Five years after Nevada started hurtling toward the worst economic crisis in its history, prospects for a recovery continue to hinge on three key factors: jobs, jobs and more jobs.

The focus on job creation as a way to right the Silver State’s economic ship gained extra prominence earlier this year after Gov. Brian Sandoval challenged Nevada’s private sector to create 50,000 new jobs by the end of 2014.

RENO – Proof of Nevada’s importance in the outcome of the horse race that is the presidential election continued to be on display today, with President Obama visiting Las Vegas and GOP Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan making stops here and in Southern Nevada.

Ryan, appearing in front of a crowd estimated by local law enforcement at about 600, continued to push the Romney-Ryan ticket message calling for change, pointing to Obama’s failed efforts at job creation.

CARSON CITY – Forget the tame, staid, policy driven debates seen in most races in Nevada so far this year.

CARSON CITY – Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said today that any “green energy” policy that leads to higher electric bills for Nevadans who are looking for work in tough economic times is the wrong energy policy for the state.

“Nobody is anti-green,” he said. “We struggle to compete with the cost of a kilowatt hour when we talk about economic development. And economic development has something to do with jobs.”

CARSON CITY – A new report from The Council of State Governments exploring the successes that 13 Western states have had with tax incentives to encourage economic growth found that Nevada has fewer such programs in large part because of its tax structure.

CARSON CITY – A pair of Nevada small business owners today said the federal government needs to ease off on its excessive regulatory efforts under the Obama administration if it wants to encourage job growth here and around the country.

LAS VEGAS – State senate Majority Leader and 4th Congressional District candidate Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, said he supports the federal health care law that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in late June.

CARSON CITY – Washoe County Republican and Democratic Party leaders may disagree on who the best choice is for president, but they agree on one point – Washoe is the “battleground” county in the battleground state that is Nevada.

Clark County is expected to go big for Democrats and President Obama, while Nevada’s rural counties are expected to go strong for Mitt Romney. But Washoe County, where Republicans lead in voter registration by 3,700, has gone for both parties in past elections.

RENO – President Barack Obama made a brief stopover here today, visiting with a couple who refinanced their home through a White House initiative helping underwater homeowners who have government-backed loans.

After meeting with Paul and Valerie Keller, Obama urged Congress to expand the Home Affordable Refinancing Program (HARP) to other mortgages as well.

CARSON CITY – A broader measure of Nevada’s unemployment picture, including those who have given up looking for work, showed slight but continued improvement through the first quarter of 2012, a federal report released today shows.

The rate in Nevada dropped from 22.7 percent in the four quarters through Dec. 31, 2011, to 22.3 percent through March 31, according to the quarterly report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

CARSON CITY – U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., today downplayed the notion of any disagreement with GOP Gov. Brian Sandoval arising from their opposing views on the Small Business Jobs Act passed by Congress in 2010.

CARSON CITY – There was a flurry of candidates filing for office and some political maneuvering today as Nevada’s 2012 election season officially got under way.

Over 90 candidates filed for a variety of offices in Clark County.

Another 17 filed with the Secretary of State’s office and others filed in their respective counties around the state.

While some reactions to the State of the Union Speech fell predictably along partisan lines, three members of Nevada's congressional delegation echoed President Barack Obama's call for job creation and his plea for members of Congress to work together.
...

CARSON CITY – Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., said today that Republicans in the House do not believe a 60-day stopgap response to expiring tax breaks and unemployment benefits as approved by the Senate is a workable solution.
Amodei, in a telephone interview this evening with the Nevada News Bureau, said the temporary fix is unworkable for the business community and creates too much uncertainty that could threaten job creation efforts. Congress needs to approve legislation resolving these issues for a full year, he said.

CARSON CITY – The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has rejected a proposal from Gov. Brian Sandoval to speed up the notice requirements needed for the approval of new and expanded mining operations, but the agency said in a letter that progress has been made in expediting the process.

RENO – Officials and business leaders attending a regional summit on economic development here on Thursday emphasized the need to work together regionally to bring in new employers and create jobs.
The summit, called ReCharge Nevada, was attended by about 300 government officials and business representatives to help create a unified front on efforts to help reverse the state’s highest-in-the-nation unemployment rate.

CARSON CITY – A report outlining how Nevada can grow and diversify its economy says much more could be done now in the areas of health and medical services, and that clean energy and aerospace/defense are emerging sectors that could bring skilled jobs to the state.

CARSON CITY – The September jobs report released today contained some hints of economic life in recession-battered Nevada, even though the unemployment rate held steady at a double-digit 13.4 percent rate from August.
While still tops in the nation in unemployment, Nevada saw a decline in the jobless rate in the Las Vegas area, to 13.6 percent from 14.3 percent in August. The Reno-Sparks and Carson City areas also saw declines.

CARSON CITY – State Treasurer Kate Marshall today announced the appointees to the board of the Nevada Capital Investment Corporation (NCIC), a new group charged with overseeing the investment of school funds to improve returns while promoting economic development statewide.

CARSON CITY – Despite the need to borrow $773 million from the federal government to pay jobless benefits so far in the current economic downturn, an advisory panel today recommended that the average tax rate levied on Nevada employers to pay claims remain unchanged at 2 percent for 2012.
The unanimous vote of the nine-member Nevada Employment Security Council came despite the recommendation from one employer representative for an increase in the rate to 2.5 percent or even 2.75 percent so Nevada could pay off its federal loans more quickly.

Governor Brian Sandoval this morning sent a letter to President Obama asking for assistance in making changes at the federal level that could clear the way for new jobs in Nevada.
“This is my first request of President Obama since becoming Governor,” Sandoval noted in a press release. “I need his help to get Nevadans working again, and we have identified a very specific step he can take to spur job creation in our mining industry.”

CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval has named Frank Woodbeck as director of the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. Woodbeck will begin his new job Oct. 3
“Mr. Woodbeck is somebody that I came to know given his activities with economic development,” Sandoval said. “I believe that it is very important going forward that there be an alignment between DETR, the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, and economic development, and he has a unique skill set in that regard.”

NORTH LAS VEGAS — Gov. Mitt Romney on Tuesday presented a detailed economic plan he said would generate 11.5 million new jobs, lead to 4 percent annual growth, and turn America into a “job machine.”
Romney made a point of saying he would be speaking without a teleprompter before addressing a crowd of over 300 at McCandless International Trucks in North Las Vegas, a city struggling due to high unemployment rates and municipal budget troubles.

CARSON CITY – Assembly Speaker and announced candidate for Congress John Oceguera acknowledged today that a number of Democrats are seeking seats in the House of Representatives in the 2012 election, and that hopefully any costly primary battles can be avoided.