Recession. It is deep and broad and more likely than not to grow before we see a plateau and the beginnings of a recovery.

Unemployment, nationally and in Nevada, is growing.  In Nevada, December unemployment exceed 13 percent and nationally, the jobless rate stands at 10 percent. Consumer spending is increasingly frugal and discerning and in Las Vegas we are seeing an increasing number of shuttered businesses and one of the highest personal bankruptcy rates in the nation. 

This environment didn’t occur in the past month. It has been building, as we’ve said in A Stern Glance, for nearly two years. As such, it remains a surprise how many companies are now paying the price for following ineffectual communications counsel and strategic planning over the past year. 

In terms of strategic communications, public relations, marketing communications, whatever your characterization may be, the economic environment is now a crisis matter and calls loudly for a crisis communications approach. 

A startup or early stage company that has a strategic or technological edge but a thin PR budget can communicate effectively in this enviornment if its communications function, whether internal or an agency,  is innovative, resourceful, tech savvy, and not wasteful. 

Unfortunately, many companies simply don’t have the knowledge required to select that function appropriately. The focus is on “ink.”

As our economy stagnates, companies must reassess communications practices and strategies if they are to remain competitive in a challenging marketplace. They should be questioning whether their current communications effort  is using less experienced or junior staff, if the agency is truly strategic or simply uses outdated communications tactics, e.g. a plethora of non-strategic and shot gunned news releases, events with little or no objective that would impact revenues. 

The current economic environment is one where, in most cases, clients can now get more for less by eliminating many traditional agency inefficiencies like rigid 12-month retainers, the marking up out-of-pocket expenses and outside vendors, and under qualified junior agency staff that is uninformed or wholly reliant on “traditional” communications tactics. For example we frequently see Nevada public companies making material disclosures on National basis, when a state dissemination through a release dissemination service fulfills regulatory disclosure requires and is broadly disseminated through the Internet. It is a cost difference of thousands of dollars that is frequently overlooked by traditionalists. 

Economically, astute companies will outsource strategic communications to battle-tested veterans who can pick up the slack and provide services on a smaller, flexible scale; developing and executing the strategic approach while leaving tactics to their internal communications functions. 

Experienced strategic communications professionals bring core competencies that enable them to do a better job in less time, thereby reducing costs and maximizing results. These smaller agencies, virtual PR teams, and individual practitioners are a growing alternative for companies of all sizes, especially those with small public relations and marketing budgets. Like their clients, these outsources have to work smarter, faster, and cheaper. 

Periods of economic challenge force companies to reassess their outreach strategies in order to be substantially more nimble and dynamic in their approach to simply retaining market share, to say nothing of increasing it. For a small, development stage or emerging growth high or biotech company, is retaining the services of a large agency a prudent investment, especially in industries, where virtually every communications decision can affect millions of dollars? 

Large agencies have many overhead costs that must be passed along to the client, and large agencies generally require larger retainers to make sure financial goals and obligations are met, as well as utilize less experienced or junior employees.

Boutique, or smaller agencies find ways to efficiently service smaller clients and produce results. For many clients, outsourced strategic, as well as marketing communications has an economic rationale even in a strong economy. 

As we said at the outset, we are in a period of economic challenge, especially in Southern Nevada. Companies work leaner, fighting more intensely for market share and reducing their budgets to derive the cost efficiencies required to battle their way through this environment.  Read the rest of this entry »

The jobless rate in December rose sharply in to 13 percent in December, from 12.3 percent November and was slightly below the record 13.3 percent posted in September, well above the ten percent national rate reported earlier this month, according to a report on state and regional unemployment issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today.

According to the report, Nevada’s unemployment is now the second highest in the nation, just behind the 14.7 percent posted in Michigan and for all of 2009, Nevada’s unemployment rate spiked 5 percentage points.

Apparently City Center’s opening and historic seasonal employment could not stem the rolling tide of layoffs, as the state’s employers cut 12,500 jobs in December. Just a year ago, MGM’s City Center, which opened with 12,000 employees in December, accepted nearly that number of job applications, according to media reports.

Among the other high unemployment states are Rhode Island, 12.9 percent; and South Carolina, 12.6 percent. North Dakota continued to register the lowest jobless rate, 4.4 percent in December, followed by Nebraska and South Dakota, 4.7 percent each. The rate in South Carolina set a new series high, as did the rates in three other states: Delaware (9.0 percent), Florida (11.8 percent), and North Carolina (11.2 percent). The rate in the District of Columbia also set a new series high (12.1 percent).  Read the rest of this entry »

(From the WAL News Release)

Western Alliance Bancorporation reported a net loss of $26.9 million in the fourth quarter 2009, including a reserve build of $4.4 million, net losses on the sale of repossessed assets of $5.1 million, goodwill impairment of $4.1 million and net losses from securities activities of $3.6 million. The goodwill impairment was the result of our annual goodwill impairment testing which determined a decline in fair value of Shine Investment Advisory Services. At the end of December, the Company sold 75 percent of its ownership in Miller/Russell and Associates. The Company incurred a goodwill impairment of $0.6 million in the third quarter 2009 in anticipation of this transaction. Read the rest of this entry »

Las Vegas, NV – January 20, 2010 – Randy Henderson, President and Chief Executive Officers of Alternative Motors, Inc., today announced the conclusion of the Company’s first Board  of Directors meeting.

The Company’s Board includes Edward H. Kim, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Capital Markets Advisory Partners and formerly Senior Vice President of NASDAQ; Michael I. Connolly, Founder of Mount Juliet Ventures and formerly founder and President of the Tax and Business Services Division at American Express, Inc.; Scott F. Harris, Vice President of Finance and Business Development for Delphi Corporation’s Thermal Systems Division; and Kenneth M. Stoner, Esq., former Assistant District Attorney for Oklahoma City, who practices securities law representing start-up, development stage and mature companies.

Mr. Henderson said, “I was pleased that the Company has completed what we see as a milestone: The successful conclusion of our first Board meeting. As we move forward, we will be making further announcements regarding the directives of our Board, however, for proprietary and competitive reasons, I cannot discuss today’s meeting.”

 ABOUT ALTERNATIVE MOTORS

Alternative Motors, Inc. meets the needs of customers who are credit challenged by providing vehicle and credit solutions they may not be able to obtain otherwise. Alternative Motors provides these solutions at our Buy Here, Pay Here car lots. While our customers may be unable to obtain traditional vehicle financing, Alternative Motors can provide financing and payment schedules to be made at the point-of-sale on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

Construction of new homes dipped unexpectedly last month as bad weather hit much of the country. Applications for future projects, however, soared in a sign the industry is ramping up after a debilitating bust.

The Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments fell 4 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000 from an upwardly revised 580,000 in November.

The results were led by declines of 19 percent in the Northeast and Midwest. Construction fell 1 percent in the West, but rose more than 3 percent in the South.

Applications for new building permits, a gauge of future activity, rose 11 percent to an annual rate of 653,000, a far stronger showing than economists had predicted and the highest level of activity since October 2008.

December’s cold weather, especially in the Northeast, was seen as the main reason for the divergent results. Regardless of the cause, the fact remains that housing is still the weak link in the economy. The industry has dramatically scaled back construction amid the worst housing bust in decades. Thousands of foreclosed homes have been dumped on the market at bargain prices that make it difficult for the builders to compete.

New home construction is down 75 percent from the peak nearly four years ago, but up 14 percent from the bottom last January.

For all of last year, builders started construction on more than 550,000 homes, down nearly 40 percent from a year earlier and lowest on records dating back to 1959.

The report comes after a survey showed builders’ sentiment about the market remains weak. The National Association of Home Builders said Tuesday its index of industry confidence fell in January to the lowest level since last summer. The drop reflects fears that demand for new homes will be sluggish despite the extension of a federal tax credit.

To give a boost to the still-struggling housing market, Congress decided in November to extend the deadline for a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers until April and expanded it to include $6,500 for existing homeowners who move.