Week of October 7

SIERRA NEVADA COLLEGE, KDESIGN LLC, GOED AND MORE

TAXABLE SALES SUMMARY

Taxable Sales statewide for July 2016 of $4,460,349,844 represent a 3.0 percent increase over July 2015. The largest increases were realized by Food Services and Drinking Places, up 5.6 percent; Rental and Leasing Services, up 24.1 percent; Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers, up 5.1 percent; Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, up 30.6 percent; and Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies, up 8.4 percent.

MCKENZIE PROPERTIES

McKenzie Properties announced they broke ground on two speculative industrial buildings located at 925 and 945 North Hills Blvd in Sparks.

Construction is scheduled to be complete in spring of 2017. The new buildings are 85,000 square feet and 62,000 square feet. They will be Class A tilt up construction and feature modern upgrades including LED lighting.

Peterbilt

Peterbilt Truck Parts & Equipment has been awarded the Western Region Service Excellence Award by Peterbilt Motors Company.

The Western Region Service Excellence Award is given to those dealerships that implement superior customer service practices and demonstrate a commitment to employee training for Peterbilt product lines. Criteria considered included warranty service, roadside assistance response rate, SmartLINQ dealer readiness, overall service training, number of certified technicians and dealer size.

Noble Studios

Noble Studios, a digital marketing agency, has been selected by Tahiti Tourisme, the country’s official destination marketing organization, to extend its updated brand into a newly redesigned website that will be used to promote the destination across 18 different countries.

Noble will perform a complete website overhaul, expanding Tahiti Tourisme’s digital presence into a responsive, inspirational, storytelling experience that supports the Tourisme board’s mission. The website is expected to launch in mid-2017.

AMA

Reno AMA is hosting their monthly luncheon on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at the Atlantis. The topic is What’s In A Brand: A Fundamental Shift For Marketers In The Digital Age. Marketing leaders have never been busier. Lead generation, branding, sales, content creation, social media, web, product development, research, the list is endless. This talk will discuss what matters most in the digital age.

Speaker Kristin Stith serves as vice president of Customer Acquisition and Experience for Bristlecone, a rapidly growing financial technology startup creating modernized financing agreements for underserved consumers in niche markets using machine-learning technology.

DESERT FARMING INITIATIVE

The Desert Farming Initiative at the University of Nevada, Reno is hosting its first Farm-to-Table Dinner to highlight local food production and raise money for student internships. The four-course dinner will be created by nationally acclaimed local Chef Mark Estee and will be held 5 – 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Desert Farming Initiative Farm, 920 Valley Road in Reno.

Tickets for the dinner are $125 per person and can be purchased at https://supportnevada.unr.edu/farmdinner[unr.pr-optout.com]. For more information about the fundraiser or corporate sponsorships, contact Jennifer Ott at 707-280-9479 or jmott@unr.edu.

PERSHING RESOURCES COMPANY

Pershing Resources Company, Inc., announced that it has renewed its existing BLM claims in Nevada and Arizona and has expanded its New Enterprise Project area to cover an additional 320 acres or a total area of 480 acres. The company expanded the claimed area following exploration work that indicated the possible presence of an ore body extending from the original claim area. The company has begun a mapping and sampling program on the expanded claim area.

EDAWN

Grand Sierra Resort has joined EDAWN as a new Presidential Gold Investor.

RENO CITY COUNCIL

Reno City Council unanimously approved to adopt a resolution in support of the City of Reno engaging as an active stakeholder in proposed development at the Hillside Cemetery. Council and City staff has heard from a broad range of individuals, special interest groups, and local jurisdictions concerning the City’s involvement in this matter for a variety of reasons.

Among those are the significance of the site, both historically and culturally, and the potential use of the site for civic or recreational purposes.

MEDMEN

MedMen, a leading cannabis management and capital firm based in Los Angeles, broke ground on a new $15 million, 45,000-square-foot cannabis production and cultivation facility. Opening in 2017, it will serve as a model for the industry with a state-of-art Dutch style greenhouse employing the latest in agro-technology, a cutting-edge extraction and production facility and test lab.

This will be the firm’s first project in Nevada and it is expected to produce 10,000 pounds of cannabis annually. Miles Construction is the general contractor. The facility is located at 12000 Truckee Canyon Court in McCarran.

Dermody Properties

Dermody Properties acquired the nearly 130,000-square-foot 31033-31055 Huntwood Avenue facility in Hayward from a private investor. Renamed LogistiCenterSM at Huntwood.

Dermody Properties will renovate the property this year, making it available for lease in mid-2017.

Nevada Builders Alliance

New northern Nevada members of the Nevada Builders Alliance were:

Reno: LRG Construction, and Vitek Mortgage Group.

Sparks: Italian Masters Plaster by DK Drywall.

Carson City: State Street Development, Perfection Connection Marble & Granite, and Lakeside Construction.

Gardnerville: SAS Construction, Inc.

Incline Village: Pine Cohn Inc.

Ely: JW Electric.

In addition the Builders Alliance is accepting nominations for its board of directors. For details contact Aaron West at aaron@nevadabuilders.org.

KDESIGN LLC

Shaw Contract Flooring hosts an annual design completion where 450 applicants spanning 32 countries submitted their projects completed in the previous year utilizing Shaw flooring and 31 finalists were selected.

KDesign, a locally owned interior design firm submitted The Jungle into the competition. Kadie Remaklus, owner and principal designer of KDesign was placed in the top 9 Design Market winners.

KILLER SALSA

Gardnerville Corporation Killer Salsa announced they have increased their distribution with Wal-Mart into Arizona, Texas, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada and California. Owner Fran Pritchard met with the Wal-Mart buyer in Bentonville, Arkansas last June and discussed this expansion.

WOMEN’S EXPO

The Nevada Women’s Expo co-sponsored by KOLO-TV8 will be held on Oct. 15 and 16 at the Grand Sierra Resort. The theme is Women’s Health and Wellness. Many new and returning vendors will be participating in this year’s event.

Entertainment will be provided by Rick Radecki, a romantic crooner from Carson City. In addition, Lloyd Marcus, an entertainer from Orlando, Florida will be providing a patriotic themed show. Also. Sports West will be there presenting a variety of energetic fitness demonstrations.

INNEVENTURE FUND

A new source of proof-of-concept funding has been established to help University of Nevada, Reno faculty, students, staff and recent graduates determine if their technologies and business ideas have commercialization potential and help them navigate the gap between concept validation and obtaining seed funding for their venture.

Applications are being accepted through Tuesday, Oct. 12 for the pilot year and program of the InNEVenture Fund.

TRANSPORTATION MASTER PLAN UPDATE

Douglas County is hosting a public meeting to present the findings of the 2016 Transportation Master Plan Update to the community.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at the CVIC Hall at 1602 Esmeralda Ave in Minden. The meeting will consist of a presentation by Parson’s Transportation Group Inc., who prepared the update to the Transportation Plan.

GOED

Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) was awarded $283,000 by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The State of Nevada will use STEP award funds to stimulate ESBC export development by participation at International Buyer Program trade shows, foreign market sales trips, and an international trade mission to Spain and Nordic bloc countries.

NEVADA HOUSING DIVISION

The Nevada Housing Division’s (NHD) Home Is Possible program has won the national Program Excellence Award for Homeownership from the National Council of State Housing Agencies.

In only its second year, the innovative program has assisted more than 8,300 families with a total of $1.6 billion in mortgage loans, and provided more than $65 million in down payment assistance grants. This program is funded without the use of taxpayer dollars.

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA RENO

University, state and city officials celebrated the reopening of Lincoln Hall earlier this month. The 120 years old building is one of the oldest buildings on the University of Nevada, Reno campus. It has undergone structural upgrades that address seismic and safety standards and interior remodeling to transform the space into faculty offices.

SIERRA NEVADA COLLEGE

Sierra Nevada College was granted full membership last week in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), making the college eligible for post-season play for qualified sports, including men’s and women’s soccer, golf, and cross-country. The college also offers men’s lacrosse, and men’s and women’s alpine, freeski and snowboarding teams.