The cover of the May 16, 2011, edition of the Northern Nevada Business Weekly.
Courtesy Photo
EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week in 2021, we will feature snippets of stories that published a decade ago to provide readers a 10-year perspective of business news in the region. This week’s stories first published in the May 16, 2011, edition of the NNBW.
Alvey: Time of change a time for a change
In the end, Chuck Alvey says, he didn’t want to build a house he wouldn’t be living in. And so he stepped away, resigning last week as president and chief executive of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada.
Big changes appear to be coming in the way that Nevada organizes its economic development efforts, and they’re likely to require a major restructuring of EDAWN — assuming that the agency is around at all.
Alvey, who’s been thinking about stepping down from the helm of EDAWN for a couple of years, didn’t want to help create the new economic-development infrastructure and then leave the organization to his successor. Better, he thought, to leave now so that his successor can shape the future of economic development.
— Page 1, by John Seelmeyer
Boat dealers ride out choppy market
Boat dealers in the Reno-Sparks area are struggling to stay afloat.
In 2005, Custom Boat & Marine set revenue and volume records on sales of new boats previously thought impossible at the 33-year-old dealership. But fast-forward five years to the depths of the recession, and Custom and other boat dealerships in the Truckee Meadows have seen sales decline by 75% to 80%.
The rapid fall in revenue has prompted widespread changes in operations and staffing levels. Custom Boat and Marine, Z-Marine of Reno and Marine Specialties of Sparks each laid off sales staff, with each store’s general manager now handling all sales duties.
Dealerships are relying on revenues from service and accessory sales to weather the rough waters until sales volumes spike with increased consumer confidence.
— Page 1, by Rob Sabo
State begins development of its first-ever brand for tourism
Nevada tourism officials for decades have developed advertising catch phrases and created campaigns and compared the effectiveness of advertising media. But for the first time ever this year, the Nevada Commission on Tourism is digging deep into newly commissioned research to develop an overarching brand identity for marketing the Silver State to visitors.
Larry Friedman, interim director of the tourism commission, says the brand-development effort is a natural next step in the commission’s effort to fine-tune the effectiveness of its marketing efforts.In recent years, he notes, the state has developed cost-effective strategies to deliver its advertising messages, largely through use of online and social media platforms.“We have had great results from our advertising campaigns. Now we want to make sure that the message, too, is as strong as we can make,” Friedman says.— Page 1, by John Seelmeyer
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