EDAWN NEWS RELEASE
EDAWN is pleased to announce three local expansions that were approved for incentives by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development on Nov. 14. The companies are Pacific Cheese, VEKA West and Video Gaming Technologies (VGT), and they will collectively add 75 new jobs to the region.
Pacific Cheese is a processor and distributor of natural cheese and cheese products and has grown significantly since opening their south Reno plant in 2004. Headquartered in Hayward, Calif., they also operate a facility in Amarillo, Texas. Stephen Gaddis, president and CEO, said, “We are excited about the opportunity to continue to expand our northern Nevada operation, and we are committed to hiring and training employees from the local Reno area as we continue to contribute to the economic diversity and vitality of the region.”
VEKA West is a manufacturer of vinyl PVC profiles for the window industry and has been located in Reno since 1995. The Stead facility supplies the Western States and Western Canada and the expansion here was competing with Texas and Pennsylvania. VEKA operates eleven total facilities in eight countries on three continents. Overall business growth is fueling their expansion and the plan involves an internal expansion of the existing facility and investments in capital, as well as additional staff. VEKA is looking for experienced extrusion operators; however, they plan to hire and train entry level employees who qualify.
Video Gaming Technologies (VGT) opened a northern Nevada software development office in 2011 and will be adding a sound room to their facility. They are also adding senior level game designers, mathematicians, artists and technical writers. Headquartered in Franklin, Tenn., VGT is a software development and manufacturing company that designs software and leases gaming machines for markets in multiple states. They believe that the Reno office will help them be more competitive in the entertainment market. Fred Nesemeier with VGT said, “This expansion is being driven by our desire to build a premier player experience, which our “state of the art” sound studio will enable. We are grateful for the opportunity to add high paying quality jobs to the region.”
EDAWN is delighted to have another successful month at the Governor’s Office of Economic Development Board Hearing. In addition to these three expansions, EDAWN represented five new companies considering a relocation to the region for a total of eight companies expected to add more than 300 quality jobs to the region.
About EDAWN
The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada is a private, non-profit corporation founded by community leaders in 1982. EDAWN is committed to recruiting, expanding and supporting newly forming quality companies that bring jobs to the region and have a positive impact on the quality of life in Greater Reno-Sparks-Tahoe. In 2012 Nevada was named the No. 3 Most Business Friendly Tax Climate by the Tax Foundation and Reno was among the 50 “Best Places to Live” in BusinessWeek magazine. For more information, visit www.edawn.org.
