LAS VEGAS, NEV. — Las Vegas is built on a culture of yes – yes to fun, yes to the big splurge, yes to going all in. But a significant part of the area’s economic stability depends on a willingness to say “yes” to the military by saying “no” to others.
The tightrope walk is done to preserve and protect two things: the Las Vegas area’s reputation as a military-friendly place to visit and live; and the longterm sustainability and local economic integration of Nellis Air Force Base, about 15 miles north of the Strip.
Elected officials, the chamber of commerce, business interests and civilians wanting to support the military all play a part in protecting the people and military viability of the 2.9 million acres that make up Nellis Air Force Base, Creech Air Force Base and the Nevada Test and Training Range.
“This is where we protect the free world, right here,” says Tom Collins, a Clark County Commissioner for the past 10 years. His District B includes Nellis, which he’s watched grow since he played in the desert near there as a boy. He’s made protecting it a priority.
“It’s important to have a safe place when you’re defending world freedom.”
DANGERS OF ENCROACHMENT
Encroachment is the fastest way for a community to render a military installation vulnerable. Nellis is on the northeast side of the metro area, and its main entrance is across the street from apartments, restaurants and stores. It’s flanked on two sides by neighborhoods and bisected by a main thoroughfare. But drive a few minutes northeast on North Las Vegas Boulevard and you’re in the desert.
On the west side of the boulevard is the immense Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which hosts NASCAR and NHRA events, an exotic car racing school and the Richard Petty Driving Experience. Its grandstands rise from the desert; fleets of portable toilets are lined up in an empty parking lot, ready to go. Vast lots await RVs.
Developers wanted to build luxury apartments or condos at the Speedway. The financial appeal is obvious — people who come to race, or watch the races, or can afford to drop $1,500 to drive a Lamborghini 20 laps — have money to spend.
But a high-rise residential development that close to the base was a no-go, says Commissioner Collins. Anything that raises questions or could interfere with what Nellis does — planes fly with live ammunition — is a conversation going nowhere, he says. The deal never got off the ground.
“Can you imagine all the heat I got from the race car people?” he asks. “You’ve got to look at the bigger picture.”
Residential projects aren’t the only threat, he says. Protecting the air space from potential flying hazards is key, too.
“There was an outfit that wanted to get food scraps from around Las Vegas, spread them out to dry in the desert out there, then scoop it up and make recycled food pellets for livestock,” Collins says. “I said no — it would attract birds and that’s dangerous.”
PROTECTING NELLIS
Nellis is in Clark County near the city of North Las Vegas, a collection of older casinos, restaurants and lower-to-middle-income neighborhoods — nothing like the Strip’s massive, glitzy resort casinos. The city boomed, overbuilt, and busted when property values collapsed.
Municipal financial need could make the allure of revenue and jobs that any development could bring all the more tempting. Local government enforces land use regulations around the military installations as a failsafe.
North Las Vegas is pinning its hopes on the 5,000-acre APEX development, an industrial park northeast of Nellis. The city is using tax incentives passed to help Reno land a Tesla factory to attract companies and help get water to the property.
The proximity to Nellis affects what businesses would be a good fit for APEX, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee says. A company could manufacture but not fly drones because of the air space conflicts. He says medical marijuana growing operations would be a good fit.
Any project’s upside must be weighed against potential to harm Nellis — however remote.
“We don’t want to give them (the Department of Defense) even the scent of doing something to Nellis,” Collins says. “You don’t want it to die a death of a thousand cuts.”
Local businesses are well aware of the limitations around Nellis, says Lisa Beckley, who heads the Military Affairs Committee of the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce. She runs a business consultancy.
“If you want to do something in that area, you’re going to get schooled real quick,” she says.
Nellis is a point of red, white and blue regional pride, but it also comes down to the green.
Roughly 40,000 people have an active duty, civilian, dependent, retired or reservist connection to a branch of the military in the greater Las Vegas area. Taken together, that’s an annual economic impact of more than $5 billion, according to a 2012 analysis by the 99th Comptroller Squadron at Nellis.
The base expanded by about 1,400 jobs in the most recent base-closure round a decade ago. The military and civilian workforce is about 9,500, making it one of the largest employers in Nevada.
“It’s a valued commodity and an industry unto itself,” North Las Vegas Mayor Lee says. “We love our country, we want to protect our country. But it’s also a business.”
BUSINESSES FEEL ‘INDEBTED’ TO MILITARY
In March the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee hosted an all-day seminar on how to do business with the military and federal government. Forty-one business owners heard military procurement officers and federal agency representatives explain where to find requests for bids, how to manage paperwork and what programs the government has for specific groups of business owners – such as veterans or those in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
The takeaway advice? Make the military part of the business you already do. The federal government is a good customer. Beckley helped organize the workshop, emulating those she did several years ago with the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, before it merged into the Las Vegas Metro Chamber.
“There have been people who have done some pretty substantial business with the Air Force over the years,” Beckley says.
The chamber approaches helping the military installation as it would a business member, she says.
“It’s about awareness and knowledge, and lets the military know there is business out there that wants to partner with them.”
The military is an important market demographic. Most military personnel from Nellis live off base, says Col. Charlie Perham, and 60 percent of those live in the northwest metro area. The installation also serves as a magnet for retired military who like the familiarity of the culture amid a larger city, with the amenities of a nearby base.
Many businesses give military discounts, but some go beyond and respond to immediate needs of airmen.
Mick McCoy produces “B – A Tribute to The Beatles” at Planet Hollywood Miracle Mile, and performs, usually as Paul McCartney. He’s organized and produced concerts to raise money for veteran groups, and for two weeks last year he gave free admission to military families. He donated about 1,200 tickets. General admission is $60.
“I truly feel indebted to our military,” McCoy says. “It’s mostly guys, young guys, who’ve come home from a deployment and what they went through was traumatizing. They’ve been away from their families and don’t know how to start the conversation.
“The Beatles are great because everyone loves them — they can share that experience together, and talk about it and start rebuilding their family,” he says. “So if we can be this conduit, to help bring them together, we want to help.”
That sort of business support is key to a military installation and its people, says Tony Muñoz, who retired from the Air Force and uses his logistics background to help connect veterans in need with local nonprofits.
“Mick McCoy – he’s the model for what the business community should be doing,” Munoz says.
SHOWING APPRECIATION
McCoy, and Tony and Hilda Munoz, are part of a group formed last year after North Las Vegas Mayor Lee asked them to help revive a tradition: Nellis Appreciation Day.
Armed Forces & Military Veterans Appreciation Inc. put on a large picnic last May. Food and entertainment, including from McCoy, was donated and every military family ate for free.
Co-chairwoman Laura Coleman and her husband have owned the Poker Palace Casino about four miles from Nellis for 41 years. It was an Air Force bar in the beginning, but that changed as the Colemans added gaming and a restaurant.
The Colemans support the military and, like any successful business owners, look for opportunity. A Poker Palace restaurant employee — a veteran — suggested they market to the foreign allied military personnel who visit four times a year for Red Flag, the air-to-air combat training. Pilots often finish the exercise near midnight, and there’s nowhere for them to eat.
What if the Poker Palace stayed open all night during Red Flag with a menu geared to the allied military personnel? Coleman could probably even prepare kosher meals in her restaurant’s kitchen. It’s something to think about, she says.
Richard Cherchio has been thinking, too — about housing. He’s the other co-chair of Armed Forces & Military Veterans Appreciation Inc. and is newly elected to the North Las Vegas City Council.
Military people looking to settle down need to know they’re wanted there, he says. The picnic last year helped, he says, but you can never do enough.
The housing boom has cooled, he notes, but developments are still going up. Maybe a developer could design and market neighborhoods near the big VA hospital as “veteran-friendly,” he says, similar to an active-living retirement community.
A smart business idea, perhaps, but also one that extends a welcome mat.
