commission. It gave me my first opportunity to do economics research on a real issue that affected my community. I was hooked on it after that.

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  • Clark County taxi rates going up 8 percent

    October 20, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Richard N. Velotta

    Local taxi rates are going up.

    The Nevada Taxicab Authority on Monday approved an increase of just more than 8 percent, boosting Clark County to the second highest rate in the nation among cities with a tourism-based economy.

    Although rates are higher, taxi rides in Clark County generally cost less than in most cities because the airport is so close to Strip resorts and convention centers.

    It’s unclear when the new rates will take effect because the Taxicab Authority must get permission to use budget reserve funds to pay overtime to the vehicle inspectors and investigators to change the meters on the 3,000 cabs in the Las Vegas fleet. A meter changeover generally takes about five to six days, but it could take weeks to get the approvals necessary to budget funds for the associated costs.

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  • Vegas analysts launch new data research website

    October 13, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    A Las Vegas firm has launched a first-of-its-kind online research program that lets businesses and consumers see real-time trends in economic and social indicators.

    MyResearcher, a project of economic-analysis firm Applied Analysis, could mean more focused marketing strategies for businesses, as well as a more efficient way to meet social-services needs, firm executives say.

    “It takes what Applied Analysis has done for the past 18 years and brings it to an entirely different level,” said Principal Jeremy Aguero. “I would love to believe we’re adding value for existing clients, and creating something for people who are not clients but who need access to data more than ever to help them do what they do better than ever.”

    MyResearcher tracks roughly 77,000 local, state and federal indicators ranging from bankruptcy filings and existing-home prices to casino earnings and planned office space. Those data sets already exist on the Internet, but separately. Through MyResearcher, users can set up Web-based dashboards that track specific statistics they want. A furniture retailer could monitor local home closings, population growth and taxable retail sales. A nonprofit could see how many Nevadans are Medicaid-eligible.

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  • Las Vegas economy on a roll as Downtown Summerlin opens

    October 4, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    For more than 15 years, people have pestered Tom Warden about when Summerlin would get its own big shopping center.

    Warden, vice president of community and government relations for Summerlin’s developer, The Howard Hughes Corp., won’t hear that question anymore come 10 a.m. Thursday.

    That’s when Downtown Summerlin’s biggest phase to date — a 1.6 million-square-foot shopping, dining and entertainment complex — finally opens to the public.

    But this project is way more than a mall. It began as an economic messenger heralding the dawn of Southern Nevada’s Great Recession. The unfinished, nine-story steel frame of its 200,000-square-foot, Class A office building loomed for six years over the 215 Beltway north of Sahara Avenue — a symbol of the city’s devastated economy.

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  • Las Vegas housing market appears to be stabilizing

    September 22, 2014 | News 3 LV | Fatima Rahmutullah

    After seeing huge jumps in home prices over the last year, the Las Vegas housing market is now showing signs it's stabilizing. Learn what this means for buyers and sellers.

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  • Study: Margin tax will raise health care costs

    September 18, 2014 | Las Vegas Sun | Kyle Roerink

    A new study says the cost of health care will increase if Nevada voters approve ballot question three, the margin tax.

    The study is the latest in what’s been a spree of privately-funded research that’s offered Nevadans a variety of views on the initiative's merits.

    The tax, officially called the Education Initiative, aims to provide a new source of funding for education in Nevada, a state that ranks among the worst K-12 public school systems in the country.

    Read More »
  • New study questions new home-resale price gap

    September 1, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    It’s become a local market truism: If you want a new home, prepare to drop $100,000 more than you’d shell out for a resale.

    But new research — admittedly sought out by homebuilders — shows that pricing gap may be overstated. That exaggeration is a problem because builders say it means some real estate agents and consumers bypass new-home subdivisions altogether. That in turn hurts sales. And where there’s less homebuilding, there are broader economic effects.

    To see why some home shoppers may be sitting out the local new-home market, start with that price differential. Local housing research firm SalesTraq pegged the median new-home price in May at $280,168 — nearly $113,000 more than the median resale price of $167,500.

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  • Clark County rings up record May taxable sales

    July 30, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    Clark County’s taxable sales blew past pre-recession levels in May to hit an all-time high for the month.

    Businesses in Clark County sold $3.2 billion of goods in the month, up 12.7 percent from $2.8 billion in May 2013, the state Department of Taxation reported Wednesday. That spending also bested the previous May high of $3.17 billion, reached in May 2006.

    Broad improvements in categories ranging from construction to meals out spurred May’s gains.

    “The relatively strong growth, combined with a wide range of key contributors, suggests increased stability overall in consumer and business spending activity, suggesting that the economy is on more solid footing than it was one, two or three years ago,” said Brian Gordon, a principal in local research firm Applied Analysis.

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  • ANOTHER anti-tax study?

    July 27, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Steve Sebelius

    The last time we checked in with the anti-Education Initiative crowd, they were touting studies that predicted Las Vegas would look pretty much as it did in Resident Evil: Apocalypse if voters OK’d the measure.

    So what have they been up to lately? It appears there’s yet another study that predicts Resident Evil-style consequences. This time, the folks at The Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University — engaged by the Nevada Policy Research Institute — say the state will lose 3,610 jobs, $240 million annually in personal disposable income and $7.1 million per year in business investment if the tax passes.

    Oh, that job-loss figure drops to 1,640 when you add back all the public-sector jobs that will be filled with employees hired by revenues from The Education Initiative.

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  • It’s the question: Is the housing recovery another bubble?

    June 30, 2014 | Las Vegas Business Press | Jennifer Robison

    It’s the big question on the lips of jumpy locals still snakebitten by a nation-leading housing bust.

    Have we recovered so quickly that we’ve created another bubble?

    One local expert has crunched the numbers and offered some reassuring news: While the Las Vegas Valley’s housing market has improved notably since 2012, the gains aren’t out of line given where the market was — or where it should be.

    That’s the word from Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst with local research firm Applied Analysis. In a June 23 presentation hosted by the state’s Home Again: Nevada Homeowner Relief loan-modification program and Las Vegas, Aguero explained to a group of about 60 real estate agents and policymakers why there’s no need just yet to panic.

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  • Nevada unemployment falls to six-year low in May

    June 20, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    It’s like it’s 2008 all over again.

    Nevada’s labor markets posted some of their best numbers in six years, as job gains in construction, hospitality and professional services pushed down unemployment in May.

    Statewide joblessness fell to 7.9 percent, for its first reading below 8 percent since September 2008, the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Friday.

    Joblessness in the Las Vegas Valley also came in at 7.9 percent, up from 7.4 percent in April. Local rates are not seasonally adjusted, so local numbers can be more volatile and difficult to compare to state figures.

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  • Want greater wealth? Buckle down and get to work

    June 16, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Daniel Behringer

    Aspire to greater wealth?

    Sleep less. Relax less. And buckle down and get to work.

    That’s just a few of the conclusions reached in the latest “High Net Worth Report” by the Private Bank of Nevada State Bank.

    The report, which drew from the BLS Time Use Survey, found higher income individuals get about eight hours and six minutes of sleep each night — about 3.3 percent less than the lower income set. Higher income individuals also spent significantly less time relaxing — about three hours and 14 minutes, nearly 15 percent less than the three hours and 47 minutes reported by lower income households.

    While a few extra winks may seem minuscule at first glance, they apparently add up.

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  • Keeping your employees happy
    The Great Recession made it difficult to avoid layoffs, let alone offer raises. As the economy slowly rebounds, though, financial incentives are returning, in one form or another

    June 1, 2014 | Vegas Inc. | Danielle Birkin

    Physical therapist Jessica Chiovaro faced an unexpected pair of potentially sticky - and expensive - circumstances last summer when the air conditioning in her home and car conked out the same week.

    Despite the triple-digit desert heat and double whammy of impending repair costs, Chiovaro didn't sweat it, thanks in part to her employer, Matt Smith, who offers a quarterly bonus program for his 150 employees at Matt Smith Physical Therapy.

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  • Delivering a second downtown

    May 31, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    Big change is coming to a suburb near you.

    A new urban center is rising out of the desert west of Las Vegas, where The Howard Hughes Corp.'s Summerlin master plan is about to get a bona fide downtown after more than 20 years of mostly suburban, single-family development.

    But this city center isn't just about Summerlin and the people who live there. Downtown Summerlin is a decidedly un-Vegas concept, and as the first urban form of its kind locally, it could help Southern Nevada attract big businesses that have nothing to do with gaming.

    Read More »
  • Stronger consumer spending drives surge in local taxable sales

    May 29, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    Higher consumer spending spurred a strong spike in local taxable sales in March, a state agency said Thursday.

    The state Taxation Department reported that spending in Clark County surged year over year in March by 12.1 percent, to $3.34 billion.

    That's the biggest year-to-year gain since August 2005, said Brian Gordon, a principal in local research firm Applied Analysis.

    It was also well above the annual statewide gain of 7.9 percent. Taxable sales across Nevada totaled $4.43 billion in March.

    Three categories by themselves contributed to nearly two-thirds of the county's $361.1 million spending increase.

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  • Panel: Nevada margins tax proposal leaves many unanswered questions

    May 19, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Laura Myers

    If Nevada voters approve a proposed 2 percent margins tax on business in November, there will be a lot of uncertainty about which companies will be taxed and whether the $750,000 annual revenue raised will really be used to increase education funding, said experts who debated the ballot question in Las Vegas on Monday.

    "The devil is always in the details," said Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis.

    Aguero, who has done studies for proponents and opponents, said it's unclear, for example, how "pass through" revenue would be taxed. A general contractor who wins a $1 million job and spends $800,000 to hire subcontractors to do the work may or may not be taxed on the full amount - even if the subcontractors are taxed on their revenue - Aguero said.

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  • Nevada unemployment rate sees biggest month-to-month drop in more than 30 years

    May 16, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    Nevada hit the gas pedal on job growth in April, but there are caution signs ahead.

    Strong job growth pushed the state's unemployment rate down by its biggest month-to-month drop in more than 30 years, and private-sector job formation in the first part of 2014 was the state's best since the bubble era, the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Friday.

    Overall, trends "are impressive as of late. Job formation has been accelerating in recent months, and there are signals that businesses are investing more in their human capital than they were just one, two or three years ago," said Brian Gordon, a principal in the local research firm Applied Analysis.

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  • High-end office tower underway in Summerlin (bring your golf clubs)

    May 13, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    Office towers: They're scattered across the Las Vegas Valley.

    Office towers that come with golf-club membership discounts? That's a much smaller universe.

    In fact, local brokers say they can think of only one - and it's also the only Class A office tower under construction in the local market.

    The Howard Hughes Corp. announced Tuesday that it's building One Summerlin, a nine-story, 200,000-square-foot tower at 1980 Festival Plaza Drive, near West Sahara Avenue and the 215 Beltway, and next to the under-construction Shops at Summerlin. The building is already more than 30 percent full, with tenants including The Howard Hughes Corp. itself and BusinesSuites, a company that leases smaller executive offices.

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  • Why China loves Las Vegas
    Far East investors and visitors are changing the valley, Strip to suburbs

    May 11, 2014 | Las Vegas Sun | Ed Komenda

    They’re buying into Las Vegas like never before.


    They’re pumping cash into major resort projects and big stage productions on the Strip and they’re purchasing single-family homes in quiet neighborhoods.

    Who are they? Chinese investors. And they’re propelling Las Vegas’ recovery from the recession.

    They are quietly helping to bankroll the $415-million SLS Las Vegas, a nightclub-themed resort set to replace the Rat Pack stomping grounds of the Sahara and shake up the struggling north end of the Strip. A quarter of the investment came from foreign bank accounts, mostly in China.

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  • Rising tide lifts all homes

    May 3, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    Everybody has joined this party.

    From Centennial Hills to Southern Highlands, and from Summerlin to Sunrise Mountain, home values in every local ZIP code soared in 2013.

    That's according to a new housing appreciation map from real estate research company SalesTraq, which shows double-digit percentage gains in all but one area ZIP code.

    It's important to note that the numbers are averages, and your specific house value may have risen more or less depending on everything from the number of foreclosures on your block to how tricked out your home interior is.

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  • 'Game on' in battle over Nevada margins tax vote

    April 26, 2014 | Reno Gazette-Journal | Bill O'Driscoll

    The prelude to all-out war this fall is on over the business margins tax, designed to fund education, on the Nov. 4 ballot.

    Both sides are reaching out to business groups, educational gatherings and others with their takes on the impact of the proposed 2 percent revenue tax on businesses generating more than $1 million a year.

    This summer, after the June 10 primary elections, they will take to the media armed with campaign war chests already at six and seven figures to get the word out to voters at large.

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  • 2014 Las Vegas Perspective unveiled at Four Seasons

    March 26, 2014 | News 3 LV | Krystal Allan

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  • Las Vegas Perspective points to local economic recovery

    March 26, 2014 | 13 Action News | Denise Wong

    Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- An annual report is giving us a better idea of how Southern Nevada's economy is shaping up this year.

    The 34th annual Las Vegas Perspective was released Wednesday morning and at its release breakfast, speaker Jeremy Aguero pointed out reasons to be optimistic.

    "We're adding jobs, new businesses are moving in, housing prices are rising and incomes are going up. I mean, it's been a long time since we've been able to say those kinds of things," said Aguero, principal analyst with Applied Analysis.

    He stressed that 2013 was a year of growth and recovery after the recession, and that improvements were holding steady in 2014.

    Some of our biggest gains are in construction, which increased 9-percent over the past year.

    "Home builders are back. Building, permitting almost 9-thousand homes overall," said Aguero.

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  • New economic report suggests Las Vegas on road to recovery

    March 26, 2014 | 8 News Now | Karen Castro

    8 News NOW

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  • Las Vegas companies said to be in better shape now than pre-recession

    March 26, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | David Ferrara

    Southern Nevada has emerged from the recession and is headed toward resurgence, economic analyst Jeremy Aguero told about 500 business and community leaders Wednesday at the Four Seasons Hotel.

    One of the most important signs is construction growth. The industry expanded more than any other in Southern Nevada during the past 12 months, increasing 9.3 percent in 2013.

    "We have survived the worst economic downturn in our community's history, by a long shot," Aguero said as he walked the audience through the 34th annual Las Vegas Perspective, a 162-page book stuffed with housing, employment, retail, real estate and tourism data. "Many of our companies are in better shape than they were going into the recession."

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  • A Positive Perspective

    March 26, 2014 | CBS Las Vegas | Joe Gillespie

    How are we doing? We're doing better than you might think. The Las Vegas Perspective releases it's annual market profile and the results are positive.

    The population is growing again, during 2013 increasing to 2.06 million people at the highest growth rate since 2007. Report author Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis says people say they're moving here for two primary reasons either to find jobs or retire.

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  • Report shows Southern Nevada economy improving

    March 26, 2014 | Fox 5 Vegas | Kevin Bolinger

    FOX5 Vegas - KVVU

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  • New home sales fall nationwide and in Las Vegas region

    March 25, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    Purchases of new homes fell in February to the lowest level in five months, a sign the industry may take time to pick up after inclement weather dampened demand earlier in the year.

    Sales declined 3.3 percent to a 440,000 annualized pace, following a 455,000 rate in the prior month that was the strongest in a year, figures from the Commerce Department showed Tuesday in Washington.

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  • Local shopping center construction has brokers bullish

    March 24, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    If you're shopping around for signs of recovery in Southern Nevada's commercial real estate market, check out retail.

    The sector's vacancy rate has dropped from a high of nearly 11 percent in 2010 to 9.2 percent at the end of the fourth quarter, statistics from local research firm Applied Analysis show. Vacant inventory has slumped from more than 5.5 million square feet in 2011 to around 4.8 million square feet in the fourth quarter, which means retailers are snapping up more space. Plus, rents have stopped dropping, a sign that the market has found its bottom, Applied Analysis principal Brian Gordon said.

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  • Economic report shows Las Vegas growth, optimism are on the rise

    March 24, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | David Ferrara

    The Las Vegas area grew by nearly 100,000 new residents in the past two years and steady growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, according to a new economic report out this week.

    Southern Nevada expanded to more than 2.06 million people in 2013, an increase of 2.7 percent over the previous year, according to the 170-page Las Vegas Perspective, an annual publication from the local research firm Applied Analysis.

    Those residents are feeling better about the economy and the future.

    Jeremy Aguero, a principal with the firm, called the growth "remarkably important."

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  • Construction industry making a comeback in Las Vegas

    March 24, 2014 | 8 News Now | Natalie Cullen

    LAS VEGAS -- More people are living in southern Nevada than ever before. This post-recession population boom is stimulating the economy and adding jobs.

    Construction was an industry hit the hardest during the recession, but it is coming back stronger than any other sector of the economy. More people living and working in southern Nevada means construction is growing again.

    The population roller coaster is swinging up again. Countywide the population grew almost 3 percent from 2012 to 2013. More than two million people need places to work and places to live, which means jobs for construction companies.

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  • Nevada leads U.S. in job creation, no longer tops nation in unemployment

    March 17, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    Hey, Nevadans: It’s getting safer to leave your foxholes.

    The recession’s war on the Silver State’s jobs market appeared to relent noticeably in December and January, as a barrage of indicators pointed to sustained recovery.

    But it’s an uneasy peace, and the state still has much jobs territory to recapture.

    “We are far from recovered, and we are far from reaching back to peak employment levels,” said Brian Gordon, a principal in local research firm Applied Analysis. “We’re putting more distance between the floor and where we are today, and that’s a sign of increased stability. But by no means are we out of the woods.”

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  • Insurance industry study: Nevada margins tax would hurt consumers

    March 11, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Laura Myers

    Nevadans could face $60 million in higher annual insurance premiums for car, home, life and health policies if a proposed 2 percent margins tax on business is approved by voters in November, an industry-backed study reported Tuesday.

    The study was done by Applied Analysis, an independent group that has done previous margin tax studies, but backers of the Education Initiative, or Question 3 on the Nov. 4 ballot, question its figures.

    Michael Geeser, president of the Nevada Insurance Council, which commissioned the study, said Nevada insurance companies and consumers already pay the highest premium taxes in the nation, or $240 million a year. The premium taxes go into the state’s general fund and are the third-largest revenue source behind sales and gaming taxes.

    “That is a cost that ultimately will be paid by Nevada consumers,” Geeser said.

    Jeremy Aguero, who conducted the Applied Analysis study, said the consumer impact depends on insurance companies.

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  • Opponents: Margins tax would hurt Nevada businesses

    February 27, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Ed Vogel

    CARSON CITY — An organization opposing passage of a 2 percent business tax in November has released a study that confirms what it has been saying all along: The tax would hurt the bottom lines of Nevada businesses.

    The Coalition to Defeat the Margin Tax Initiative released the study by Jeremy Aguero, principal at Applied Analysis, an economic research firm in Las Vegas. The study found the margins tax would take $650 million to $750 million from businesses, give them one of the five highest business taxes in the country and impose what would be the equivalent of a 15 percent business profits tax.

    But the report also concluded it is “unclear” whether the tax would disrupt “existing business patterns” or state economic development and diversification efforts.

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  • Officials offer views on two contrasting Las Vegas stadium proposals

    February 24, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Alan Snel

    The Great Las Vegas Arena Race featured a scene Monday rarely seen: Rick Arpin and Port Telles sitting side by side on a sports venue policy panel, representing the two front-running arena proposals in Las Vegas.

    Arpin is arena point man for MGM Resorts International, partnering with entertainment company AEG on a $350 million arena project behind New York-New York on the Strip.

    Telles is development director for The Cordish Cos., partnering with Las Vegas on a $390 million downtown arena.

    As panel discussions go, Arpin, Telles and two other speakers — UNLV acting President Don Snyder and policy analyst Jeremy Aguero — didn’t reveal any blockbuster news at the “Hashtags and Headlines” luncheon at Texas Station presented by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

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  • Canyon-Agassi group buys 4.6-acre plot for academy

    February 7, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    That was quick.

    When Andre Agassi announced this week his financing of buildings for three charter schools in Southern Nevada, he described the projects as the potential “start of a pipeline” of new, local charters.

    Well, there’s already another deal to announce.

    The Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, a nationwide effort to move charters from temporary classrooms into permanent space, has purchased a 4.6 acres at Stephanie Road and the 215 Beltway. The empty parcel will eventually house the Somerset Academy of Las Vegas, which will relocate from its campus inside Paradise Church at 2525 Emerson Ave., near Eastern Avenue and Desert Inn Road.

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  • Sandoval upbeat on economy but sounds note of caution on margins tax

    January 30, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Sean Whaley

    RENO – Gov. Brian Sandoval brought his optimistic message of Nevada’s economic progress to the Directions 2014 event hosted by the chamber of commerce here on Thursday, but he also sounded a note of caution about the proposed margins tax on the November ballot.

    “While we still need to keep our focus on job growth, we have made real progress over the past few years,” Sandoval told several hundred attendees at the Reno-Sparks chamber event.

    Sandoval said his goal of establishing 50,000 new private sector jobs in his first term will be achieved one year ahead of schedule — in three years instead of four.

    The state’s 8.8 percent unemployment rate announced Monday is the lowest level since 2008, and Nevada is tied for first in making the most progress in reducing the jobless rate over three years, he said.

    “The bad news is this: we are still 49th in the country in unemployment,” Sandoval said.

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  • Directions 2014 preview: Caution tempers optimism for 2014

    January 26, 2014 | Reno Gazette-Journal | Bill O'Driscoll

    It’s bluer skies ahead for the Northern Nevada economy in 2014.

    Optimism abounds among economists, business leaders and others after several stormy years of recession marked by record-high unemployment and an ailing housing market, both of which began a turnaround in 2013.

    “If you look at how bad things got, and how far we’ve come, we are expecting Nevada, and greater Washoe County, to perform relatively well,” said Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst at Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas-based economic research firm. “I am very optimistic.”

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  • Business leaders getting glimpse into future of Las Vegas economy

    January 24, 2014 | 13 Action News | Denise Wong

    Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- We're getting a glimpse into what we can expect of the economy and business environment here in Southern Nevada this year.

    The Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce is hosting its annual Preview Event at the Thomas & Mack Center, where economic experts and business analysts said we have a lot to be optimistic about.

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  • Report on corporate giving to show Nevada tops national average

    January 22, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Jennifer Robison

    A routine plane ride may have changed the course of corporate philanthropy in Nevada.

    When Barrick Gold Corp.’s Michael Brown and NV Energy’s Tony Sanchez ended up next to each other on a Southwest Airlines flight to Reno in 2011, it wasn’t long before talk turned to charity.

    Brown, Barrick’s U.S. vice president of corporate and external affairs, was newly tasked with “professionalizing” and expanding the mining company’s corporate social-responsibility initiatives. He wanted to know what his corporate peers were up to on the giving front, but details were tough to find. Nobody tracked company giving in Nevada.

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  • Small-business bosses show faith in valley economy

    January 20, 2014 | Las Vegas Business Press | Chris Sieroty

    Nevada small-businesses owners are more optimistic about the local economy than the national economy, a Nevada State Bank survey shows.

    The bank’s recent survey of more than 400 small-business owners, operators and managers statewide found that 47.6 percent of those surveyed believe the local economy is headed in the right direction. The survey, conducted by Applied Analysis, polled Nevada businesses with annual revenues between $500,000 and $1.5 million.

    “There (were) any number of reasons for small businesses to be optimistic,” Applied Analysis principal Jeremy Aguero said. “Many businesses report top-line revenue increases.”

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  • Clark County sheriff bristles at idea of using cops as political pawns

    January 20, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | John L. Smith

    Understated to the point of stoicism, Sheriff Doug Gillespie can be tough to read.

    When it comes to making the case for full funding of the “More Cops” initiative, something he has been compelled to do for the past several months, Gillespie lays out trends and statistics by rote without showing much emotion. It’s just the facts, as it were.

    But ask him why he didn’t hire more officers from Metro’s burgeoning $140 million reserve fund — an account that has provided critics with their best argument against implementing the legislatively mandated tax increase — and another side of Gillespie surfaces. It’s that side he ought to show the public and our local politicians more often.

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  • County commissioners OK new arena for MGM Resorts on Strip

    January 8, 2014 | News 3 LV | Amber Dixon

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  • Schedules show slight advance in air passenger counts for first half of ‘14

    January 3, 2014 | Las Vegas Review-Journal | Tim O'Reiley

    After a static 2013 for passenger counts at McCarran International Airport, the first half of this year has started to shape up as only a slight improvement.

    Schedules loaded into airline reservation systems show a 1.3 percent increase in the number of seats coming into Las Vegas during the six months, according to the travel data firm Innovata. This comes to 168,000 more seats during the period, or about 135,000 more visitors assuming that 80 percent get filled, a level most airlines now achieve or exceed.

    Although the year starts off faster than the average, the gains trail off toward midyear.

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