North Las Vegas economic development head gets to work

North Las Vegas has been full of announcements these days.

Now the city is getting to work.

The woman tasked with brokering the economic development deals that could make or break the cash-strapped city started this week .

Gina Gavan, who has been a consultant for the Fremont East Entertainment District, HELP of Southern Nevada and the Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain will lead a team of five people as the city’s director of economic development.

Gavan’s hiring comes on the heels of the promotion of Qiong Liu to city manager and Mayor John Lee’s pitch to develop the vacant land at Apex Industrial Park by taking advantage of the tax tools born out of special session legislation to bring electric car maker Tesla’s gigafactory to northern Nevada.

Liu, who hired Gavan, said she was impressed with Gavan’s experience collaborating with different interest groups, particularly in her role as the consultant for the board of directors for Fremont East.

Gavan, 45, worked with Fremont East from 2011 to 2013, a time period she described as exciting because the area was in the process of going from “blighted to bling.”

Mike Nolan, President of Fremont East and Chief Operating Officer and General Manager of the El Cortez, described her as “always a fresh smiling face, good with followup and working with different people.”

Nolan said he expected her experience collaborating with the different priorities of board members would translate to negotiating with industry interests and council members.

As for taking on a city with an arguable image problem?

“She can find the positive in anything,” he said.

The achievement Gavan is most proud of is her 5-year endeavor Project Dinner Table, a limited liability company that aimed to bolster community engagement through seasonal fund-raising dinners for nonprofits. According to Gavan’s resume, the dinners raised nearly $100,000.

Gavan’s ties throughout the Las Vegas Valley will be an asset, Liu said.

Gavan has served on the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition Committee on Homelessness, and in June she was inducted into the Leadership Las Vegas Hall of Fame, a development program run by the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce. She also created “Reading Rocks,” a literacy program for the Clark County School District.

Apex is a pressing priority for the city which will put Gavan’s skills to the test immediately, Liu said.

Last month, Lee unveiled efforts to create a tax incentive district within the roughly 20,000-acre industrial park as a way of eliminating the chicken or the egg issue that has stagnated development. Lee sees the tax breaks as a way to lure in business, allowing the city to find a way to finance the $150 million needed to fully develop the land. Lee has said the city is in talks with three undisclosed businesses.

Lee has said leveraging Apex is the only way he can dig the city out of a financial hole. North Las Vegas has an anticipated $152.5 million long-term deficit. It’s an economic outlook so bleak the city seriously contemplated receivership, the Nevada’s untested alternative to municipal bankruptcy.

Liu said there is a sense of urgency to work hard on a plan for Apex before the Legislature is back in session in February, as the law was designed quickly for Tesla and its possible the Legislature could decide to make changes.

Gov. Brian Sandoval has praised the city’s use of the new law, saying in a prepared statement, “I am pleased the state was able to play a role in this decision by allowing local governments to create tax incentive districts that fit the needs of their changing cities.”

Gavan has a liberal arts degree from Indiana University. Her salary is $122,500.

Contact Bethany Barnes at bbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @betsbarnes on Twitter.