SNMIC exists to provide a collective voice to improve access and delivery of quality health care in Southern Nevada by fostering strategic alliances in the health care community, collaborating on human resource issues, and by acting as a proactive force for legislative improvements.

“The work with SNMIC melds my passion for health care and education,” Geinzer said. “I volunteered for eight years, chaired the recruitment task force for seven years, was a member of the board of directors for four years and began as the chairman of the board 18 months ago. Having experience in all aspects of the organization will be helpful as I step into the role of CEO.”

Because of his experience, Geinzer has his sights set on goals firmly in place. An important objective to Geinzer is to elevate the presence of health care in Southern Nevada while working on development and “growing our own talent here in Southern Nevada,” he said. “We’ve been importing it.”

Education is at the forefront as Geinzer was the founder and former president of Recruiting Nevada, which attracts jobseekers mainly focused on the education and medical fields to Nevada. SNMIC’s membership and sponsorship development also are high on his list along with creating a politically unified voice for the health care industry in order to influence people and change policy.

“We have been working toward these goals for eight years,” Geinzer said. “Now it’s time to make it all happen.”

Geinzer is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management, Nevada Hospital Association and the Nevada Healthcare Association. He also serves on the board of directors for the American Heart Association and is an active committee member of the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Business Council. Geinzer founded the Las Vegas chapter of the Entrepreneur’s Association and served as a board member for five years.

Founded in 2002, SNMIC is a volunteer organization committed to improving the quality of life for the residents of Southern Nevada now and in the future. SNMIC stands as a collective voice to ensure improved access and delivery of quality health care to the rapidly growing region and focuses on legislative improvements, human resources and strategic alliances.

For more information on SNMIC, visit www.snmic.com.

I saw a job posting for the “Superintendent of the Hawaii Board of Education” on the job board yesterday.  That is an impressive job to be advertising.  Why Hawaii would be recruiting in Las Vegas bother me.  I guess it is because we are considered the ninth island.  Or the Hawaii Dept. of Ed hired a smart ad firm that knows Clark County is going through a search and decided to piggyback. 

Anyway, nice to see such quality jobs on RecruitingNevada.com:

• Las Vegas Review Journal
• Las Vegas Sun

Rest in Peace Dr. Maryanski.  We will miss you.

Thanks to Hugh Anderson for sharing.

• Hiring expectations for the month of July are near a three-year high
• High-level talent is getting harder to find

Nevada’s employers added 4,800 jobs in May, but most of the increase was seasonal or temporary census hiring. The seasonal increase is an improvement over last year, when employers cut payrolls by 2,400 from April to May. Over the long term though, the increase is less than the 20 year average April to May increase of 7,600. On a positive note, over-the-year employment decline has moderated considerably. In May 2009, employment estimates were down 10.2 percent from the previous year. This May, over-the-year job loss is down just 2.8 percent.

All regional labor markets benefited from a seasonal increase and the addition of temporary census workers. Las Vegas-Paradise area employers added 3,000 jobs in May. While, employers in the Reno-Sparks area increased payrolls by 1,200, and Carson City employers added 100 jobs.

May’s job report brought a mixed bag of seasonal improvement and an unexpected decline in one industry. In preparation for seasonal tourism, employers in the leisure and hospitality sector added 1,300 jobs. Preliminary signs of a much anticipated up-tick in construction employment seem to be materializing with the addition of 500 new jobs. In a somewhat alarming reversal of recent trends, the education and health services sector lost 1,500 jobs. Most of the losses came from training providers in vocational and technical schools and small private practice medical and dental offices. In the public sector, state and local governments continue to shed jobs. New fiscal year budgets start July 1, and due to large budget shortfalls, public sector employment will continue to contract in the near future as previously announced layoffs go into effect. The federal government,

via the census, provided the lion’s share of this month’s employment increase, however these temporary positions are expected to end within months.

Unemployment in each region of the State declined in May, due to seasonal improvements. In the Las Vegas-Paradise area, the unemployment rate decreased from 14.2 to 14.1 percent. The unemployment rate in the Reno-Sparks region fell two-tenths to 13.3 percent. In Carson City, the unemployment rate fell to 13.2 percent from 13.5 percent the previous month. (Unemployment rates for the State’s metropolitan areas are not adjusted for seasonality. For comparison purposes, the State’s unadjusted unemployment rate was 13.8 percent in May, down from 14.0 percent in April.)

Nevada has been hit extremely hard as the recession has spread throughout the economy. In fact, the State’s jobless rate has increased to the point that it is the highest in the nation. During the early-2000s, Nevada’s unemployment rate was fairly similar to Michigan’s. However, by the middle part of the decade, the Silver State’s jobless rate was 2.6 percentage points below Michigan’s. In the last year, conditions have deteriorated markedly in Nevada, while Michigan has seen some improvement. In May 2009, Michigan’s unemployment rate was at a seasonally adjusted 13.6 percent, 2.1 points higher than Nevada’s. However, as of May 2010, Nevada’s rate has jumped 2.5 percentage points, while Michigan’s has begun to subside, falling from a peak of 14.5 percent in December to 13.6 percent. Clearly, with its historical reliance on gaming and construction as engines of growth, Nevada has been at the epicenter of the current economic downturn, as these two sectors have each felt the brunt of negative economic forces.

There are a number of factors contributing to the run-up in the State’s unemployment rate. However, looking at it in as straight-forward manner as possible, a couple of trends stand out. As the State’s employment base continues to erode, upward pressure is placed on joblessness. Household employment, which differs from the employer-based measure of employment which is typically the focus of our monthly analyses, has declined by more than five percent since the beginning of 2007 (Household employment is based on a survey households, while non-farm, or industrial employment is based on a survey of employers.) By itself, this accounts for some of the increase in joblessness. At the same time, the State’s labor force has continued to expand as the recession has unfolded, and more Nevadans have entered the job market looking for work. Specifically, the labor force has expanded by 5.5 percent since January 2007. In essence, there are more Nevadans in a labor market with fewer jobs.

Nevada’s mining region, centered in Elko County has fared relatively well compared to the rest of the State in the recession. High gold prices and resurgence in commodity prices has brought stability to the region’s mining-based economy. Gold recently sold at an all time high of $1,246 per ounce, and copper prices have rebounded despite the deep recession. Demand for copper from emerging economies such as China and India have pushed copper prices to near pre-recession levels at over $3 per pound. Though there has been some spillover from the downturn in the broader economy, the recession’s affect on the mining region has been comparatively mild. For instance, Elko County’s unemployment reading in May is 5.5 percentage points lower than the Statewide average, 13.8 percent (not-seasonally adjusted.) Taxable sales figures, a gauge of economic activity and consumer sentiment have held up pretty well in Elko compared to the rest of the State. In calendar year 2009, taxable sales were down just five percent over-the-year, while Statewide taxable sales were down 17 percent. Employment has held up well, too. From the start of the recession through September 2009 (the most recent figure available), employment fell by just 620 jobs, a three percent decline, compared to a Statewide drop of 159,900 or 14 percent over the same time frame. While things look positive now for Nevada’s miners, it’s important to note that gold prices tend to run counter cyclical to the business cycle and have seen many ups and downs in the past. With a national economic recovery likely, gold prices are bound to decline in the years ahead.

Nevada surely offers a great tax climate for businesses.  But when you talk to the economic developers of the state, we have some challenges attracting quality businesses due to the lack of infrastructure such as health care and education.  I encourage Nevada to take a position while we are young enough, and do not have the heavy regulation in place, to focus on correcting these two industries (Eds & Meds).  Pittsburgh, PA did this back in the 1970s and their economy is in the best shape it has been in since the good old’ Steel days.

Below is a chart that of the results provided by the 651 CEOs who took the survey:

“Growing our own” is surely the best route to go for Nevada.  We have lacked in our production of registered nurses over the year.  To put some perspective to this….back in the late 1990s when we first started focusing on the nursing shortage, Nevada was graduating some 332 registered nurses each year.  The problem was we needed over 800 to fulfill our needs.  So we had to go out-of-market to attract nurses to relocate.  This is how Recruiting Nevada came about.

However, we knew that we needed to increase Nevada’s home-grown supply of registered nurses.  So we lobbied the Nevada Legislature to double the nursing program.  That happened 3 sessions later and between the public nursing schools and the privates, Nevada now graduates around 1,000 registered nurses each year.

We are well on our way to a sustainable recruiting solution for registered nurses in Nevada.  There still are some changes that need to happen in clinical scheduling to increase (and optimize) overall capacity.  Several groups are working on that problem as we speak.  Kudos to UNR for their expected growth and contribution to the overall wealth and health of Nevada.

Until now…UNR in partnership with the National Science Foundation is offering scholarships to provide financial, academic and professional development support for up to 20 incoming freshman to study renewable energy.  The total of the grant is $600,000 which is a step forward.

“Energy, and specifically renewable energy, has become increasingly important to Nevada’s economy,” Manos Maragakis, dean of the College of Engineering, said. “This grant will allow us to build on our strong renewable energy program, our dozens of renewable energy research projects and will provide qualified graduates to the energy industry in Nevada.”

This is good news for Nevada.  Kudos to the entire team for pursuing this funding stream.

Back in the late 1990s when we were building TBAN (Technology Business Alliance of Nevada) and promoting the weekly Tech Tuesdays event, we discovered a major problem in diversifying the Las Vegas economy into technology.  The problem is the same problem that exists for nearly every professional industry today….”which comes first, the company or the professional worker? ”  We had started a conversation with Manny Cortez, past CEO of the LVCVA about a permanent kiosk that would have computer screens on each side.  For most conventions, one side would be dedicated to recruiting companies.  For other industries, such as health care, we would change the kiosk screens to focus 100% on attracting the much needed talent.  And if we were trying to attract an entire industry, such as Bio Tech, all screens would focus on company recruitment.

This concept is sound. Many business travelers are not aware of the great climate we have to offer here in Nevada.  Now they will.  To accelerate diversification, I encourage our economic developers to focus on Eds & Meds.  If we focus on these two industries, others will follow.  This model worked for Pittsburgh, PA.  And it will work for Las Vegas.   Again – many congrats, and thanks, go to Somer Hollingsworth and Rossi Ralenkotter.