Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, left, poses for a photo with Corey Jackson before visiting a Mexican bakery on West Charleston Boulevard Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.
Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Gov. Steve Sisolak walked into Panadería y Pastelería Latina on Tuesday evening and was greeted with the scents of freshly baked pastries and other traditional Latino sweet treats.
He was also greeted by owner Misael Romero, who shook the governor’s hand and was quick to show him the bakery’s kitchen, where in just a few hours Romero would return to make orejas, conchas, bigotes, empanadas and more.
“It smells like sugar in here,” Sisolak said.
Sisolak’s stop at the bakery was part of a larger effort last week, when he visited five Latino-owned small businesses to discuss his second-term priorities as well as give support to local entrepreneurs, his campaign said.
The trip also included visits at Salvadorian and Peruvian restaurants, as well as a Latin grocery store and a separate bakery. And with fewer than two weeks before the Nov. 8 midterm election, Sisolak said it’s important to see how business is faring for one of the fastest-growing sects of Nevada’s population.
“Small businesses are really important to us,” Sisolak said. “And to get out and see a lot of these are family owned, family run … it’s extremely important that they know that they’re supported and they are a part of this community.”
Sisolak’s Republican gubernatorial challenger Joe Lombardo and other critics claim the state’s “draconian” shutdown measures during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 were responsible for shuttering about 95,000 small businesses and stunting economic growth throughout the state. It’s one of the reasons Sisolak and Lombardo are in a closely contested race, according to multiple polls.
But when talking about how Sisolak managed the pandemic, rarely is it mentioned how the closures helped limit the spread of the virus in saving a countless number of lives. And also not mentioned is how Nevada is now enjoying one of the fastest pandemic recoveries of any state in the country.
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Strip resorts in September reported revenues of $693 million, an increase of 8% from the same month in 2021. Additionally, Las Vegas is on pace to attract just under 40 million visitors in 2022, which would be slightly less than the 42 million in 2019 before the shutdowns.
“We chose life over profit and saved a lot of lives through our policies,” Sisolak said last month in an interview with the Sun’s editorial board. “We always thought we had a resilient economy and a caring group of Nevadans. That proved itself true. The economy came back stronger than anybody thought it could.”
That’s the narrative for Panadería y Pastelería Latina, where Romero said business is booming.
“This time, the company is making a lot of money,” he said. “You see people who buy bread here every day.”
Even before Sisolak visited, Romero planned to vote for the Democrat, adding that he’s unsure if Lombardo’s tenure running Las Vegas Metro is enough experience to run the state.
Sisolak maintains his decision to close the Strip was made after some of its top resort operators agreed it was too risky to conduct business. Casinos were closed for 89 days before reopening with distance and capacity restrictions. The closures brought a state record jobless rate of nearly 30%.
Still, some of Nevada’s small-business community stands by Sisolak. He’s been endorsed by the Vegas Chamber, the state’s largest business interest group, as well as the African Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, and the Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce of Nevada.
Lombardo, the Clark County sheriff, has endorsements from the Henderson Chamber of Commerce and Latin Chamber of Commerce.
The Vegas Chamber in a statement said Sisolak provided strong leadership during the economic crisis by making COVID relief funds available to small businesses. It also applauded his opposition to an unemployment insurance tax rate increase and his understanding of the state’s budget and monetary obligations as the state navigates uncertain economic times in the coming year.
“Nevada’s employers face many critical challenges, as well as opportunities, in the coming years. Gov. Sisolak has the experience Nevada needs to pass important legislation during the 2023 legislative session, as well as effectively manage the state budget to help our economy grow and create new economic development opportunities,” Mary Beth Sewald, president and CEO of the Vegas Chamber, in the statement.
At a UNLV roundtable with U.S. Small Business Administration leader Isabella Guzman on Wednesday, Nydia Sanchez, who owns the Las Vegas-based childcare company Learning Space Christian Academy, said she was forced to close her first child care business because she couldn’t afford to rent space for her company.
Sanchez has since reopened under her current name, but even with the shortcomings she faced, she doesn’t blame Sisolak — or any politician — for the way the pandemic affected businesses.
“It was a pandemic,” she said. “I was able to get the PPP loan for the other business. It helped cover payroll twice and make a rent payment.”
Fahima Khalaf, part-owner of Kalifano, a jewelry and art store with locations at two resorts on the Strip, said her family felt the same way. Her family’s stores were hit hard by the pandemic, but she understood why Sisolak decided to shut down the state.
“We knew with the pandemic, it wasn’t going to be a permanent thing,” Khalaf said. “And it’s not his fault that COVID happened. He had to keep his constituents safe and the hospitals open.”
