Non-Traditional Child Care Comes to Las Vegas
Children’s Choice Learning Centers, Inc., the nation’s only company offering exclusively non-traditional child care services, opened the first round-the-clock child care center for a casino company in June of this year. Located next to Station Casinos’ Texas Station Gambling Hall & Hotel, the center offers child-care programs for children six weeks to 12 years of age. New Children’s Choice child care centers opening this fall at Palace Station, Boulder Station and Sunset Station will make Station Casinos the largest provider of employer child care services in the gaming industry. Children’s Choice Learning Centers feature educational programs with a licensed capacity of 300 children per shift, and operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to accommodate casino workers’ schedules. They also offer Sniffles & Snuggles® Centers for mildly ill children and a supervised sleeping room for children of parents who work evening shifts.
Las Vegas Hilton To Be Sold to Developer of STAPLES Center
Park Place Entertainment has entered into an agreement to sell the Las Vegas Hilton to Ed Roski, Jr. for an estimated $365 million. The transaction is expected to be completed by year end and is subject to regulatory approval. No shutdown of the property is planned and employees can expect continuity of their positions at the casino, according to Park Place management. Arthur Goldberg, President and CEO of Park Place Entertainment, says the company plans to use the proceeds to pay down debt and repurchase common stock. Roski is president and CEO of Majestic Realty Co., one of the largest privately-held real estate companies in the country. He developed the STAPLES Center in downtown Los Angeles and is a co-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and the L.A. Kings hockey team. Roski currently owns the Silverton Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and his companies have built more than three million square feet of property in Southern Nevada.
Homestake Increases Ownership of Round Mountain Mine
Homestake Mining Company recently purchased a 25% interest in the Round Mountain gold mine from Case Pomeroy & Company, Inc. for the sum of $42.9 million. The acquisition increases Homestake’s ownership in the mine from 25% to 50%. The Round Mountain mine, located 60 miles north of Tonopah, will now be Homestake’s largest U.S.-based contributor of gold. In 1999, Round Mountain produced a record 541,808 ounces of gold at an average cost of $198 per ounce, the lowest in the last five years. Since the mine commenced operations in 1977, it has produced over six million ounces of gold.
Home Based Businesses Get Boost
A new group backed by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce is supporting the growing numbers of Nevadans involved in home-based businesses. The Home-Based Business Alliance of Southern Nevada will provide information, resources and networking opportunities for entrepreneurs working out of their homes. On September 8, the Alliance is sponsoring a half-day educational seminar covering two main topics: business licensing and regulations, and marketing/advertising. A $15 fee will be charged for each session, or $25 for both. For details, contact Jamie Murray at the Las Vegas Chamber at 702-641-5822.
Mikohn Wins Aladdin Contracts
Mikohn Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas has received contracts totaling more than $6.5 million to design, manufacture and install a series of interior and exterior displays in the new Aladdin Resort opening on the Las Vegas Strip in August. More than 300 interior visual displays will be featured in the Aladdin’s casino and in other sections of the 2,567-room complex. At the same time, the Mikohn Lighting & Sign Division is developing and installing three screens of leading edge MikohnVision™ LED spectaculars for the resort’s “1001 Arabian Nights” outside façade.
1,000 Corporate Names Reserved Online
Secretary of State Dean Heller has announced that 1,000 corporate names have been reserved online at the Secretary of State’s web site. Corporate name reservation is generally the first step in the incorporation process, allowing a name to be reserved for 90 days while organizational documents are prepared. “The sheer volume of online corporate name reservations filed in this office illustrates what e-commerce can do for both business and government,” said Heller. “To have this technology in place in the Secretary of State’s office further enhances Nevada’s business-friendly climate.”
Nevada Businesses Help Local Charities
The fifth annual Links for Life Tournament, created by Colliers International, raised nearly $70,000 for Child Haven, which provides temporary housing and treatment for abused, neglected and abandoned children in Clark County.
Insight Holdings, LLC, a Las Vegas-based real estate operating company, recently donated $20,000 to the Las Vegas Art Museum. The donation will be used to develop the museum’s Sculpture Garden and provide funding for future projects and expansion.
The City of Las Vegas was recently awarded a $50,000 grant from Albertson’s Food Stores. The “Best Neighbor Policy Initiative Grant” will be used to create a nutrition center for local senior citizens.
Cashman Cadillac and Cadillac West of Las Vegas have donated $7,125 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada to grant the wishes of children who suffer from life-threatening illnesses.
The Thunderbird Lodge Preservation Society has received a $1.75 million contribution from the American Land Conservancy and Del Webb Corporation. Each entity contributed $875,000 to the not-for-profit society which manages the lodge and its grounds on the east shore of Lake Tahoe.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Police Athletic League Summer 2000 Program will be able to provide leadership training for at-risk youth thanks to a $15,000 grant from Station Casinos.
Laughlin Associates Opens Financial Services Office
Laughlin Associates, Inc., a corporation services company operating in Carson City since 1972, recently opened Laughlin Financial Services at 2522 N. Carson Street. The new company offers financial strategies including retirement planning, business continuation, employee benefits and a full range of insurance products.
Shark Reef Opens at Mandalay Bay
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip recently opened a new entertainment attraction called Shark Reef, a “total sensory experience” designed to transport visitors to an undersea world featuring dangerous and unusual aquatic animals and fish from the world’s tropical waters. Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay was developed in consultation with the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre of Vancouver, Canada, which will provide on-site management of the attraction’s operations. Klai::Juba Architects of Las Vegas anchored an international team of experts involved in developing the project.
Commscope Opens Distribution Center in Sparks
Commscope, Inc., a leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance, broadband communications cables, will open a full-service cable distribution center this month in Sparks. The new 225,000 square foot distribution facility at 1135 Southern Way will initially employ approximately 50 people. The Sparks facility will eventually offer a full-service distribution center, sales, customer service and Cell Reach field engineering, as well as manufacturing facilities for Cable-in-Conduit. Brian Garrett, Commscope’s President and CEO, said, “We selected the Sparks location because of its strategic location to serve all our customers in the Western United States.” Commscope, based in North Carolina, is the world’s largest manufacturer of broadband coaxial cable for Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC) applications and a leading supplier of coaxial, fiber optic and twisted pair cables for wireless, network and other communications applications.
