News Briefs | Week of Dec. 12-16

Alston Construction

Alston Construction has completed construction of the 137,890-square-foot, $11 million facility for Deceuninick North America. The building is located at 240 Nevada Pacific Parkway in Fernley.

DONUP, LLC

DONUP, LLC leased 1,210 square feet of office space at 601 W. Moana Lane, Suite 1A, in Reno. Gary Tremaine and Linda Deller of Dickson Commercial Group represented the tenant, while Tom Fennell and Joel Fountain also of Dickson, represented the landlord, 601 W. Moana LLC.

Pro Group

Pro Group Captive Management Services, Inc. has been awarded the 2016 “Recognized Leader in Captive Management Services-USA” a top honor presented by Wealth & Finance International.

Pro Group was recognized for its innovations and stellar performance.

Sky Peaks

Sky Peaks, a retirement community located in Reno, was named to SeniorAdvisor.com’s ‘Best of 2017 Awards,’ placing them in the top two percent of senior living providers nationwide.

Sky Peaks was one of 91 communities nationwide to receive the honor.

SeniorAdvisor.com the largest ratings and reviews site for senior care and services in North America.

Top Notch Distributors

Top Notch Distributors, Inc., a national supplier of architectural locksets and hardware for residential and commercial buildings with offices in Carson City, Missouri and Massachusetts, has completed the addition of 33,000 square feet of warehouse space in its northern Nevada operation.

Carson City-based Shaheen Beauchamp Builders LLC served as the general contractor on the project, which doubled the company’s footprint in Nevada.

LendingTree.com small biz contest

LendingTree.com is promoting a Small Business Grant Competition, where a business will receive $50,000 to fund the needs of their growing entity.

For details, go online to: https://www.lendingtree.com/about/business-grant.

Best Hardwood Flooring LLC

Best Hardwood Flooring LLC, a construction flooring installation contractor, owned by Miguel A. Estrada-Rodriguez, has purchased its own building at 3405 Kietzke Lane in Reno.

It’s a part of a $1.3 million financing package. Nevada State Development Corp., the state’s largest SBA 504 loan provider, and Greater Nevada Credit Union assisted with the financing.

Itronics Inc.

Itronics Inc. a fertilizer and silver producing green technology company reported third quarter sales increased 13 percent with a 17 percent increase in fertilizer sales. First nine months sales decreased 18 percent on a 17 percent decrease in fertilizer sales and a 14 percent increase in silver sales.

Total revenues for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 were $230,869, compared to $205,200 in the third quarter of 2015. Total revenues for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 were $1,199,249 compared to $1,461,262 in the same period 2015.

Great Basin Orthopaedics

Great Basin Orthopaedics has combined its two locations into one 14,250-square-foot building at 9480 Double Diamond Parkway.

The new building is being built specifically for GBO’s needs by Moody Weiske Contractors and managed by Ensemble Brokerage and Management.

Affinity

Cremation Society of Nevada’s Affinity location has moved to 644 S. Wells Street in Reno.

Cremation Society has been a locally-owned business for more than 20 years.

Dickinson Wright PLLC

Dickinson Wright PLLC, a law firm with an office in Reno, received a score of 85 on the 2017 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

The 2017 CEI rated a total of 1,043 businesses in the report, which evaluates LGBT-related policies and practices including non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits, competency programs, and public engagement with the LGBT community.

Nevada Builders Alliance

New northern Nevada members of the Nevada Builders Alliance were:

Reno: R Nelson Builders, Reno Staffing, Olectric, Norr Pro, Universal Framing LLC, Platinum Floors, and AFLAC.

Carson City: Tom Ediss Landscape, and Tahoe Western Asphalt, LLC.

Dayton: Jolt Electric.

Crystal Bay: Orlando Enterprises Tahoe, Inc.

Pershing Gold

Pershing Gold Corp., closed its previously announced underwritten public offering of 2,205,883 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $3.40 per share. The gross proceeds to Pershing Gold from this offering is approximately $7.5 million, before deducting the underwriter’s discount and other estimated offering expenses payable by the Company.

Pershing Gold intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for advancing the Relief Canyon project, capital expenditures, working capital and general corporate purposes.

Southwest Gas

Southwest Gas was named a Utility Customer Champion for 2016, according to a survey of utility customers conducted by Cogent Reports™ at Market Strategies International, a nationwide research firm.

Southwest Gas has been recognized for outstanding performance among the nation’s leading utilities.

Cogent Reports studied 130 natural gas, electric, and mixed-use residential utilities nationwide to determine current customer satisfaction and trust rates, and released its findings in the 2016 Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement™: Residential.

Menezes Brothers, Inc.

Storey County announces the change in name of a street in Lockwood in recognition of the long-standing family, community member and business, Menezes Brothers, Inc.

Formerly named West Avenue of the Colors, Menezes Way is a display of gratitude for the Menezes Brothers’ constant support, assistance and ongoing stature in Lockwood.

Each One Tell One

Each One Tell One, a Reno-based non-profit beneficiary of the Barracuda Championship, has been named the 2016 PGA TOUR Charity of the Year.

Each One Tell One is an organization dedicated to raising dense breast tissue awareness for early breast cancer detection.

The award comes with a $30,000 grant from the PGA TOUR to help Each One Tell One, which will be utilized in a number of ways to help in the fight against cancer.

City of Reno contracts

The City of Reno awarded these contracts:

Sierra Nevada Construction won a $77,007 contract demolish the former golf cart paths at Sierra Vista Park.

Sierra Nevada Construction, Inc. won a $1,313,007 contract for the 2017 Permanent Patch Program.

Lumos & Associates won a $656,155 consultant agreement for the 2017 Sewer Rehabilitation Project.

RTC

The Regional Transportation Commission transit services have introduced Token Transit, a free app for iPhone/iPad and Android devices.

The Token Transit app enables users to purchase their bus pass with a credit or debit card, and a display on the screen serves as a substitute for a traditional paper pass. Traditional passes will continue to be sold and accepted in addition to digital passes.

For details, go to: http://www.tokentransit.com/app, text “TOKEN” to 41411, or search for “Token Transit” at the mobile app store.

Immunize Nevada

This year, Immunize Nevada is proud to honor one Washoe County resident and one Washoe County business as a 2016 Nevada Flu Hero during the National Influenza Week from Dec. 4-10.

Those honored were:

Enid Jennings, a Health Educator at the University of Nevada, Reno for coordinating flu vaccine clinics throughout the season, making the flu vaccine more accessible for students. MorningStar-Sparks for inspiring its team to get vaccinated against the flu, providing flu protection for all, and providing a safe and healthy environment.

Immunize Nevada received over 30 nominations of individuals, businesses, and organizations.

Nevada Humanities

Nevada Humanities is now accepting nominations for the 2017 Nevada Humanities Awards for outstanding achievement in and contributions to the humanities.

Every other year, the statewide organization presents four awards recognizing individuals and organizations that facilitate opportunities for Nevadans to engage with the humanities.

Liberty Utilities

Liberty Utilities submitted a series of interconnected rate adjustment requests, for both increases and decreases, that will have an impact on rates beginning in 2017.

The rate increases are based on capital improvements, including:

Luning Solar Project, a solar installation located in Mineral County. It is the first-ever solar facility owned by Liberty Utilities. Once it is put into service in first quarter of 2017, it will supply about 25 percent of Liberty customers’ energy needs.

650 Electric Lion Upgrade Project, that consisted primarily of upgrading and replacing an aging power line between Truckee and Kings Beach to improve reliability.

Nevada job growth

In the second quarter of 2016, Nevada had the sixth fastest growing private sector in the nation with a growth rate of 3.2 percent. Only Utah, Idaho, Florida, Oregon and Georgia had stronger job growth than the Silver State during the first half of the year, according to a report by the Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

In 2011, the private sector grew at a rate of 1.2 percent, 37th in the nation. In 2012, it grew at a rate of 1.9 percent and ranked 27th in the nation.

Steady improvement continued with the state ranking 13th in 2013, with a rate of 2.7 percent. Growth jumped to second place in 2014 at 4 percent and third place in 2015 at 3.8 percent.

Additionally, DETR reported Nevada’s unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 5.2 in November, down 0.3 percent from October. It was the lowest the unemployment rate has been since December 2007.

Gas prices

Nevada state gas prices have continued to decrease in the past week to an average of $2.40 a gallon for regular gasoline, according to the latest AAA Fuel Gauge Report, a monthly survey of gas prices.

Reno recorded the highest prices at $2.64 followed closely by Sparks at $2.62. Carson City recorded a price of $2.35 a gallon while Elko was at $2.45.

Nevada Division of Environmental Protection

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $193,627 grant to the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection to be combined with $580,881 in local funding to replace four Class 5 legacy diesel vehicles with new vehicles powered by model year 2013 or newer engines.

The project will also retrofit 15 Class 5 vehicles with diesel oxidation catalysts and switch them from ultra-low sulfur diesel to renewable diesel fuel.

Pat Baker Park

The City of Reno plans to reopen Pat Baker Park three months ahead of schedule, after completing a major renovation project. It was originally scheduled to reopen in spring 2017.

On Aug. 10 of this year, the city council unanimously approved to award Peek Brothers Construction for the project with an amount not to exceed $745,240.20.

USDA

The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Pacific Regional Office has suspended publication of the monthly Livestock Review, Poultry Report, Field Crop Review, and Fruits & Nuts Review. More timely reports for the region, published within one day of the NASS national release, will replace the monthly reviews.

The NASS Pacific Region, which includes California, Hawaii and Nevada, will post the new reports on its regional calendar.

Western Nevada Supply

Western Nevada Supply, a Sparks-based plumbing and industrial distributor, gave 126 children from Carson City, Carson Valley and Mason Valley Boys & Girls Clubs the chance to experience its Christmas Holiday Shopping Spree in Carson City, Winnemucca and Elko.

Each child was given a budget of $100 and the stipulation to spend half on warm clothing and shoes, and the other half on a toy for themselves. Many of the children opted to buy gifts for family members.

City National Bank

City National Bank has provided the Reno Rotary with a $1,500 donation in support of Lemelson STEM Academy and its “Makerspace” Program.