
Laughlin Economic
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
A Community Partnership
Laughlin Economic
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
A Community Partnership
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
A Community Partnership
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
A Community Partnership
The Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance (LVGEA) hosted its signature State of Economic Development event on February 9, 2021. For the first time this was held virtually.
This is your link to watch the event and get a full recap.
The Laughlin Economic Development Corporation would like to recognize the outgoing Laughlin Town Advisory Board members on the tremendous impact their terms have had on the future economic development success of the Laughlin Township.
During this last LTAB term, the dredging of the Laughlin Lagoon was completed. As well as the finalization of the SID to perform future maintenance on the Lagoon, entirely paid for by the landowners. The small financial contribution to the initial SID for the dredging by the Fort Mohave Development Act Fund was a huge success. It allowed for the dredging along the public lands, and has resulted in a significant increase in land values surrounding the Lagoon.
Another achievement was the initialization of the SID process for the W Casino Drive improvement. Installing water and sewer infrastructure, which will be entirely paid for by the landowners, with the roadway widening paid for by RTC, will be the economic development jewel for the Township for years to come. We encourage the incoming LTAB members to fully support the SID process and completion of this project in a timely manner. No other project in our Township will return the rewards this one will in the foreseeable future.
The outgoing LTAB members also recognized the threat of an Avi Kwa Ame Spirit Mountain National Monument and the extensive land grab that would consume nearly 240,000 acres of potential renewable energy area. The current solar field development to commence in the next year on the Laughlin Township Southland properties will be the first step with a potential expansion making the Laughlin Township a leader in renewable energy for the state of Nevada. We encourage the incoming LTAB members to stay engaged on the threat of the proposed National Monument and work to reduce its foot print to exclude the lands with renewable energy potential.
Additional successes are the passage of SB172 which created SID accountability and the return of nearly $4 million dollars to the community. Support for a gas tax carve out to provide equality to gasoline prices in Laughlin compared to Bullhead City, as well as support for the Brighter Nevada Student bill to help fund education by placing a fee on all renewable energy exported from Nevada. Lastly, we await the sale and development of the former Mohave Generating Site land.
In closing, the success of the first two elected Town Board’s is a guide for future Town Board members. Clearing the way for projects with appropriate legislation, communication with governmental entities, and focusing on the final product has resulted in all these successes.
Submitted December 3, 2020
by Martin Knauss
President
Laughlin Economic Development Corporation
Read LTAB has Development Impact on Community
Laughlin Times, December 4, 2020
[PRESS RELEASE]
LEDC Announces Dr. Brian Paulson As New Government Affairs Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [October 2020]
CONTACT: Martin Knauss, President, laughlinedc@gmail.com
LAUGHLIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ANNOUNCES GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DIRECTOR DR. BRIAN PAULSON TO SERVE AS INTERGOVERNMENTAL LIAISON OF NONPROFIT
LAUGHLIN, Nevada (October 2020) The Laughlin Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) announced Dr. Brian Paulson has been named government affairs director of the nonprofit devoted to promoting the economic health, welfare, and quality of life for the residents of
Laughlin through economic development.
Paulson, the former Laughlin Town Manager, has supported the efforts of the LEDC in the past few years to bring about greater economic vitality to Laughlin.
“All of us at the LEDC see an opportunity to have a greater influence on intergovernmental matters as they pertain to Laughlin economic development,” LEDC President Martin Knauss said. “We are excited to take this next step and retain Dr. Paulson’s wealth of experience and
insight in government for the betterment of Laughlin.”
Paulson’s hiring comes as the nonprofit is actively providing a platform for economic development for business and industry leaders looking to expand their operations to southern Clark County and the advantages the Laughlin community offers to prospecting business.
As governmental affairs director, Paulson will enhance these efforts by working as a liaison and consultant with local, state, and federal staff and representatives, including the offices of Senator Joe Hardy, Assemblyman Glen Leavitt, and other members of the 2021 state
legislature, the Governor’s Office on Economic Development, and the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance. Additionally, Paulson will work closely with both the Henderson and Boulder City Chambers of Commerce along with Laughlin local organizations to promote mutual joint interests. He will monitor state and federal legislative actions in relation to Laughlin economic development and represent the LEDC in legislative and regulatory sessions.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to help build and strengthen a town and a valuable community asset, the LEDC, for the residents of Laughlin,” Paulson said, “and look forward to working with the community again and its many partners in both government and economic development in this new position.”
Paulson served as Laughlin town manager from June 2016 until his retirement from Clark County in August 2020 after 31 years of public service, including over 20 years as the County’s senior community development coordinator for the Community Development Block Grant
program. Paulson is a past president of the National Association for County Community and Economic Development and holds both masters and doctoral degrees in public administration from Iowa State University and the University of La Verne.
The LEDC is a Nevada-based nonprofit whose mission is to create and implement a collaborative venture among civic and business leaders in the town of Laughlin, to promote the health, welfare, and quality of life for the residents of Laughlin through economic development.
A community partnership for action, members provide networking, professional services, financial support initiatives, and community building through economic development in the town of Laughlin.
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Visit the COVID19 Resource Page
JIM MURREN AND JEREMY AGUERO DISCUSSED THE REGION’S RESPONSE, RECOVERY AND ECONOMY
More than 1,100 people registered to attend the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance’s (LVGEA) first-ever virtual Vegas Perspective, marking the 40th anniversary of the event. Perspective is the region’s premier source for community and economic development information, analysis and forecasting. Read the rest of the article here
** View Jeremy Aguero’s presentation here **
Download the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance 2020 Las Vegas Perspective
2020-Las-Vegas-Perspective (pdf)
DownloadLaughlin Economic Development Corporation
P.O. Box 33702
Laughlin, Nevada 89028
April 20, 2020
The Honorable Elaine Chao
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
Re: Needles Highway Project Segment 1B
Dear Secretary Chao:
The Laughlin Economic Development Corporation supports the application of the City of Needles to the United States Department of Transportation’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD 2020) competitive grant program for the Needles Highway Project Segment 1B.
The project will request funds to completely remove and replace a 2.6- mile segment of Needles Highway within City limits. Desperately needed improvements include a stronger roadbed, road widening, new shoulders, protection from washing out, and biological protections. This section of road is dangerous because of its state of disrepair and deficient geometry including its single, narrow lanes each direction and minimal or missing shoulders. The project is necessary to return this important Tri-state regional connector to a state of good repair and thus improve economic competitiveness in both Nevada, Arizona, and California. Currently, the road’s condition has been cited by businesses as a primary reason they chose not to relocate or establish a new branch in the region. The road is even causing negative consequences to the quality of life of people in the region due to its state of disrepair and unreliability, which forces people to choose to avoid the area entirely or suffer the consequences of driving the road.
This segment of Needles Highway also has negative impacts on environmental sustainability. The unfavorable vertical geometry of the road means the road washes out in many storms not only closing the road but also polluting the area’s precious and sparse annual stormwater. Innovative improvements to the roadbed and cut off walls at low points of the road are needed to prevent the road from washing out, thus minimizing pollution or disruptions to the area’s overall hydrology.
We recognize the importance of this project in improving the safety and long-term condition of the Needles Highway because of its strategic connectivity for the city and the State of California. The reconstruction of the highway will guarantee a state-of-good repair for decades to come supporting the economic growth the area is experiencing and expecting over the next decade.
Laughlin, Nevada is directly north of Needles, California along the Colorado River. The Needles Highway is the major direct link to Laughlin with Interstate 40. Local residents and visitors use Needles Highway regularly and the safety and reliability of this road is very important to the economic development and well-being of Laughlin.
The Laughlin Economic Development Corporation advocates for the Laughlin, Nevada economic development and growth. Supporting the City of Needles in the repair of the Needles Highway is an important step in the economic development of this region.
The Laughlin residents and the many people whom travel to Laughlin are looking forward to the repair and improvement of the Needles Highway.
Sincerely,
Martin Knauss - President
Laughlin Economic Development Corporation
The Laughlin Community Development Advisory Committee, led by members Robert Bilbray and Cheryl Crow, received good news that their effort to secure a Community Block Development Grant was successful (pending final approval). The grant of $4,670,399, through the Capital Improvement Plan Application process in Clark County, is for a multi-generational center at the Spirit Mountain Activity Center located at Mountain View Park in Laughlin.
Cheryl Crow is a Director of the Laughlin Economic Development Corporation, and Robert Bilbray is the Strategic Development Advisor for the Laughlin Economic Development Corporation.
An article in a 2-21-20 Laughlin Nevada Times article contains additional details about the CBD grant and plans.
Use immediately/Contact Martin Knauss laughlinedc@gmail.com 725-867-8190
LAS VEGAS – Clark County Commissioners on August 20 unanimously approved about $2 million for design of street, water, and sewer through a special improvement district for West Casino Drive in Laughlin.
“The large-diameter water and sewer pipes finally will complete the missing link of the utilities in southern Laughlin,” said Martin Knauss, president of the Laughlin Economic Development Corporation which has supported the effort.
“This will open up lots of commercial land for development along a stretch of Casino Drive that is twice as long as the famed Laughlin Strip Corridor. And it certainly will improve access for Laughlin’s main route for visitors from southern California,” Knauss added.
The vote of 5-0, with Commissioner Michael Naft not present, to award the contract to CG Wallace was part of the consent agenda which will result in bonds being paid back by 29 property owners to widen and straighten 3.9 miles of South and West Casino Drive to 4 through lanes (from 2 lanes, and increase the speed limit from 35 MPH to 45 MPH) from Needles Highway in Upper Laughlin to Harrah’s Resort in Downtown Laughlin, and about half that length for water and sewer trunk lines for 19 properties that now lack the wet utilities.
Originally $2.3 million was earmarked for the engineers to design the 3 parts of the project. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) allocated $1.5 million for the street portion that will include turn lanes, curbs, sidewalks, and streetlights. The Clark County Commission approved the Laughlin Town Advisory Board’s request to allocate $800,000 from the Fort Mohave Valley Development Fund (FMVDF) towards design costs for the water and sewer districts, whose boards of trustees are the commissioners.
The $300,000 difference between the maximum allocation and the contract can be reallocated by the RTC Board, while all the unused water and sewer design money must be returned to the unique FMVDF which is limited to planning and construction of Laughlin infrastructure. Clark County is the community’s trustee for the 9,000 acres between developed Laughlin and the California border, only 13 miles from the BNSF Railroad’s main lines at Needles.
In an adjacent project, the LEDC in 2012 initiated the idea of an aquatic-based SID to dredge the navigation channels of the Laughlin Lagoon, in which owners of 24 properties are paying back Clark County-issued bonds for SID 162-A. In turn, it is tied into the planned Laughlin River Park between the Lagoon and Big Bend of the Colorado State Recreation Park. The Lagoon and planned 40-acre Park are adjacent to the Casino Drive SID, and tie into the LEDC support of the Laughlin Town Advisory Board drive to get the Big Bend Water District (operated by the Las Vegas Valley Water District) and the Clark County Water Reclamation District to install backbone systems in the 14 square-mile Laughlin Southland that is immediately south of the Big Bend park and reaches to the California border.
That would allow the BNSF Railroad to install a branch line to the Needles Highway in the Southland, only 13 miles from its main line in Needles.
Laughlin Times
Future for Laughlin!
Overhead view south to the 9000 acre Fort Mohave Development Area (FMDA) in Laughlin, Nevada.
Promoting Economic Development in Laughlin
The Laughlin Economic Development Corporation released comments
for the Bureau of Land Management's Resources Management Plan.
Our goal jobs and economic development.
Click on the link below to see and download our comments.
LEDC Comments on BLM Resources Management Plan Download
The LEDC is always looking for civic and business leaders to join us in our efforts of promoting economic development in Laughlin. If you are interested in getting involved please visit our Membership page for more information.
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