Nevada Bets $1.3 Billion on Tesla to Push Beyond Gambling
By James Nash Sep 10, 2014 6:43 AM ET
Nevada casinos, the state’s largest industry, took in $11.2 billion in the year that ended in July. Now lawmakers must decide whether to wager as much as $1.3 billion on a project that could help wean the state from its reliance on slot machines and roulette wheels.
Lawmakers are to begin meeting in a special session today to consider tax write-offs for Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) to build the world’s largest lithium-ion battery plant near Reno. The incentives could be worth $700 million to $1.3 billion over 20 years, depending on how much Tesla spends on the so-called gigafactory, according to state documents.
Manufacturing accounted for 4.1 percent of Nevada’s total output in 2013, compared with 12.5 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product. With 6,500 jobs, Tesla would bring $101.6 billion in economic activity to Nevada over 20 years, the state demographer said in a report. That compares with a gross state product of $132 billion last year.
“This changes the perception of Nevada from just being tourism and real estate,” said Robert Lang, who teaches urban affairs at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. “Nevada has been making a disciplined effort to pursue this plant.”
The effort culminated on the steps of the statehouse Sept. 4, when Governor Brian Sandoval and Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said they’d struck a deal to bring the 5 million-square-foot (465,000-square-meter) factory to a business park east of Reno.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-10/nevada-bets-1-3-billion-on-tesla-to-push-beyond-gambling.html
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