Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

editorial:

Thanks to everyone, Faraday is bringing jobs and credibility

The Legislature will gather this week for a special — a very special — session to sign off on a most remarkable development in the state’s quest for a diversified economy.

North Las Vegas is about to become home to a billion-dollar assembly line producing electric cars. Seriously, who would have thunk? This speaks volumes about Nevada’s success in positioning itself in the automotive/technology niche, of Southern Nevada’s bulked-up infrastructure including a top-flight airport, railroad lines and interstate highway connections, and of North Las Vegas’ impressive turnaround, having shed its once-blemished reputation for financial dysfunction to show it clearly means business.

The proposal needs lawmakers’ approval, but that won’t be an issue. Gov. Brian Sandoval says he doesn’t know any legislator who will vote in opposition, because there is no reason to oppose it, no matter what part of the state you come from.

The Legislature will be asked to extend $215 million in financial incentives to get Chinese tech billionaire Jia Yueting to launch his new company, Faraday Future, at the Apex industrial zone on the outskirts of North Las Vegas.

Talk about return on investment. Here is what we’ll get back, according to the specs on the table:

The company says it will employ 4,500 on-site workers — with priority going to Nevadans — with an average wage of more than $22 an hour and with full benefits. The manufacturing venture will trigger an additional 9,000 indirect jobs, in part by triggering a supply chain of automotive-related businesses. And the company will donate $1 million a year for six years to the Clark County School District.

In the long view, the project will generate $55 billion over 20 years in direct economic impact and an additional $30 billion over 20 years in indirect impact — business and retail revenue, payroll and other financial benefits that wouldn’t otherwise have been generated.

Faraday Future is expected to generate, over 20 years, $230 million in new money for the state, $270 million for local governments and $260 million for K-12 education.

All this for a $215 million buy-in by the state, mostly in the form of various tax breaks. In addition, the state will invest about $120 million in three infrastructure projects — highway and railway improvements around the site and assurances of a municipal water infrastructure system, which North Las Vegas’ municipal water system would logically be tied into. Those improvements will make Apex all the more attractive for other businesses as well.

Construction at the site is expected to begin with earth-moving in the first week of January. And what will follow will be more than just an assembly line. Development officials say that with Faraday Future’s enlightened choice of Southern Nevada as the best place, logistically, for a major manufacturer to build a factory, other companies are seriously exploring Southern Nevada as a place to plant a stake.

That North Las Vegas and Nevada have pulled this off is a combination of serendipity, perseverance, tenacity and skilled negotiations. The effort started as the ink was still drying 15 months ago on the state’s deal to seduce Tesla Motor Co. with $1.2 billion in tax benefits to build its $5 billion battery factory outside Reno. With that legislation as a model, a scaled-down version was crafted that would apply to North Las Vegas’ campaign to land Faraday Future — a deal that actually brings more benefits to Nevada, proportional to the Tesla deal.

Meanwhile, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee was taking it mostly upon himself, with key assistance from his staff, to find a company to locate in the city. He came upon Faraday Future, which already had begun scouting the United States for a plant site but had paid scant attention to Nevada. Lee and his staff persuaded them to take a hard look here, what with our international airport and proximity to the seaport at Los Angeles.

When the discussion turned to what enticements the state could offer, Gov. Brian Sandoval and his economic development chief, Steve Hill, took over. Together, the two sides crafted a deal that leaves no room for criticism from even the harshest observers.

That brings us to this week's special session. We’re not here to implore legislators to sign off on this; we’d be stunned if even one person balked. Instead, we are applauding everyone involved — Lee and his staff, Sandoval and his people, even the deep-diving data maniacs at Brookings Mountain West who crunched the numbers that encouraged North Las Vegas to pursue the project.

So it wasn’t hyperbole when Sandoval remarked this past week: “To the taxpayers of Nevada, I offer my commitment: This is a good deal for us. It had to be. This is a new era for Nevada. We are standing tall. With each passing week, our economy not only improves, but evolves into something new and unique.”

Congratulations, all.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy