World City Guide

Business

Business Profile
Las Vegas is the engine that drives the state of Nevada. Clark County, where Las Vegas is situated, provides about 70% of the state’s taxable retail sales and about 80% of its taxable revenue. The city’s unemployment rate for the first quarter of 2005 was 3.5%, lower than the national average of 5.3%. The economy in Las Vegas has boomed in recent years due to strong employment growth linked to the city’s constant expansion.

Las Vegas was born as an entertainment town and that continues to be its main concern. Accordingly, the service industry is by far the largest employer, dwarfing goods-producing industries. Within the service industry, hotels, gaming and recreation employ the greatest numbers of people. This is evidenced by the fact that the city’s single largest employer is the MGM Grand, the Clark County School District follows in second place and the enormous hotel–casino, Bellagio, which employs in the region of 10,200 people holds third place. Casino hotels account for eight of the city’s top 10 employers and 18 of the city’s top 21 employers. Other major industries in Las Vegas (all of which are associated with entertainment) include the retail industry, restaurants and construction. To gain a perspective of these figures, it is worth considering that in 2004, Las Vegas had a one-year job growth of 44,680. As of March 2005, approximately half a dozen new hotels or major hotels expansions were under construction.

The warm climate and relaxed lifestyle continue to attract businesses to southern Nevada, although the city does not boast the head offices of any major multinational companies. The business community is predominantly young and blue collar. Downtown is home to about a dozen large office and government buildings (along with an equal amount of hotels) but even these are dwarfed by the much larger casinos and hotels of the Strip. The hotels maximise on the attractiveness of the city, by offering themselves as conference destinations for businesses, as well as places to stay for tourists. Las Vegas is becoming more popular as a wholesale and distribution centre for western America and manufacturing is largely based on mineral resources such as gypsum and titanium.

Business Etiquette
Visitors to Las Vegas may discover that the city has two faces. The entertainment industry, although professionally run, is influenced by the liberal attitudes it encourages among its clientele. While conducting business in the entertainment industry, a lunch or dinner at one of the city’s lavish hotels would not be unlikely. However, the city’s traditional industries are run by residents, many of who are Mormon and eschew practices such as drinking and gambling. In these circumstances, meetings are more likely to be business lunches than dinners, and alcohol at meetings (unless initiated by the host) should be avoided. It is not usual to be invited into someone’s home for business purposes.

During introductions, it is common to shake hands and address colleagues by their surname. On a day-to-day basis, however, people tend to address one another by first names. Gifts are not expected in business situations but are appropriate at the close of a deal or at Christmas and New Year. Business dress tends to be informal in Las Vegas, due to the heat, although suits are not uncommon for sales calls or when meeting associates for the first time. The working day normally begins at 0800 and ends at 1700, although administrative hours in casinos are sometimes 0700–1500.