Economist: 2014 was pivotal year for Las Vegas

Business leaders from around the valley gathered at the Thomas & Mack Center this morning for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce’s Preview 2015 conference and trade show.

The forecasting and networking event hosted more than 100 exhibitors showcasing products and services for the business community in sectors ranging from technology to education to hospitality.

The gathering is expected to draw nearly 2,000 attendees.

Headlining speakers included economist Jeremy Aguero, who outlined how the local economy is shaping up in 2015 and what it means for job growth.

Aguero called 2014 the most important year Southern Nevada has had in the past decade, citing a transition to growth in formerly depressed metrics like population, employment, housing prices and visitor volume.

Retail spending is at among the highest levels in the region’s history, generating taxable sales of roughly $32.6 billion. Aguero predicts that will rise to a state record in 2015.

But it wasn’t all good news.

Aguero pointed out that the state’s improved unemployment rate is due in part to a decline in the labor force participation rate, which is still down 8.4 percent from its peak. While overall employment is up about 3 percent, the number of hours worked overall is only up about 1.4 percent.

“People are still underemployed in our community. It’s great that we’re creating these jobs, but we still certainly have some work to do,” Aguero said.

Looking forward, he said, addressing issues surrounding workforce education, economic diversification, tax policy and water and land availability will be key to sustainable growth in the region and the state.

Joining Aguero was Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, who spoke on the state of Las Vegas’ tourism industry.

Last year’s record 41.1 million visitors generated an estimated economic impact of $45.2 billion, with visitation up 3.7 percent.

The LVCVA wants to up that to 45 million visitors in the next few years, Ralenkotter said. Doing so could produce 37,000 more jobs and an additional $4.5 billion injected into the economy.

Getting to that new goal will mean renewed focus on Millennial consumers, the Las Vegas Global Business District, diversity markets like LGBT consumers and international growth.

Ralenkotter expects to double visitation from China over the next five years, thanks to improvements in visa access implemented late last year.

“We could say our job’s done, but we’re not a product,” he said. “(Every) Jan. 1, we start from zero visitors.”

The day’s program also featured Brookings Mountain West UNLV Director Robert Lang, who spoke on competing in the global economy.

Taking a more sober tone than his colleagues, Lang stressed that improving Las Vegas’ deficit of health care, information and manufacturing services will be essential to keeping up in the global marketplace.

Also presenting at Preview Las Vegas is keynote speaker Trish Regan of Bloomberg TV’s “Street Smart,” who will address the impact of geopolitical and economic events on businesses growth.

Follow Andrea Domanick on Twitter at @AndreaDomanick and fan her on Facebook at Facebook.com/AndreaDomanick.

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