EDAWN sets its sights on manufacturing prospects

An uptick in inquiries from manufacturing companies led the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada to move up its scheduled e-marketing campaign targeting the sector.

EDAWN delivered the marketing materials featuring a testimonial from Tom White, president of Haws Corp. in Sparks, to executives of 180 manufacturing companies last week.

Tom Matter, business development manager for EDAWN , said 97 of the prospects are in California prime territory for EDAWN's message about Nevada's business-friendly regulatory and tax environment.

An earlier campaign that targeted green-energy companies generated two leads from companies that are looking seriously at northern Nevada for facilities, Matter said.

Initially, EDAWN planned to follow the green-energy campaign with marketing that targeted software companies. But the number of recent inquiries from manufacturers, as well the potential for new job creation, led EDAWN to juggle the schedule.

"Manufacturing can create the most jobs the most quickly," Matter said.

The companies targeted in the EDAWN campaign are those that have expressed some interest in northern Nevada locations.

The materials developed by KPS|3, a Reno advertising and public relations agency, carry the "We're serious ..." theme developed by EDAWN when it rolled out the green-energy campaign.

The e-mail includes a link to a video in which White talks about the experience of Haws Corp. since it moved to Sparks from Berkeley, Calif.

Haws is a manufacturer of drinking fountains and emergency wash stations.

"We believe that the most powerful way of telling our story is through the use of industry peers," Matter said.

It's still too early to draw any conclusions about response to the manufacturing campaign, Matter said.

The earlier green-energy campaign was opened by 28 percent of the companies that received EDAWN's e-mail.

While Matter follows up on leads generated by the manufacturing campaign, EDAWN is preparing the next leg of the campaign the pitch to software companies.

(To see the manufacturing campaign, go to http://www.edawn.org/business/key-business-sectors/advanced-manufacturing/eblast.)