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Flirtey Flies into the History Books with First Urban Package Delivery by Drone, Relocates Headquarters to Reno

As the premier independent drone delivery company, Flirtey has been an important partner in the State’s UAV effort and has been testing its technologies at Nevada’s FAA UAS Test Sites. Recently, the Company was awarded the first Certificate of Authorization by the FAA to test fully-autonomous urban package deliveries. On March 10, in a residential setting in Hawthorne, Nevada, the Company successfully delivered a package by drone that included bottled water, emergency food, and first aid kit.

The six-rotor drone flew itself along a pre-determined delivery route and lowered the package at a precise drop-off location. The choice of water, food, and a first aid kit illustrate Flirtey’s vision to reinvent the delivery process for humanitarian, online retail, and food delivery industries.

Flirtey’s accomplishment was completed through a partnership with the Nevada Advanced Autonomous Systems Innovation Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Center, NAASIC, receives funding through the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. The Company has been working with engineers from the university-based center to perfect and evolve its drone delivery technology. The two partners are also working with NASA to develop a low-altitude air traffic management system.

The delivery follows a series of groundbreaking drone delivery “firsts” for Flirtey. Last July, the Company conducted the first FAA-approved drone delivery by conducting a series of urgent medical deliveries to a rural healthcare clinic.

Driven by Nevada’s commitment to be the epicenter for autonomous systems, Flirtey recently relocated their headquarters to Reno, and currently employ 10 people, 7 of which are local hires.

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WaterStart: A Rebrand for the Water Center of Excellence

Trade Mission, WaterStart Attract Companies

In a clever play off of SNWA’s Water Smart campaign, the Water Center of Excellence has been rebranded as WaterStart. Through the rebrand, a new website has been launched and the targeted role of Knowledge Fund project has been redefined as an entity that sits at the nexus of technology, research, and economic development.

WaterStart provides channels for innovation for various stakeholders including water management agencies, large consumers of water, technology companies, and policy makers who provide services ranging from technical evaluations, demonstration and commercialization funding to business development. As it continues to bring together strategic resources and expertise, its core mission will create quality job growth and help diversify the economy of the region.

Syrinix

Created in 2004, Syrinix focuses on developing monitoring technologies to detect leaks and potential pipe failures at a very early stage. The Company’s sales have been generated primarily from the United Kingdom with Thames Water currently being their largest customer. Syrinix anticipates that an expansion into the United States will be their biggest growth opportunity, and has been in negotiations with SNWA and WaterStart to test and demonstrate its PipeMinder platform at 10 locations within SNWA’s infrastructure. PipeMinder monitors pipelines and networks for pressure transients traveling through the transmission and distribution networks.

Intelligent Modeling

By utilizing satellite imagery in conjunction with their patent-pending technology, Intelligent Modeling is able to map pluvial flood water pathways to predict and protect against flooding in urban and rural environments. Through discussions with WaterStart, DRI faculty, and SNWA, two projects have been identified in the Las Vegas Valley to demonstrate the technology’s capabilities. Intelligent Modeling has committed to basing its U.S. operation in Nevada with a local employment projection of three employees in Year One, five-ten employees in Year 2, and twenty – thirty employees in Year 3 as opportunities for commercial revenue are created.

Continuing to capitalize on the momentum gained during the Governor’s European Trade Mission, two more companies have been contracted through WaterStart as a result of proposals that were submitted to WaterStart under its commercialization fund.

For more information, visit www.waterstart.com

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Center for Advanced Mobility Hosts Urban Mobility SummitIn March, the Fraunhofer Institute IVI, Deloitte, and other stakeholders joined industry leaders and state and regional entities for a two-day conference to establish the tenets of creating “demonstrator” cities in Las Vegas and Dresden for urban mobility solutions such as driverless public transportation and cars.

One of the goals of the Synchronized Mobility City Demonstrator Summit was to develop the first pilot projects to launch under this initiative. The event offered industry leaders the chance to both see and hear why Las Vegas, and the state as a whole, offers the perfect environment for a demonstrator city –Las Vegas’ global connectivity, the State’s long history of embracing autonomous technology, and the government’s support of emerging and growing industries were key messages.

With all levels of government aggressively working to find ways to say ‘yes’ to industries helping to define the New Nevada, this event marked the first in a series of discussions about how Las Vegas’ unique global connectivity and tourism traffic could be leveraged to assist in the development of the world’s foremost innovative industry.

During the Summit, regulatory leaders discussed the current and future environment for urban mobility solutions in Nevada and stakeholders presented their capabilities and interest in participating in pilot projects in the state. Following the conference, GOED has been identifying the partners who will work with Team Nevada to not only commence the pilot projects, but also work to establish Las Vegas a “demonstrator” city.

Team Nevada includes: The Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED); University of Nevada, Las Vegas; University of Nevada, Reno; Desert Research Institute; City of Las Vegas; Regional Transportation Commission; Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles; and Nevada Department of Transportation.

In January 2016, Governor Sandoval announced that GOED would create the Nevada Center for Advanced Mobility (NCAM). NCAM was formally approved in February through a Knowledge Fund grant to UNLV. NCAM will be a division of the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems.

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Competitive Process Recommended for Graduate Medical Education Funding Last year, by Executive Order, Governor Sandoval convened the Graduate Medical Education Task Force to recommend how best to distribute the $10 million Governor Sandoval allocated to increase the number of Graduate Medical Education (GME), more commonly known as residency, slots in Nevada.

Increasing the number of GME slots in Nevada is an important step toward reducing medical care shortage areas throughout the state as over 70 percent of doctors stay to practice in their state of residency.

The Task Force, which is being chaired by GOED’s Vance Farrow, recommended to the Governor that those wishing to utilize these funds to create new or expanded GME programs should submit an application to the state for funding through a Request for Applications (RFA) process. The decision to enact the RFA process was made because it offers a transparent way to rate the applications and it is a process that it also used by other states and the federal government for GME funding recommendations.

With primary care and mental health residency programs being prioritized over other applications, accreditor-approved GME programs or sponsoring institutions in Nevada are encouraged to respond to the RFA. The applications will be scored based on program feasibility and sustainability as well as potential impact.

The Task Force will score the applications and recommend to the Governor which should be funded on or before June 1, 2016. A similar process will be followed for FY2017 funding.

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Nevada Recognized for Excellence in Economic Development

On February 26, in Nashville, Tennessee, the world’s leading site selectors gathered to discuss the upcoming trends in site location and to award the annual Excellence in Economic Development Award to deserving individuals and economic development agencies that stood out from the pack in 2015.

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development was one of four to receive this prestigious award, and Nevada was the only state to receive an award this year. Other deserving recipients included two economic development professionals and CzechInvest.

Nevada’s award was based on the nominations of three consultants for three different economic development projects: Barclaycard, eBay, and Faraday Future.

This is the first time that three different consultants have nominated one agency for three different projects. The criterion used to award candidates from Economic Development Organizations includes mastery of process; ingenuity and creativity; going above and beyond; political acumen; staying power; and personal and caring touch.

Manufacturing Industry Specialist Mike Skaggs collects Nevada’s Excellence in Economic Development Award in Nashville

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Nevada’s economic development efforts are centered around retaining, expanding, and attracting primary companies to the state, growing the supply chain for our key industries, attracting companies that pay above the state average wage, and strategically focusing on regional comparative advantages.

Understanding that workforce is often the number one strategic location driver behind company relocation or expansion decisions makes workforce development a high-priority for economic development. It is important to have a ready, trained workforce for companies, and it is important to allow Nevadans the opportunity to get these great jobs.

To make sure that economic development and workforce development are aligned, GOED’s Research Director has developed a method to analyze a number of different data sets to determine a “consensus” priority rank of high-demand occupations.

This method combines information from the following five information resources:

• Target Sector High Priority Occupation Analysis – high-demand occupations in target sectors

• Incentive Contracts – occupations companies recruited to, or expanding in, the state will employ

• Sector Council Surveys – results from Nevada’s Office of Career Readiness occupation training needs

• Burning Glass Technologies – information from DETR’s real-time, on-line job posting data, which speaks to staffing companies about the specific information they are seeking

• DETR Occupational Employment Projections – data from DETR’s Research and Analysis Division forecasting all occupations in the state

By combining the information from these five data sources, a consensus ranking of high-demand occupations is obtained. This approach serves to create a systematic and balanced approach that addresses bias inherent to any one data set. For example, just using the target sector approach would yield workforce demand patterns that align with economic development priorities, but would downplay non-primary industries such as retail and construction. Alternatively, just using forecasted occupation projections based on existing industry growth patterns would not support initiatives to diversify Nevada’s economy.

Overall, there are 90 occupation groups included in the analysis. The top 12 are listed in the following chart. The full report can be found at: http://www.diversifynevada.com/uploads/reports/Using_Data_and_Information_to_Align_Economic_and_Workforce_Development.pdf

This work is just a first step and warrants further scrutiny. For example, each data set is equally weighted. Perhaps with future research and input, the data sets will be weighted differently to arrive at even less-biased consensus rankings. Considering the unique regional characteristics and, therefore, performing high-demand occupational analysis for southern, northern, and rural Nevada would be one of the near-term priority next steps.

GOED Using Data to Help Align EconomicDevelopment and Workforce Development

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Business Operations Specialists

14 1 7 6 17 1

Health Diagnosing & Treating Practitioners

4 22 9 1 19 2

Computer Occupations 12 6 8 2 27 2

Other Installation, Maintenance and Repair

Occupations9 8 18 14 12 4

Other Management Occupations

35 12 1 4 13 5

Information & Record Clerks

31 4 20 8 7 6

Other Production Occupations

3 3 15 33 31 7

Health Technologists & Technicians

11 18 19 16 25 8

Engineers 2 7 3 36 46 9

Top Executives 13 15 24 23 20 10

Financial Specialists 23 26 22 11 23 11

Construction Trades Workers

8 39 29 43 3 12

Nevada’s Economic Development Sectors

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www.diversifynevada.com | 702.486.2700

1.800.336.1600success@diversifynevada.com

808 West Nye Lane, Carson City, NV 89703 555 E. Washington Avenue, Suite 5400, Las Vegas, NV 89101

Governor Brian Sandoval, Chairman

Lieutenant Governor Mark Hutchison

Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske

Mr. Benjamin Yerushalmi, Owner, The Jewelers of Nevada

Mr. Daniel Klaich, Chancellor, Nevada System of Higher Education

Mr. Don Soderberg, Director, Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation

Ms. Kathleen Drakulich, Attorney at Law, McDonald Carano Wilson

Mr. James Barrett, President, The JABarrett Company

Mr. Rob Roy, CEO/Founder, Switch Communication

Mr. Sam Routson, Chief Administrative Officer, Winnemucca Farms

Mr. Weldon (Don) Havins, MD, JD, Professor and Director of Medical Jurisprudence and Ophthalmology, Touro University Nevada

Board Members

News

Nevada’s jobless rate falls below 6 percent

For the first time since 2008, Nevada’s jobless rate in February came in at 5.9 percent. Governor Sandoval said he was extremely encourage by this news

Upcoming eventsUpcoming events

GOED BOARD MEETING

May 19 @ 1pm

Grant Sawyer Building, Las Vegas

Guinn Room, Nevada Capitol Building, Carson City

SNTIC MEETING

April 28May 26June 23July 28

UNLV Foundation Building, Blasco Wing

8am

For more information, http://www.reviewjournal.com/business/economy/nevada-jobless-rate-under-6-percent-first-time-2008