By Amanda Finnegan

Despite Nevada’s tough economic climate and growing jobless rate, casino executives today said they are seeing the benefits of federal stimulus dollars flowing to Las Vegas.

In the wake of national media appearances by two high-profile Las Vegas casino executives, Harrah’s Entertainment, Station Casinos and Hilton International hosted a teleconference Thursday to chime in on the Obama administration and the effects of the federal stimulus on the industry.

Wynn Resorts executive Steve Wynn, who has been critical of the Obama administration for months, voiced his opinion again during a roundtable discussion on Fox News Channel on Oct. 10.

Then Tuesday, MGM Mirage Chief Executive Jim Murren spoke with Fox News. He was less critical of the president but said Obama needs more focus on job creation.

Harrah’s Entertainment Senior Vice President Jan Jones said today’s teleconference wasn’t just a response to Wynn and Murren, but a reaction to those who question the need for the federal stimulus and its role in protecting jobs.

“State government in Nevada would not be operating if it weren’t for the money that came into the state budget from the stimulus,” Jones said. “The number of jobs that have been protected because the government can still operate, that is a direct result of the stimulus.”

Aside from the money Nevada received from the stimulus, the cancellation of indebtedness provision and Travel Promotion Act were important additions that helped the gaming industry, Jones said. She credited Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid with both.

The cancellation of indebtedness provision allows companies to restructure their debt and delays tax payments tied to capital gains.

“For Harrah’s Entertainment, that allowed us to protect 31,000 jobs in Nevada alone. This piece of legislation allowed Harrah’s to work to restructure to make sure we kept our employees employed,” said Jones, a former Las Vegas mayor and current member of the governor’s Spending and Government Efficiency Commission.

Station Casinos Chief Development Officer Scott Neilson said his company hasn’t been able to take part in the debt cancellation provision since Station is currently in bankruptcy proceedings, but said the legislation will allow the company increased flexibility as it restructures.

“Even though a lot of the companies in the Nevada economy trying to work through this [bankruptcy] process right now might not have been able to take advantage of this provision yet, I think that they will and I think you’ll see a lot of companies benefit greatly,” he said.

Chris Najbicz, vice president of West Coast operations for Hilton Hotels, said he stands by Harrah’s and Station Casinos on the stimulus.

“We really do endorse the importance of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in saving a multitude of jobs throughout the state of Nevada and believe it’s been very helpful to the Las Vegas business community in general,” Najbicz said.

Jones said some Nevadans haven’t made the connection between the stimulus and Las Vegas job creation in the state. The state’s unemployment rate last month stood at 13.3 percent.

“When we have been so positively impacted, I felt it was wrong for it to be continually mischaracterized,” Jones said of the stimulus. “I think sometimes people forget what the reality is.”

By Cy Ryan

CARSON CITY – For the second consecutive month, Nevada placed second in the nation for its unemployment rate, trailing only Michigan.

The U.S. Department of Labor said today Nevada’s rate of 13.3 percent was second to Michigan’s 15.3 percent in September.

The state reported Tuesday there were 190,700 workers who were jobless in September. And the 13.3 percent is a record for the state.

The labor department said the national rate was 9.8 percent. Rhode Island posted a 13 percent jobless rate and California reported a 12.2 percent unemployment rate. Lowest in the nation was South Dakota at 4.8 percent.

A year ago in September, Nevada’s rate was 7.3 percent.

William Anderson, chief economist for the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, says the construction industry has been hit the hardest in Nevada in the downturn of the economy.

The gaming and hotel business added 77,300 Las Vegas jobs during the 10-year period ending in 2007. But in the last two years 30,000 of those jobs have been eliminated.

“The much-anticipated opening of the CityCenter project in Las Vegas should help ease job losses in the months ahead, but the industry as a whole, the negatives continue to outweigh the positives,” Anderson said.

The labor department said Nevada’s unemployment rate in 2007 was 4.7 percent. That was the 35th highest in the nation. The national average that year was 4.6 percent.

A new Las Vegas job was announced by Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. when they hired former Walt Disney Co. executive Peter E. Murphy as a senior executive to help the company expand globally.

Murphy was named president-strategy and development, a newly created position.

Murphy was with Disney until 2007 in a variety of executive roles, including chief strategic officer and senior adviser to the chief executive officer.

From 1998 to 2005, he was Disney’s senior executive vice president, chief strategic officer and a member of the company’s executive management committee. During his tenure, Disney acquired Capital Cities/ABC, Fox Family Worldwide, 40 percent of E! Entertainment Television, the Miramax Film Corporation, Baby Einstein and The Muppets, among others. He was responsible for strategy and new business development, mergers and acquisitions, technology, brand management and long-term planning for the growth of Disney’s global business, Harrah’s said.

Murphy is also the founder of Wentworth Capital Management, a private investment and venture capital firm focused on media, technology and branded consumer businesses, and has served as a senior advisor to Apollo Management — one of the companies that controls Harrah’s.

“Peter is an accomplished, thoughtful and rigorous executive who will help us significantly as we continue to identify areas for future growth and to explore opportunities created by current economic conditions,” Gary Loveman, Harrah’s Entertainment’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

“In this newly created position, Peter will help us envision and execute our plans for the future growth and development of the company,” Loveman said. “His work will include new domestic and international development, mergers and acquisitions and expansion of our third-party relationships with the entertainment, retail, airline, hospitality and other industries.”

I have seen some crazy recruitment advertising campaigns over the years, but none quite like this:

“Do you enjoy going to the bathroom enough to earn $10,000?”

The successful candidates will “Greet and entertain bathroom guests.  Then blog about the experience.”

Nevada’s jobless rate, at a seasonally adjusted 13.3 percent, was barely up from the 13.2 percent tally for August. Bearly 11,000 Nevada  jobs were added in September from the previous month. The month-over-month increase in the unemployment rate was the smallest since March 2008, while the employment gain was the strongest since February 2007.

“The deterioration in Nevada’s labor market eased a bit in September, but we will have to wait to see how future months unfold before we can conclude that the recession’s grip on the State’s economy is lessening,” said William Anderson, chief economist for Nevada Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation (DETR). “Still, it is best not to get overly optimistic based upon information for just one month. Nationwide, the unemployment rate came in at 9.8 percent in September, considerably below Nevada’s reading.”

The total number of unemployed Nevadans remains wearisomely high at 190,700, up by nearly 85,000 relative to a year ago. 

“Similarly, job readings are off by 76,500 over the 12-month period. The bottom line is that once the economy does begin to recover, which it will, there is much ground to be made up,” Anderson said.

In the Las Vegas metro area, September’s unemployment rate came in at 13.9 percent, up from 7.7 percent a year ago. (Unemployment rates for the State’s metropolitan areas are not adjusted for seasonality. For comparison purposes, the State’s unadjusted unemployment rate was 13.5 percent in September.) Job levels stand 56,300 below year-ago readings. In the Reno-Sparks region, September’s employment count stands nearly 17,000 below a year ago. The unemployment rate, at 13.1 percent, is up markedly from a year ago, when it was 7.3 percent. Carson City’s unemployment rate was estimated to be 12.8 percent in September, and payrolls were down nearly 2,000 relative to a year ago. In September 2008, the region’s unemployment rate was 7.6 percent. Clearly, all regions of the State have felt the impacts of the current economic climate.

Unemployment figures are often confused with unemployment insurance activity.  They are not one and the same. Specifically, the monthly estimate of the number of unemployed in Nevada is designed to capture those residents out of work who are actively seeking employment, regardless of whether they are receiving unemployment insurance benefits, Anderson said. Between 2004 and 2007, unemployment insurance recipients averaged about 35-40 percent of the total unemployment estimate in Nevada.With the implementation of a variety of federally-funded extensions for those exhausting their benefits, that share began to increase in mid-2008. So far in 2009, the number of unemployment recipients in Nevada has averaged more than 70 percent of the total unemployment count.

All industries within the state have felt the effects of the economic downturn, but none more so than construction. Construction benefited greatly from a booming economy, as building-related employment in Nevada increased by 48,000 between 1997 and 2007.  However, since then, 50,000 jobs have been lost, Anderson said. Elsewhere, the leisure and hospitality industry added 77,300 jobs during the ten-year period ending in 2007.  However, within the past two years 30,000 jobs have been eliminated.

“The much-anticipated opening of the City Center Project in Las Vegas should help ease job losses in the months ahead, but for the industry as a whole the negatives continue to outweigh the positives,” Anderson said.  Both the professional and business services and trade/transportation/utilities sectors added in excess of 70,000 jobs during the economic boom. Since then, the former has cut nearly 15,000 positions, while the latter has cut payrolls by nearly 8,000.

Perhaps the earliest signs of the approaching recession showed up in residential real estate and construction activity beginning in approximately mid-2006. Arguably, one bright spot of late has to do with increases in resale activity. For instance, sales of existing homes have been on the upswing in southern Nevada since mid-2008. So far this year, resale activity has increased by more than 50 percent. However, on the flip side, a considerable portion of that increase in activity is attributable to distressed properties.

In addition to the City Center opening on the horizon, another event that, historically, has had a positive impact on the Nevada labor market–the holiday shopping season–is also close at hand. During this decade (through 2007), retail trade employment growth in Nevada (from October through December) has averaged nearly 6,000 jobs per year.  However, in 2008, job gains were just about one-half (3,100) of their recent norms.

“Once again, we expect the weak economy to limit the number of new seasonal hires this year,” Anderson said.

With the ever-increasing unemployment level, more and more highly educated professionals find themselves unemployed.  They search for jobs in Las Vegas on area job boards such recruitingnevada.com and attend the Las Vegas Career Fairs we promote.  Here are the demographics of the pre-registered jobseekers from our August 2009 event.  Our next career fair will be held on October 29, 2009.  If you are interested in exhibiting, it is not too late to register.

By Nicole Lucht, In Business reporter

The U.S. recession may be over, but Las Vegas employers are still cutting jobs and will continue to do so despite signs of national economic growth, experts said.

Nearly 60,400 Las Vegas jobs have been lost since August 2008, according to August statistics, the most recent figures available from the state’s Employment Department. The statewide unemployment rate is 13.2 percent, and the Las Vegas rate is 13.4 percent, both records.

The dismal local employment picture persists despite an improving national economic outlook. A survey of 44 economists by the National Association for Business Economics released Oct. 12 said “the Great Recession is over.”

But despite gains in the gross domestic product, corporate profits and business investments, more than half the economists surveyed said job losses are not expected to be “fully reversed” until 2012. A third said job losses wouldn’t be reversed until 2013, and 5 percent said it would take even longer. Only three economists think the jobless rate will return to precession levels before 2012.

The unemployment rate is generally considered a lagging economic indicator.

Companies first have to assess whether their business levels are coming back, said Arte Nathan, a human resources expert and owner of Strategic Development Worldwide.

“People have used the mantra of doing more with less for the past year and are going to do more with less,” Nathan said.

As business levels increase, employers will decide whether they need to add more workers, he said.

In industries such as tourism and hospitality, core components of Las Vegas’ economy, Nathan said the recession “has shaken the confidence of everybody.”

Employers will be “conservative and cautious as long as they have to be,” he added.

But to look at job creation on a global, national or even local level can be tricky. Adding to a workforce is an individual decision and not even tax incentives or government subsidies can be counted on to move employers to hire, he said.

Although some economic indicators are showing improvement, that doesn’t mean growth will be felt on Main Street, said economist John Restrepo, principal of Restrepo Consulting Group.

“Because of financially battered consumers constraining spending, additional job losses — locally and nationally — are likely in the months to come,” Restrepo said by e-mail. “It’s our view that businesses will continue to reduce payrolls because of dormant consumer demand for products and services into 2010. This means that our local recovery will be a tepid one.”

Then there is the possibility of what economists term a W-shaped recovery, Restrepo said. Instead of the recession bottoming out and returning to strong economic growth — a V-shaped recovery — the growth would be short-lived, with another drop before a strong recovery.

Even though job losses outpace new hires in Southern Nevada, some companies have expanded during the recession. Kohl’s, taking advantage of clothing retailer Mervyn’s failure and abandoned retail space, opened three stores last month in Las Vegas, hiring 450 people. CityCenter, nearing completion, is filling 12,000 positions, although many workers are transfers from other MGM Mirage properties,

Business growth will depend on people opening their wallets, but consumers and businesses will be more focused on rebuilding savings accounts and balance sheets than on discretionary spending, Restrepo said.

The state isn’t optimistic companies will slow layoffs, either.

The Employment Department extended its unemployment claims filing hours for two Saturdays this month to accommodate the demand.

“Signs of stabilization in the national economy are beginning to emerge,” Bill Anderson, the department’s chief economist, said last month. “Some analysts even argue that the recession is likely over, or will be over in the near term. However, such positive conclusions cannot be drawn in Nevada, based upon a current assessment of labor market and economic activity in the state.”

By Steve Green from In Business Las Vegas

As developers of the bankrupt Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort attempt to sell the unfinished project, the company continues to trim its staff and most recently revealed the departure of its top local executive.

Audrey Oswell, president and chief operating officer of Fontainebleau Las Vegas and a longtime gaming executive, is among seven executives who have seen their employment contracts terminated since May 15, Fontainebleau said in court papers Thursday.

Oswell left Oct. 2, according to Fontainebleau’s motion to reject her employment contract along with the contracts of Joel Bloom, Andrew Finn, Arik Knowles, Peter Magdos, W. Bryan O’Shields and Alexander Terry.

“Due to (Fontainebleau’s) financial situation, each of the employees … was terminated … and is no longer employed by (Fontainebleau). Each such employee had entered into an employment contract … . In the business judgment of the debtors, the employment contracts do not provide a benefit to the debtors or their estates, and the employment contracts may therefore be rejected,” Fontainebleau said in its motion.

Oswell couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

Before joining Fontainebleau last year, Oswell was chief operating officer of the Cosmopolitan Resort & Casino, which is still under construction on the Las Vegas Strip.

Previously, she was chief executive officer of Resorts Atlantic City and president and chief operating officer of Caesars Atlantic City.

Fontainebleau, which has been working to sell the 70-percent-finished resort to Penn National Gaming or another party, also filed a motion Thursday for approval to cancel contracts for numerous meetings and conventions scheduled at the resort for between May 2010 and October 2011. With the project in limbo, Fontainebleau said it’s unlikely it can accommodate those meetings.

Congratulations to the following employees that were recognized at the Work Enhancement Employment Team (WEET) Luncheon for Outstanding Employees and Employers with Disability Awards:

Michael L Cozart, Army Air Force Exchange Services

Marisol Gonzalez, Army Air Force Exchange Services

Terrie Dickerson, Self-Employed

Amy Hopkins, Luxor Hotel

Pat Frank, Rehabilitation & Vocational Associates

Stacey Mullins, Bellagio Hotel & Resort

The following employers were recognized as being outstanding employers:

Army Air Force Exchange Services, UNLV Thomas & Mack Concessions, and Food 4 Less

The Work Enhancement Employment Team (WEET) was formed in 1996 as a joint effort between the Veteran’s Administration and the State of Nevada Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. The objective was to bring together a group of outside business and other organization to further employment efforts on behalf of the disabled.

In Business Las Vegas  is hosting the 2009 Best Places to Work Reception to honor companies chosen as a “Best Place to Work” sponsored by Recruiting Nevada.

2009 Best Places to Work
6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Cherry Nightclub inside Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa

In Business Las Vegas partnered with Quantum Workplace to bring an unbiased judging process this year. This has been an adopted best practice by business publications in more than 40 cities across the U.S. The survey was quick (7-10 minutes) and easy for employees to complete. Results are based solely on the data collected from the employee surveys.

The awards program recognizes Southern Nevada companies for innovative human resource practices and programs. The honorees will be profiled in an In Business Las Vegas special publication.

Register to Attend