Infrastructure is key to a vibrant future in Las Vegas

By Jim Murren

Sunday, Aug. 23, 2015 | 2 a.m.

As he does every August, Brian Greenspun is taking some time off and is turning over his Where I Stand column to others. Today’s guest columnist is Jim Murren, chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International.

Summer means some vacation time for many of us, including Brian Greenspun. I appreciate this opportunity to take up his pen and share some thoughts about our community.

While it is common for summer to be a slower time in the business cycle, that has not been the case at MGM Resorts, and many other parts of our economy and community. Before we know it, 2016 will be here and with it new and exciting additions to our community.

In April we will open the 20,000-seat Las Vegas Arena and adjacent Park. Recently, we announced plans for a 5,000-seat theater at Monte Carlo to allow residency performances, along with a number of ongoing major events that collectively draw millions of visitors to Las Vegas.

There is a lot happening, and MGM Resorts and our 50,000 Las Vegas employees are pleased to be at the center of much of it.

The Las Vegas economy is performing well. Jobs and visitation are up. The average age of visitors is 45 years old today compared with 54 a decade ago, evidence that Las Vegas continues to be an engaging, exciting destination. More international travelers also are finding their way to our resorts.

Las Vegas is a city of continuous evolution. That character of resilience and forward-thinking adaptability keeps us on the forefront of national and international hospitality, entertainment and travel.

But to sustain Las Vegas as a magnet for leisure and business travel, we must focus on the key infrastructure that enables us to provide a vibrant resort community. While resorts and entertainment venues and once-in-a-lifetime experiences attract the spotlight, it is critical that we maintain a supporting cast of less glamorous but equally important elements.

We must be able to deliver clean water, efficient airports and effective public transportation. This is a job that takes leadership and the participation of an entire community. We applaud Gov. Brian Sandoval for seeing this need and appointing a commission to help find solutions. I’ll note that I serve on the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, which advises the president on infrastructure security. Our roads, bridges and other infrastructure are aging and inadequate. We recently saw travel thwarted one weekend by the fire on Interstate 15 at Cajon Pass and the collapse of an Interstate 10 bridge in Southern California.

In the air as on the ground, there are challenges. Rep. Dina Titus hosted an aviation summit this summer to highlight needs including the NextGen FAA air traffic control system to replace the current antiquated system. Speaking of travel, I certainly support Open Skies, an international policy aimed at ensuring the ongoing vitality of a competitive international air travel system, a component critical to the Las Vegas economy.

MGM Resorts has hosted dozens of events in 2015. We’ll fill 7 million seats this year for concerts, shows and sporting events at our arenas, theaters, showrooms and festival lots. The Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight brought 300,000 visitors to town, and hundreds of thousands more came for Rock in Rio. Then, too, there were Professional Bull Riders Cowboy Spring Break, NBA Summer League, music award shows and concerts. Yes, Las Vegas knows how to host events.

Beyond sporting and music events, we host 6,500 meetings, conferences and conventions in our more than 3 million square feet of convention space. MGM’s Las Vegas resorts, including MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Aria and Bellagio, offer more meeting space than can be found in, for example, New York City.

None of this would be possible without another form of infrastructure: the human kind.

Las Vegas is fortunate to have hardworking, smart and dedicated public servants. With the leadership of the Clark County Commission, state and municipal leaders, Metro Police, the Clark County Fire Department, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, McCarran International Airport and federal law enforcement agencies, Las Vegas can claim space on the world stage.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and its president, Rossi Ralenkotter, are showing leadership as they strengthen the infrastructure of our citywide convention business with the creation of the Las Vegas Convention Center District. It further establishes Las Vegas as a place where the world comes to do business.

As residents of Las Vegas and Nevada, we still have much work to do to ensure our community sustains its quality of life. Education and health care still require our attention. Our desert environment challenges us to be ever-vigilant regarding our precious natural resources. In this area, Gov. Sandoval also has demonstrated his leadership by convening the Nevada Drought Forum to recommend policies for the state.

Further diversification of our economy is also important in making Southern Nevada a great place to live and raise a family. Again, we will address these important issues together.

Finally, as a company, MGM Resorts is always reflecting on how best to deliver a superior guest experience, to be an employer of choice and to serve as a good corporate citizen. We will be an organization that continuously becomes better in all areas of our business. We are working companywide to become more productive, efficient and effective in delivering the supreme guest experience that keeps bringing customers back. Our overall goal is the same as that of our business neighbors, our community leaders and the broader business community: to build a stronger community, to attract more visitors to Las Vegas and to provide opportunities for all.

That’s where I stand.