Last week, a group of site selectors toured key sites around Las Vegas with representatives of Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, business and government leaders, shining a spotlight on all the region has to offer prospective companies to locate their businesses here. The event was the first site selector tour since LVGEA CEO Danielle Casey joined the organization in August 2025.
The touring site selectors were:
- Didi Caldwell, president & CEO of Global Location Strategies,
- Courtney Dunbar, director – site selection at Burns & McDonnell,
- Bryan Farlow, VP of Site Selection for Strategic Location Advisors,
- Alexandra Segers, general manager, Tochi Advisors LLC, and
- Garet Tomlinson, director, Mohr Partners, Inc.
What do Companies Want in a Locate?
People. Power. Property. The site selectors homed in on these three pillars of economic development as the areas their clients focus on:
- People = available skilled and trained workers.
- Power = big companies choosing where to locate significant headquarters or manufacturing facilities need access to large quantities of reliable power.
- Property = shovel-ready sites with good infrastructure already in place, a smooth permitting process, located in a way they can move their goods to market.
Going along with that, companies are looking for high quality, low cost, low risk and speed to market. There will never be a perfect site or area to locate in; so tradeoffs must be clearly understood. Having a team of economic development professionals, government staff and a business community ready to work through problems is key.
Pros of the Region
The site selectors had plenty of positive things to say about the region’s attractiveness for business investment. Several of them mentioned having Air Force installations nearby is attractive to aerospace, defense and drone companies.
Farlow suggested “loving up on Australia” because that country has a large number of drone companies that would benefit from having operations here.
The business environment was highlighted as a major positive as well. People like being here; they have a spirit of cooperation and collaboration that is not present everywhere.
Prior to the tour, the site selectors were apprehensive about the availability of water for the area. That misperception was successfully changed, however, with Farlow also commenting, “Y’all should be screaming about water,” indicating what he (and others) perceive about water availability in the area does not match reality, and the region has enough water to support a growing population and employment base.
Constraints
Southern Nevada is not without its fair share of drawbacks, however. Available land for development was noted as the single biggest bottleneck. Efforts are being made to unlock that land.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Nevada has the highest percentage of federally owned land in the United States. To combat this, the previous legislative session discussed making more public land available for sale. To read more about efforts to make land more available, click here.
There is not enough power available to support projected demand. Southern Nevada is not alone in this—the site selectors were candid that “nowhere has enough power.” Similar to unlocking Bureau of Land Management land, there is a concerted effort to bring more power to the area.
Previous projections indicate the current power supply will double in the next 15 years to make up for the ever-increasing demand. Notably, power-reliant data centers are becoming increasingly popular developments in both Northern and Southern Nevada. (NVBEX, April 7)
Next Steps
Now that the site selectors have all headed home, the real work begins. Touring sites, attending an NFL game, visiting the Mob Museum and having a fabulous Las Vegas experience was just the start of what will be a long process to change the perception of Southern Nevada as merely a recreational destination.
“There are a number of outcomes from a visit like this. First, we hope to now be top of mind for these consultants for client projects that would be a fit for our community, so we look forward to hearing from them when an opportunity is available. This is a long-term relationship building effort which means that they may have a client now, or a year from now. Secondly, the consultants now have much more knowledge than before on our state and region’s business opportunities and programs. Education is key. Finally, the feedback and insights we receive from visiting consultants is priceless, giving us insights and ideas on how best to position our region, what tools we are lacking to win the business investment we want, what is currently impacting business decisions, and what best practices exist that we should be examining.” – Danielle Casey, President & CEO, Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance
Success in economic development becomes a flywheel. Current projects and wins, including Huss, the Children’s Hospital and the A’s Stadium, have the potential to bring more locates and diversify the local economy, bringing high-quality permanent jobs to the area.
