Faraday’s groundbreaking marks a new era for North Las Vegas

By John Lee

Monday, April 18, 2016 | 2 a.m.

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to welcome government and business leaders to beautiful North Las Vegas for an important groundbreaking at Apex Industrial Park. It marked the onset of an exciting time in the history of Nevada and North Las Vegas.

This was, in fact, a two-act affair. Using beautiful shovels etched with the distinctive logo of electric-car company Faraday Future, we shoveled and lifted off the desert floor crusty dry dirt to signal the start of construction for the company’s state-of-the-art manufacturing plant. And we announce to the world that the sprawling Apex Industrial Park is now truly open for business.

When I was elected mayor, I inherited a city in crisis with a revenue problem best solved by adding more businesses to the tax rolls. Three years ago our team set out a simple plan: find a business wanting to locate at Apex to induce the installation of the utility infrastructure needed to open all 18,000 vacant acres for new business enterprises. Faraday Future’s decision to locate in Apex was the catalyst we needed to jump-start the entire area for jobs-creating development.

I want to thank Gov. Brian Sandoval and our Legislature for their vision in putting together an innovative economic development package. The legislation allows the state to bond for critical infrastructure to be built and then requires the businesses and enterprises locating in Apex to repay those bonds.

One very important guest at the event was my good friend Simon Pang. When we were scouring the world looking for a business to come to North Las Vegas, Simon told me about Faraday. Nobody in Nevada had heard of Faraday until Simon introduced me to them, and our city and state are forever indebted to him.

I also want to recognize my colleagues on the city council who took the bold steps to implement an audacious economic development plan that is changing our city and lifting our entire region! When some counted our community down and out, our friends at Brookings Mountain West gathered the data and made the case that we would be able to create robust economic development opportunities. After only three short years we are entering a season in which we can see the fruits of our hard work. These results are the testament of our efforts and a witness of our purpose.

We are a proud, hardworking, scrappy city determined to succeed. I believe our struggle to overcome and our fight to succeed will be an important chapter in the history of our Battle Born state.

A few weeks ago I sat down with scholars who flew to town to try to figure out how North Las Vegas was able to so quickly reverse its fortune. The answer is simple: our people! I want to thank our city manager, Dr. Qiong Liu, for putting together an incredible team of leaders who are guiding our city.

These determined, focused and talented people are turning our town around. Finance Director Darren Adair’s expertise and City Attorney Sandra Douglas-Morgan’s counsel have been critical to our success, while Gina Gavin, our director of economic and business development, has worked to hold everything and everyone together. Assistant City Manager Ryann Juden provided the road map to make today a reality and Dr. Liu’s tireless dedication and fearless leadership sealed the deal.

North Las Vegas is now attracting incredible intelligence to our community. Last month, Hyperloop Technologies started construction in Apex on its open-air testing facility for innovative transportation platforms. This month, a genius, a friend and fellow North Las Vegas space entrepreneur Bob Bigelow saw his cutting-edge inflatable space habitat be launched into space. And then on Wednesday, we broke ground on Faraday’s $1 billion high-tech-manufacturing facility that will create thousands of jobs for Nevadans and be a catalyst in bringing necessary infrastructure to our desert so other big businesses can locate here.

The other day I was asked if our city’s successes are making the job of being mayor easier. I just grinned and said, “Can you believe, a space habitat made in North Las Vegas was just connected to the International Space Station?” North Las Vegas is transforming into a global leader in emerging high-tech companies rewriting the traditional forms of transportation and forever changing the landscape of our region. I know one thing for sure: we are making it a banner year for businesses that sell little gold shovels and oversized scissors!

After more than a decade and a half of people trying to bring development to Apex, our piece of the desert now gets its oasis. Wednesday’s groundbreaking for Faraday’s future serves as a ribbon cutting for the future of North Las Vegas.

Former Nevada Assemblyman and state Sen. John Lee was elected mayor of North Las Vegas in 2013.