Shani Coleman, community and economic development director for Clark County, poses for a photo at the Clark County Government Center Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022.
Monday, March 7, 2022 | 2 a.m.
As Clark County leaders look to the future, economic development and diversification are key topics.
Shani Coleman, a Las Vegas native, is director of community and economic development for the county, a job she began in 2019.
Coleman worked in a similar role for the city of Las Vegas for part of her time there between 2007 and 2019. She also held other titles, such as chief lobbyist.
The Sun recently visited with the UNLV Boyd School of Law graduate, who worked in commercial real estate before moving to the public sector. She talked about her job, the health of the small business community and her vision for the area’s economy.
Part of your job is to help support small businesses in Clark County. What has it been like to hear some of the stories from small-business owners during the pandemic?
It’s been humbling. A lot of people were making it because the economy was strong, but they may not have had the skills to have a successful business.
There are people who were operating a business for 15 years, but now they’re in this position where they don’t know what to do. It just took this one thing to knock everything off kilter. One thing we realized is that businesses need technical support to understand some basic business fundamentals.
Some businesses, like some restaurants, were able to pivot and move to delivery or carryout. Others might not have been able to do that.
Some mom-and-pop businesses might not have had a website. We really want to support small businesses by building the capacity for resiliency.
What do we need more of to help bolster economic development in Clark County?
We need more (economic) diversity.
Clark County has always been very good in hospitality and tourism — that is the majority of our industry. But when things go bad, things get really bad for us because we rely so much on hospitality and tourism.
Hospitality and tourism depends on disposable income. If people don’t have that, they’re not coming here.
We really, really have to focus on diversifying our economy.
We’ve been having this conversation for a long time. We were having this conversation during the 2007-08 recession, but then gaming came back strong and people weren’t talking about it much anymore.
We need to increase our opportunities for advanced manufacturing and technology and innovation.
The gaming numbers in Nevada have been strong lately again — a record $13.4 billion in gambling revenues last year — so will we see history repeat itself?
We need to not let this go this time, even though our gaming numbers are reaching records. We’re still very focused on the work we still have to do.
We still have 40,000 to 45,000 people out of work in the gaming and hospitality economy. We need to make sure those people have an opportunity to have a great future.
How do you go about getting to that place where Clark County’s economy is more diverse?
You have to identify what the opportunities are. Manufacturing is a strong opportunity for us. We can reach out to businesses in the manufacturing sector who we know are looking to grow and expand, then we can share with them why Clark County is a great place for them. California has been kind of easy because they seem to be pushing their people our way. I’d say once or twice per week I get a call from a business in California looking to expand or concerned about what’s going on in California with regard to business.
We also look to Phoenix, Salt Lake City and, to a certain extent, Austin, Texas, as areas that we are competitive with.
What does Clark County have that some of these other cities and areas don’t have?
One big thing is access. It’s easy to get on the phone with a county commissioner or with the governor’s office. Our elected officials are very accessible.
I believe it’s also easy to do business here. Then there’s the quality-of-life piece, which I think is very high. Look at our outdoor recreation. And for the most part, we still offer a relatively low cost of living.
I also look at UNLV, which I think has been undersold. There’s a lot of talent at UNLV. I think it’s an up-and-coming university, and we’re working to make sure people understand the opportunities there.
When you’re trying to recruit businesses, do you find that there’s still an old and stereotypical view about Las Vegas being just a place that has a lot of casinos?
There are people who still think like that. One of the big things with how we’re moving forward is marketing and public relations.
With our team, we have a slogan where we say that Clark County is bright beyond the lights. We want to talk about all of the opportunities here beyond the Strip.
We do have great amenities, great restaurants and great shopping, but we don’t have the drama of an L.A. or a New York City. We can sell that story to people.
You’ve worked at the city of Las Vegas and now with Clark County. How have these two areas changed in recent years?
The city was always the more urban area. As the area has grown, there are pockets of Clark County that have matured and become more urban. I’m talking about areas like what we have around the Boulevard mall. What do we do with those areas?
One thing we did last summer was to reestablish our redevelopment agency for exactly that purpose. We have areas that are no longer suburban — they are dense, urban areas that could improve from redevelopment or advanced transportation. We have to take care of what already exists and create opportunities there.
What does it mean to you to be a Black woman in your role at the county?
As far as I know, I’m the only African American in an economic development leadership position in Southern Nevada. For me, that’s very historic, because it allows you to put things in a different perspective.
You hear people talk a lot about diversity, equity and inclusion, but if you haven’t been in that space and haven’t experienced some of those realities, it’s hard to put that into perspective. In our strategic plan, we built equity in as a goal, so everything we do touches on equity. I’m proud to say that.
