Programmer/analyst Michael Fields with Advanced Information Systems works to develop a custom solution for a local company. The company, which develops software for the financial, insurance and medical fields, plans to add five to 10 workers in the next six months. Photos by John Gurzinski. George Diab, a senior systems analyst with Advanced Information Systems, works to develop a custom software program for a local company.

Scott Barclay has big plans for his small business.

Barclay, managing partner of Main Advantage Technology Services in Las Vegas, said he wants to add four to five employees to the eight workers already on staff at the information-technology business. He'll use the added people to provide network-support services for law firms, accountants, architects and other professional businesses.

Mike Yoder, chief operating officer of Advanced Information Systems in Las Vegas, also intends to grow his technology business. The company, which develops custom software for the financial, insurance and medical fields, has 15 employees; Yoder said he will add five to 10 workers in the next six months due to "increased demand for our services."

The hiring surge at both companies is part of an employment boom that local employment agencies say reflects an evolving local high-tech sector -- one that increasingly attracts experienced tech workers from other cities.

Allen Plunkett, president of Phoenix Staff in Las Vegas, said his company placed 100 percent more workers in tech positions in July when compared with the same month a year ago. Especially in demand are workers in Web-site development, database creation, disaster recovery and security, Plunkett said.

And Jennifer Ott, branch manager of staffing agency Eastridge Infotech, said wages among the company's clients are up 20 percent on average compared with a year ago.

"The market has definitely tightened," Ott said. "We've literally run out of candidates in Las Vegas, and we're bringing people in from out of state. We're seeing a very qualified labor market that is now willing to leave other major tech markets, such as the (San Francisco) Bay area, and come here."

Ott said Colorado, Utah and New York are also key feeder states for Southern Nevada's tech businesses. Plunkett added Boston and the Midwest to the list of places losing tech labor to Las Vegas.

Barclay said about a third of the applicants who have sent him r sum s live outside Nevada, mostly in California and Utah, but also in far-flung places such as the Caribbean. Yoder said he increasingly fields inquiries from workers in California.

Industry watchers reeled off a list of things that are drawing tech professionals to Southern Nevada. For starters, local real estate is still relatively affordable compared with property in California and New York. Plus, the bonanza of media attention the area has received in recent years -- from Vegas-centric crime dramas to locally based reality shows -- has glamorized the city among young workers. And as the economy has diversified and suburbia has expanded, "people see that this city offers more of a family environment," Ott said.

"The perception of Las Vegas has really improved, and people are more comfortable accepting positions here if they think their family could be supported by a solid job market for spouses and schools for their children," Ott said.

The hiring trend marks something of a resurgence for the industry, Plunkett said. Five years ago, the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock exchange foundered, dropping from 5,048 in March 2000 to 800 two years later. Local dot-coms such as Webvan, PurchasePro.com and Realcentric.com shuttered their doors after blowing through millions of dollars in startup capital. And tech workers were laid off en masse locally and nationwide.

Many of those workers went back to college to study business and "gain a better understanding of the operational side of organizations," Plunkett said.

"They have used their tech skills along with their business skills to better their position as they go back into the work force, and they have essentially raised the bar in the Southwest for tech companies," Plunkett said.

At the same time, sustained economic growth in Las Vegas has lifted demand for tech services.

"Activity is picking up again. It's not quite at that dot-com boom activity, but it's a major increase," said Yoder, of Advanced Information Systems.

"Companies around town are starting to budget for tech projects again, so they're outsourcing projects to companies like ours."

Big local corporations are also spurring a demand for labor by adding to their in-house tech staff in greater numbers.

Tim Stanley, senior vice president and chief information officer of Harrah's Entertainment, said the company has about 250 full-time tech workers in Las Vegas, developing improvements to the company's Total Rewards club, running data centers and integrating tech functions of newly acquired properties, among other tasks.

Stanley said he expects consistent growth of 5 percent to 10 percent a year in the tech job base at Harrah's. He noted an "uptick in the amount of local (tech) talent," but like other area business managers, Stanley said he must often look outside the market to find enough workers.

The hiring hotbeds at Harrah's: Southern California, Phoenix, Dallas, New Jersey and New York.

The growing economy hasn't just created expansion among companies within the local market; it's also drawn attention from business owners outside Nevada who are looking for an affordable and constantly expanding labor pool.

"A lot of companies are sitting up and taking notice of Las Vegas. They're looking at the benefits of having either offices or allowing people to work remotely from this area," Plunkett said.

"People are seeing an upswing in (the tech sector), as well as the collaboration taking place here, and they're getting a sense that this is a hotbed of high-tech activity."

Plunkett -- who said he's having trouble finding even tech recruiters to help place industry workers -- noted that tech employment hasn't returned to its late '90s, pre-crash levels, because business owners are more cautious about their hiring today. That will make for a healthier sector in the long run, he said.

"Individuals basically got through a very shallow interview process (in the late '90s)," Plunkett said. "What you're seeing today with regards to tech hiring is that companies are looking at it much more strategically than ever. They're really looking at where they want to take the company and allocating resources to get it done. There's no more hurrying, and there are no more dead-end projects."

Economic projections show businesses statewide will continue to add significant numbers of jobs in the next few years. Numbers from the state's Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation predict a 43 percent increase through 2012 in jobs in the computer-systems design field. Employment among Internet service providers and Web search portals will expand more than 60 percent, while software publishers will grow their job base by 35.5 percent.

Those jobs will likely pay well, Ott said: The vast majority of the tech positions she places pay more than $50,000 a year, and local software developers can make more than $100,000 annually.

Plunkett said the Las Vegas economy will benefit from the more refined hiring tactics of high-tech companies.

"Companies are paying more attention to the individuals they're hiring, the hiring process is taking longer and they're screening more intensively," Plunkett said.

"So the overall health of the technology sector in Las Vegas will get better as a natural function of that caution."