Entrepreneur’s success mirrors rise in Nevada’s small-business employment

Small-business owners like John Pinnington are steadily lifting Nevada’s economy.

Since opening his printing shop in 2011 at 4800 S. Maryland Parkway, Pinnington, 48, has gone from employing just himself to overseeing six employees. Pinnington said he has plans to hire another front desk clerk and a graphic design intern.

“We’re growing slowly,” Pinnington said.

The incremental growth of AA Printing Service is part of a larger trend among small businesses.

In April, the state Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation reported a record high employment among companies with less than 100 workers in the third quarter of 2015, past pre-recession levels.

For the fourth quarter of 2015, that trend continued, the employment department announced this month.

After a fourth-quarter gain of 19,000 jobs, small-business employment stood at a record-high total of 596,000 jobs in 2015. In the fourth quarter of 2007, small-business employment peaked at just over 585,000 jobs before falling to 510,000 amid the economic downturn, the employment department reported.

Bill Anderson, chief economist for the employment department said, “as we look across the board at all of the various labor market indicators, were seeing signs of improvement.”

Economists specifically track Nevada’s small businesses because they make up a large slice of the state’s employment base.

“I would argue that small business is very important in terms of determining the overall health of the economy,” said Anderson.

Over the last 20 quarters, there have been consecutive year-over-year small-business employment gains, according to the employment department.

Small business represents 98 percent of the state’s 77,000 private sector establishments, according to Anderson.

The Belize-born, England-raised Pinnington had stints as a bodyguard for Los Angeles celebrities and at the Playboy Mansion before moving to Las Vegas in 2001.

After working in security and as a bodyguard in Las Vegas, Pinnington decided to leave that work and focus on a business.

Pinnington’s inspiration for opening his same-day printing shop came in 2010 when he was trying to sell a coffee product. Pinnington was planning to promote the product and needed cards printed for a networking event the next day.

“Everyone kept telling me four to five days (for printing),” said Pinnington, who turned that frustration into a business niche.

“At that time there weren’t that many companies offering same day printing,” said Pinnington.

Pinnington had never been in the printing business and learned as he went along, he said.

When a potential customer asked if he could print “4 X 6,” he said yes — then went and Googled it.

Opening a business in 2011 was a major struggle.

Pinnington said he lost his house and other properties that he owned.

On the day of his grand opening, Pinnington had no water or power to wash his clothes so he bought a shirt at Ross Dress for Less and wore it under a jacket so people wouldn’t notice it was wrinkled.

The Silver State has a distinct entrepreneurial spirit, added Pinnington.

“I do believe small business helps this state grow,” he said. “Everywhere you go, everybody is trying to do something.“

Contact Alexander S. Corey at acorey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0270. Find @acoreynews on Twitter.