LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Just more than a year ago, Danielle Casey took over at the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance.
Now, 13 months into her tenure, the organization has a new strategic plan, a unified approach toward bringing in new business and, soon, a new office, name and logo.
It's a lot for just 13 months at the helm for Casey, who came to Las Vegas after working in economic development posts in Arizona, California and New Mexico.
"I've seen really deep demonstration as to how resilient we are, how excited everybody in this community and market is around the idea of being a center of innovation an reinvention," she said in an interview with Channel 13. "That's a big part of our strategic plan."
The plan is a defining moment of Casey's tenure, focusing on several key areas of economic development, including advanced manufacturing, health care and life sciences and creative industries, including advertising agencies.
"It takes extra effort to bring everybody together and to try to work together," said Casey, who said her group has been coordinating its efforts with Clark County and the Clark County School District.
WATCH | Danielle Casey reflects on her first year on the job
Another coup in the first year? Landing the convention of the people who help companies relocate to new states, the Site Selectors Guild. That convention, scheduled for the spring, will give Casey and her team to chance to demonstrate Las Vegas's advantages, she said.
"We've made attempts to get them to do this in the past, and this will be the first time" the convention is held in Las Vegas, she said. "I think we're going to be able to show off this region like nobody's business in a different way, from a client perspective."
A lot of what the Global Economic Alliance does happens behind the scenes: meetings with local governments, private-sector developers, calls with potential business leads, attending panels and symposiums. There's a lot of planning, a lot of research and a lot of work many people would consider a bit boring.
But the fruit of that work affects everybody.
"So to me the long-term measure of our success is, are people's lives getting better in Southern Nevada? Does that mean your kids can stay here? That we have jobs" she said. "We talk quite a bit and we're chewing through that in very recent conversations as well. Are we keeping our engineering students? You know, what are we graduating out of UNLV and UNR that they might be leaving because we don't have the jobs?"
Casey acknowledges the headwinds, things like proposed cuts to Nevada's Colorado River water allocation or lagging test performance reports from Nevada schools. But she says she's confident that those issues can be solved, and that they won't stop her from bringing new companies to town.
"That's a snapshot of what things look like today. They [businesses] want to know that you have a long-term plan, that you have the right people in place to execute it, and then also that you're funding it," she said about Nevada schools. "Are we making the right investments that's going to allow us to create a pipeline of workforce?"
She added; "I think there are really amazing things happening that folks that are busy trying to earn a living, trying to pay for gas, trying to do their thing, are not privy to or aren't hearing about all the time. But there are really positive things going on behind the scenes."
Casey said the alliance could use some help, however, when it comes to a fund to pay the costs for helping businesses move to the state, which states that compete with Nevada already have. That money, for example, could be used to pay for infrastructure improvements, removing the last hurdle for a company making the leap to Las Vegas.
And an inventory of available land, public and private, along with a survey of whether it's ready to be developed would be helpful when dealing with companies that have specific land requirements, she said,
Up next for Casey: Moving to a new office in Black Fire Innovation in the Harry Reid Research and Technology Park, as well as unveiling a new name and logo for the organization. It will be the third name change in the organization's history.
That will be unveiled Oct. 15 during the Perspective awards dinner at the Orleans Arena, of which Channel 13 is a sponsor of. The group will give out awards for people who have played a role in economic development in the last year.
The event will also showcase the Perspective website, a collection of economic data sought by people looking to move their business. The data was formerly published in a magazine, but going digital will allow the alliance to constantly update the information so it's always current.
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