Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Joe Downtown: Entrepreneur envisions dog-care facility at former burrito factory site

Dog park planned

Joe Schoenmann

A pedestrian walks past a former burrito factory near Eights and Fremont streets. Cathy Brooks, who recently moved to Las Vegas from the San Francisco area, wants to build a dog-care facility at the site.

Another person steeped in the use of the Internet to aid in business development is moving to Las Vegas.

But not necessarily to build on her Internet acumen.

Cathy Brooks wants to operate a dog-care facility, which Downtown Project is working on to place at the site of a defunct “burrito factory” and “soul food” drive-thru at Eighth and Fremont streets.

City approvals are still needed, but Brooks moved out here anyway, she said, driven by her passion as a dog behavioralist and her excitement about the development of downtown.

Brooks is the founder of Other Than That, a firm that helps companies and individuals become effective storytellers. She previously ran business development for Seesmic, worked with Guidewire Group, a global analyst firm, curated content for LeWeb and booked guests for TechTV.

She met Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh at a conference in May, stayed in Las Vegas 10 days this summer to explore the Downtown Project, then submitted a business plan to create a dog park/day care/boarding facility here.

Brooks was also a guest speaker at Tech Cocktail Week, a Downtown Project forum of speakers connecting startups and entrepreneurs.

The hope is that once the dog park is in, someone will level some buildings to build a park for humans near Fremont Street.

Joe Schoenmann doesn’t just cover downtown, he lives and works there. Schoenmann is Greenspun Media Group’s embedded downtown journalist, working from an office in the Emergency Arts complex.

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