EDAWN throws welcome party

Internet giant eBay is multiplying its presence in the Reno market.

At the EDAWN New & Expanded Welcome Reception held Dec. 15, eBay representative William Lasher, senior director indirect taxes, announced the company would build a data center at the Reno-Tahoe Industrial Center. The company already has the largest presence in the SWITCH data center under construction at TRIC.

“eBay has 159 million active buyers, 25 million sellers and at any one moment, 800 million items for sale,” Lasher told the packed audience. “Here’s the punch line: We’re still growing.”

The Governor’s Office on Economic Development in November approved eBay’s plans to invest $415 million and create 50 new jobs on two separate projects to expand its operations in Nevada.

Lasher commended the community for working with the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN) to attract new companies and new jobs to the area.

“eBay has a short history in northern Nevada, a short history in Nevada, so far, but it’s been very positive. We’re looking forward to the future here,” he said.

The audience at the celebration included more than 300 local business and government leaders as well as representatives from many new companies.

In addition to the eBay announcement, the reception welcomed and honored 30 companies that had relocated to the Reno-Sparks area in the last year, and existing local companies that expanded their workforce in 2015.

“2015 was another impressive year, with over 25 new or expanding companies adding over 3,000 new quality jobs to the region over the next few years and that does not include the thousands of secondary jobs (such as construction and retail),” Mike Kazmierski, EDAWN president and CEO, said.

The companies honored, and the number of jobs they are bringing to the region are:

Angie’s Artisan Treats — 160 jobs

Aqua Metals —70

AZZ Galvanizing — 60

BI Nutraceuticals — 120

BlackRidge — 30

Cascade Designs — 100

Clear Capital — 400

Dassault Aircraft Services — 3

Deceuninck — 80

eBay, Inc. — 52

Etailer, Inc. — 15

Franzen-Hill — 50

Fulcrum Sierra BioFuels — 32

Grand Rounds — 200

Hose Master — 30

Hubert — 25

Immy, Inc. — 30

Industrial Lighting Products — 60

Indy Hanger — 20

Koch Business Solutions — 50

Meri Meri — 10

NOW Foods — 47

Nutrient Foods —300

Planetary Pinball — 10

Quality Bicycle Products — 50

SEECO —10

Southern Prosthetic Supply — 20

Switch — 400

Tactical Air Support — 10

Teleperformance — 500

Three companies bringing 102

jobs combined wished to remain anonymous

EDAWN also honored several people for their work in bringing companies to the area with the EDAWN Coin.

The purpose of the coin is described in print as: “The EDAWN Coin is presented to key individuals that exhibit exceptional leadership, engagement and cooperation with Reno-Sparks regional development efforts and go above and beyond to support EDQWN in our job creation efforts.”

The honorees were:

• Dr. Maria Sheehan, outgoing president of Truckee Meadows Community College, for her efforts to quickly develop programs to prepare students for the jobs coming into the community, creating a bachelor of science degree, and for expanding veterans resources.

• Dave Archer, president and CEO at the Nevada Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, for encouraging entrepreneurship and growing the technology base in the Reno area.

• John Parel, business services manager for JobConnect, for promoting the area workforce to prospective companies.

• Stan Thomas, EDAWN executive vice president business development, for his track record for convincing companies to come to the area.

“As we continue to build on our recent success, there is no doubt that our economy is recovering and we are on the cusp of a truly new economy,” Kazmierski said.

“... We are excited about the New Year and will continue working to attract, retain and grow the quality jobs our community needs as we build our economic future.”