Longtime Las Vegas attorney Joe Brown had to suspend his monthly networking luncheons because of the pandemic.
For more than a decade, Nevada’s elected, business, and community leaders had a platform to set forth their ideas on making it a better state.
Now that platform’s Facebook. Since its early April founding, Brown’s Restoration Nevada group has swelled to more than 1,000 members.
“We’ve had an incredible response of people who want to get involved and not just sit on their hands… but want to play a role in making sure we get back to work,” Brown told KNPR's State of Nevada.
They’ve heard from state leaders and have been asked for ideas on how to reboot the economy.
Tina Quigley, the former head of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, is assisting Brown in his effort and is compiling a list of suggestions that will be presented to the governor and other elected officials.
Among them: streamlining permitting processes and for government entities to buy more Nevada-made products.
“Let’s consider maybe having policies that would prioritize Nevada business," Quigley said, "Maybe have a ‘Buy Nevada’ policy where if we’ve got local businesses that can provide that type of service or manufacturing or whatever your business needs that somehow incentivizing the use of Nevada first.”
Quigley said they've also heard suggestions of training small business owners to move their business online or how to change from a cash and coin business to electronic payments or how to improve safety.
“Teaching them how to really make sure they are operating a safe, clean, hygienic environment that customers and employees will feel safe in,” she said.
Beyond just new training opportunities, Quigley said small businesses will need some handholding during this time and a suggested solution is a business-to-business network to help owners connect and share best practices.
Brown said the list of suggestions will be presented to policymakers.
“I’m sure think tanks and various professional people have been involved in assisting our leaders – governor and all – but nothing substitutes for the practical experience of people who have actually run companies and put people to work,” he said.
Joe Brown, attorney, Facebook group founder; Tina Quigley, chairwoman, Desert Research Institute Foundation