[AD1985]

Is Entertainment still the only major industry in Vegas or are others emerging at all?

[roger6087]

I thought gambling was the major industry and entertainment, resturants, hotels supported gambling.

[AD1985]

I'm not sure of semantics and thought they were all "entertainment"

[Buzz123]

Officially I believe it is all lumped under the term, "Service Industry". It includes a zillion different types of jobs and services that the public never knows about. For instance, most resorts, such as Bellagio, have 100s of workers in support of the other workers. Down in the bowels of Bellagio is a pretty fancy city inhabited in three 8 hour shifts per day of Bellagio employees. They have restaurants, child care, dry cleaners, medical facilities, beauty shops, and whatever else 6000 employees might need. It looks like the Starship Enterprise on a mission to go where no man has ever traveled down there.

There are people manufacturing the gaming equipment. Maybe your job would be to paint the shell of slot machines, or you may be a computer programmer creating new games, or new ways to prevent people from cheating. There are people who manufacture all the facades you see, like the huge boulders in the Pirate Cove in front of TI, or the false fronts like the one that caught fire at the Monte Carlo. There are several thousand people doing set up/tear down of conventions. You might be a carpenter, a painter, or an electrician, or a computer tech, who builds booths inside the world's largest convention center, that are as large as a house, and can be equipped with stuff that defies the imagination. Or you might be a little old lady that hands out badges to attendees, or a woman that tacks bunting on the front of tables. And there are other thousands of banquet workers from cake decorators, to bartenders, to cooks, to servers, to ticket takers; and some work both conventions and banquets. I know a guy who is an underwater electrician. They use scuba gear to check the lights and pumps under Lake Bellagio.

So when people say we should diversify, I do hope they mean in variety of industries and not in variety of jobs. They should know that that subject has been on everybody's mind for over 50 years, and it is talked about here almost constantly. Saying we should do it is a he** of a lot easier than doing it though. Better people than most of us have been trying forever, and some for most of their lives. What do you do? Order companies to transfer here from other states at gunpoint? It's the chicken or the egg problem though. First you have to have the workers...then the businesses will come...but if there are no jobs to begin with the workers won't come.

[Kalbo]

Government (military) is a part of the Vegas economy.

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by Buzz123

Officially I believe it is all lumped under the term, "Service Industry". It includes a zillion different types of jobs and services that the public never knows about. For instance, most resorts, such as Bellagio, have 100s of workers in support of the other workers. Down in the bowels of Bellagio is a pretty fancy city inhabited in three 8 hour shifts per day of Bellagio employees. They have restaurants, child care, dry cleaners, medical facilities, beauty shops, and whatever else 6000 employees might need. It looks like the Starship Enterprise on a mission to go where no man has ever traveled down there.

There are people manufacturing the gaming equipment. Maybe your job would be to paint the shell of slot machines, or you may be a computer programmer creating new games, or new ways to prevent people from cheating. There are people who manufacture all the facades you see, like the huge boulders in the Pirate Cove in front of TI, or the false fronts like the one that caught fire at the Monte Carlo. There are several thousand people doing set up/tear down of conventions. You might be a carpenter, a painter, or an electrician, or a computer tech, who builds booths inside the world's largest convention center, that are as large as a house, and can be equipped with stuff that defies the imagination. Or you might be a little old lady that hands out badges to attendees, or a woman that tacks bunting on the front of tables. And there are other thousands of banquet workers from cake decorators, to bartenders, to cooks, to servers, to ticket takers; and some work both conventions and banquets. I know a guy who is an underwater electrician. They use scuba gear to check the lights and pumps under Lake Bellagio.

So when people say we should diversify, I do hope they mean in variety of industries and not in variety of jobs. They should know that that subject has been on everybody's mind for over 50 years, and it is talked about here almost constantly. Saying we should do it is a he** of a lot easier than doing it though. Better people than most of us have been trying forever, and some for most of their lives. What do you do? Order companies to transfer here from other states at gunpoint? It's the chicken or the egg problem though. First you have to have the workers...then the businesses will come...but if there are no jobs to begin with the workers won't come.

Excellent post, right on the mark. Diversifying industrial base doesn't just happen. You do it through education and strategic decisions, which in Las Vegas are seemingly impossible. Tell the average person in LV we're going to invest in something with your tax dollars which will pay off in droves in 10 years and he'll demand his tax money back and vote you out of office. Not that people in other cities aren't in some ways the same, but it reaches an art form in LV. I guess that is what you get when few are from there and many aren't sure they will be there all that long anyways.

[airics]

nope, we've decided to go into the Automotive industry.. Chrysler, Gm, and Ford plants being built where the Imperial Palace, Bellagio, and Venetian were.

[tony soprano]

This article could be relevant to any number of existing threads but I suppose the title of this particular thread suits it as well as any. It's an interesting take on the potential future of Vegas.

Las Vegas: The World's Convening City?

[MomMom]

Originally Posted by tony soprano

This article could be relevant to any number of existing threads but I suppose the title of this particular thread suits it as well as any. It's an interesting take on the potential future of Vegas.

Las Vegas: The World's Convening City?

A gem of an article, thank you finding and posting it!

[XBuford]

Originally Posted by Kalbo

Government (military) is a part of the Vegas economy.

Nellis is the best thing going for Vegas. We HAVE to live here.... not by choice. We just bought a house and pump our money into this place. We would rather be somewhere else for sure.