Tahoe Regional Young Professionals get down to business with this month’s professional development speaker, Third Alarm – an organization comprised of retired firefighters turned public speakers. The event is at the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority Nevada offices, May 17 from 6:45 – 8 p.m., beginning promptly at 7 p.m.

Milky Way Incorporated dba Coyote Grill has announced the signing of an Amendment to its lease in Round Hill Square allowing it to more than double the size of its current business model.

Currently occupied by ‘Paradise Nails and Spa,’ Suite 102 is 1684 square feet and will allow the Coyote Grill to begin its long anticipated expansion that will include entertainment, gaming, pizza and varietal coffees and espressos.

Like a lot of vacationers, Rick and Kristie Santos would return from trips to Lake Tahoe during the housing boom wondering what it would take to own a second home there.
Lately, however, with interest rates dipping below 4 percent and home prices seeking bottom, the Fair Oaks couple started thinking differently. The Santoses recently joined a growing number of would-be buyers scouting the Tahoe area for second homes.

Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort is honored to be recognized by Ski Area Management in the Best Video category of their 2011-12 Marketing Awards. Produced by First Track Productions Sierra received the "Most Heart-Warming Video" award featuring the Burton Star Wars Experience.
In its inaugural year, the Burton Star Wars Experience is a snowboard experience that introduces three to six year-old kids how to snowboard in an interactive environment like no other.

CARSON CITY — A new business index evaluating the states on the effects of their tax systems on entrepreneurship and small business ranks Nevada 3rd behind South Dakota and Texas.
The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council’s “Business Tax Index 2012” pulls together 18 different tax measures, and combines them into one tax score that allows the 50 states and District of Columbia to be compared and ranked.

Bringing together strangers, often through social media, the cash mob events aim to support locally owned merchants. The upshot: stores get a windfall, and 'mobsters' learn more about their city and meet new friends.
Similar to so-called flash mobs — groups that assemble in public to perform often frivolous activities such as dancing — cash mobs bring together strangers. But the purpose is serious: to support locally owned businesses with a quick injection of cash. The trend is part of a larger "buy local" movement that has emerged in response to the rise of big-box national chains that are putting the squeeze on mom and pop stores.

It is official. Kirkwood Mountain Resort is now officially under the umbrella of ski industry giant Vail Resorts, Inc.

Fitch Ratings affirmed South Tahoe Public Utility District on Monday as part of its ongoing survey of public agencies, noting the ratings outlook remains within the organization remains "stable."
The firm, which positions itself as a global rating agency dedicated to providing value beyond the rating through independent and prospective credit opinions, research and data, gave the water and sewer district a AA+ rating, noting $10.8 million sewer revenue certificates of participation. The ratings agency also asserts that STPUD continues to have strong reserves in place that protects the district against a reduction in its property tax revenues.

Tahoe Regional Young Professionals are seeking three new Board of Director positions: an Assistant Executive Director, Finance and Special Events Director. Application and nominations are being accepted until May 5. The current Board of Directors will conduct interviews, May 7-9, vote and announce the newest additions to the organization mid-May.

CARSON CITY – Nevada’s unemployment rate fell four-tenths of a percentage point in February to a seasonally adjusted 12.3 percent, but the news is not all positive, a state agency reported today.
Bill Anderson, chief economist with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR), said an argument can be made that the forces behind the drop in the jobless rate were signs of weakness.

If anyone would have asked Mike Murphy 10 years ago if he'd be in the gas, liquor and convenience store business, the answer would be: No way.
The former international businessman, who once lived in Manhattan, never dreamed he'd be in Tahoe let alone making a living through selling wine, beer and spirits.

The last time Lake Tahoe hosted the Winter Olympics, John F. Kennedy was still a U.S. senator, Muhammad Ali was still Cassius Clay and Mike Eruzione was a 5-year-old.
The year was 1960, and the Squaw Valley Games boasted a grand total of 17 events.
Fast forward more than half a century and Lake Tahoe again wants to host the Olympics. By 2022, the year they're shooting for, the Winter Games will have more than 90 events.

CARSON CITY – A regulation requiring thousands of home-based businesses to pay a $200 annual fee won approval today from a legislative panel.
Secretary of State Ross Miller has been trying to get the regulation approved for several months, but has seen the regulation stymied by strong opposition from some Nevada residents and Republican lawmakers who argued the regulation exceeded his authority.

Tahoe Regional Young Professionals’ development and education speaker series kicks off, March 15, from 6 - 9 p.m. at the Lake Tahoe Airport’s Flight Deck Restaurant and Bar with Alfred Knotts, principal planner/project manager for the Tahoe Transportation District.

Vail Resorts, Inc. announced Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Kirkwood Mountain Resort at Lake Tahoe, Calif., recognized by skiers and snowboarders as offering some of the best high alpine advanced terrain in North America.

Tahoe Regional Planning Agency employee Jeff Cowen was honored as the recipient of the North Lake Tahoe Chamber and Resort Association’s Employee of the Year Award for his outstanding work as TRPA’s Community Liaison.
“I was shocked and truly honored to receive this recognition,” Cowen said about the award. “I am lucky in my job because I get to inform the community about all the great work being done by TRPA staff. I know I share this award with them,” he said.

Noted for being able to get in and out with relative ease, short check-in lines, and an uncrowded atmosphere, Reno-Tahoe International Airport was named as the Third Best Airport in the Nation for Skiers by Ski Magazine. The write-up was authored by Elyse Saugstad and Cody Townsend. Go here for the story, click through and see how other airports compare.

Gaming win statewide was up just over 2 percent in January compared to the prior year, according to the monthly Nevada Gaming Control report.

For the fiscal year, the state is up 1.24 percent over the prior year.

South Lake Tahoe say its gaming win jump 6 percent in January and 6.63 percent for the fiscal year, despite the lack of snow to draw in skiers to the area.

The Carson Valley area that includes Carson City was up almost 5 percent. For the fiscal year, the area is still down 1.5 percent.

RENO — Gov. Brian Sandoval used the University of Nevada, Reno on Tuesday as a backdrop to unveil his economic development plan, and he challenged the business community and all partners to work to create 50,000 new jobs by the end of 2014.

CARSON CITY — Treasurer Kate Marshall announced today that a request for proposals for a manager to oversee a new investment program using up to $50 million from the state Permanent School Fund has been issued by the Nevada Capital Investment Corporation (NCIC) Board of Directors.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board released its Nevada Gaming Abstract for 2011 today, which shows profits for Nevada casinos rose 16.4 percent. But for South Shore casinos, profits dropped 72 percent.

Read the report below:

By Elaine Goodman / Tahoe Business Monitor
Shoppers who visit the just-opened Lake Tahoe Books and Art store in the Village Center won’t just be tackling their holiday gift lists — they’ll also be part of an experiment.
The store, which will be open through December and possibly longer, is in part a test to see if there is enough community support for a permanent, full-service bookstore at the South Shore.

As the Silver State enters what appears to be another record-breaking ski season at Lake Tahoe and the Sierra, the Nevada Commission on Tourism has launched an ad campaign geared at winter enthusiasts in several key markets, Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki announced Wednesday.

Heavenly Mountain Resort has announced that its new multi-million-dollar Tamarack Lodge received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Tamarack Lodge is the first LEED-certified, on-mountain building at Lake Tahoe. It will serve as the blueprint for the construction of Northstar California's new on-mountain lodge and as a guide for future Vail Resorts development.