We Connect The Las Vegas Business Community. Join and Promote Your Business and Events. Grow Your Network, Grow Your Business. Network Vegas.

• Calendar of Upcoming Events - HERE

• Join Free - HERE

• List Business/Community Events Free - HERE

• Sponsorships Available - HERE

Our Top Event Selections

Featured Events

This Week’s Business News

Vegas Business Roundup

Top Stories

• A $150 million gift names Nevada’s first children’s hospital. Intermountain Foundation announced Oct 23 that Nevada’s first stand-alone children’s hospital will be named the Intermountain Health Felicia and Ben Horowitz Children’s Hospital, in honor of a $150 million commitment from the Horowitz family. It is among the largest publicly announced gifts to a children’s hospital in the United States and helps fund a project costing more than $1 billion, expected to break ground in late October and open with about 200 beds. Felicia Horowitz said the idea dates to a time decades ago when the couple’s child was treated at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. Why it matters: Southern Nevada families have had to fly out of state for specialized pediatric surgery and intensive care, and this is the money that moves the hospital from an approved development agreement to a funded build. — Intermountain Health, Oct 23 2026 · Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 23 2026 · Las Vegas Sun, Oct 23 2026

• Judge won’t restart the Sun’s print edition, but says its antitrust case is likely to win. U.S. District Judge Anne R. Traum on Oct 21 denied the Las Vegas Sun’s request to order the Las Vegas Review-Journal to resume printing and distributing it while their antitrust suit proceeds. In the same 31-page ruling she found the Sun “clearly likely” to show that the papers’ 1989 joint operating agreement is the valid, enforceable contract, and clearly likely to succeed on its claims that the Review-Journal acted to monopolize the local daily newspaper market. The Review-Journal stopped producing the Sun in April, and the judge acknowledged Sun readers will go without their paper until at least the end of the litigation. — Las Vegas Sun, Oct 22 2026 · Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 24 2026

• Boyd Gaming’s quarter puts a number on the Las Vegas slowdown. Boyd reported third-quarter revenue of $990.5 million, down slightly from $1.0 billion a year earlier, and net income of $124.9 million, or $1.71 a share. CEO Keith Smith blamed increased softness in destination business to Las Vegas, primarily at the Orleans, plus construction disruption at the Suncoast, while calling the company’s Las Vegas locals portfolio continuously strong. Smith told analysts the destination weakness intensified in the third quarter and that more than 300 Orleans rooms have been out of service every day for the past year. Why it matters: This is the first hard quarterly figure attaching a dollar cost to the softer visitor traffic local operators have been describing all summer. — CDC Gaming, Oct 23 2026

• Waymo starts driverless airport pickups. Waymo began carrying passengers to and from Harry Reid International Airport, with pickups and drop-offs at designated autonomous-vehicle zones on the Ground Zero Level of Terminals 1 and 3. Riders can travel between the airport and any destination inside Waymo’s 24-square-mile Las Vegas service area, which the company says it plans to expand. Clark County aviation director James Chrisley said welcoming Waymo gives passengers more choices for getting to and from the airport. — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 21 2026 · Las Vegas Sun, Oct 21 2026

Tech & Innovation

• The 2026 Top Tech Awards name 13 Southern Nevada tech leaders. Vegas Inc and Spectrum Business honored this year's class Oct 20 at Allegiant Stadium. Morris Jackson, CEO of Valhallan Esports Training, was named Top Tech of the Year after moving the brand's headquarters to Las Vegas and building a youth esports network of 50-plus locations that ties gaming to STEM and cybersecurity curriculum. Category winners: Cybersecurity, Vito Rocco (UNLV); Education, Luke Campbell (Intellatek); Government, Jeramie Brown (Nevada Department of Transportation); Healthcare & Biotech, Rafael Kartaszynski (Diagnomatic); Hospitality, Entertainment & Tourism, Dan Ciccarelli (IGT); Nonprofit, Ryan Wilson (Blind Center of Nevada); Private Large Business, Joshua Staples (Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging); Private Small-Midsized Business, Carissa Simao (Storyville RD); Public Company, Rob Kay (Netflix); Startup, Bryan O'Reilly (Evenplay); Community Exemplary, Mike Del Prado (Executive Option); and Spectrum Innovation, Oumar Willane (CineMetrics). Why it matters: The list doubles as a map of who is running technology at the valley's largest employers, and Kay's honor previews a new one: he is leading security technology for Netflix House Las Vegas, planned for 2027. — Vegas Inc, Oct 21 2026

Real Estate & Development

• The Las Vegas housing market keeps loosening in buyers’ and renters’ favor. For-sale inventory hit its highest level in four years, which a local agent put at levels last seen in October 2022, when prices fell for several months. Las Vegas also posted the nation’s biggest drop in homebuilding permits, with sellers increasingly asked to fund mortgage buydowns rather than cut asking prices as rates sit above 7 percent. On the rental side, free-rent offers have surged as a wave of new apartments hands tenants more bargaining power. Why it matters: Four separate measures — listings, permits, seller concessions and rent concessions — all moved the same direction in one week. — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 19 2026 · Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 21 2026 · Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 20 2026 · Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 20 2026

• Construction starts at the old Badlands golf course. Work has begun on the housing community now called The Preserve, built on the former Badlands golf course. Plans have called for 1,480 homes. — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 20 2026

• Developers break ground on a $110 million senior complex in Henderson. The upscale senior housing development is going up near the Whole Foods at The District at Green Valley Ranch. — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 23 2026

• The Hughes Center sale collapses. The planned sale of the office park near the Strip has fallen through. The Hughes Center was long regarded as the valley’s premier office district and is now laced with vacancies. — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 22 2026

• A small hospital is proposed for Sunrise Manor. NexCore is seeking a special use permit and design review for a one-story, 23,000-square-foot building on 3.2 vacant acres off Charleston Boulevard, with a 20,000-square-foot hospital and a 3,000-square-foot clinic. The plan includes patient, exam and imaging rooms, a laboratory and a decontamination room, with 67 parking spaces; the site’s earlier multifamily entitlements have expired and developers are seeking an extension in case the hospital is not approved. — NVBEX, Oct 23 2026

Airport & Aviation

• Harry Reid sketches a 39-to-65-gate expansion as the fire station goes first. The airport’s modernization program would reconfigure Terminals 1 and 3 and take them from a combined 39 gates to 65, with a new pier of roughly 11 gate spaces and the A and B gates reorganized from satellites into a pier layout; HNTB is doing early planning and no construction timeline or cost has been announced yet. Smaller pieces are already moving — a 92,700-square-foot warehouse is finished, and the airport broke ground this week on a new Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting station paid for in part with $23.1 million the Nevada congressional delegation secured, replacing a facility that has served the airfield for more than 40 years. Why it matters: Gate capacity is the ceiling on how many more visitors the valley can physically receive, and the county has now put a number on how far it intends to raise it. — NVBEX, Oct 22 2026 · Las Vegas Sun, Oct 23 2026

• NetJets opens a private terminal at Harry Reid. NetJets cut the ribbon on a 17,069-square-foot terminal for its customers inside a 300,000-square-foot complex it developed with Signature Aviation, including two hangars, a maintenance hub and more than 250,000 square feet of preferred ramp space. It is the first ground-up project the two companies have built together, and NetJets says its Las Vegas flight activity rose nearly 45 percent between 2022 and 2025 to almost 8,000 flights, with 2026 demand running about 30 percent above last year. — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 20 2026 · Private Jet Card Comparisons, Oct 21 2026

Jobs & Workforce

• Amazon is hiring thousands in Southern Nevada. The company said it is adding thousands of workers locally, and that it is putting more than $1.5 billion into wage increases for its U.S. workforce this year. — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 20 2026

• Nevada construction employment keeps grinding higher — on the adjusted numbers. Seasonally adjusted construction employment added 500 jobs in September, a 0.4 percent monthly gain, bringing the sector to 117,100 jobs and up 4,000 positions, or 3.5 percent, year over year. On a not-seasonally-adjusted basis the sector shed 2,500 positions in the same month. Construction now accounts for 7.2 percent of statewide nonfarm jobs. — NVBEX, Oct 20 2026

• Overnight childcare is disappearing in a 24-hour economy. The number of Nevada facilities licensed for round-the-clock care has fallen roughly by half since 2018, from 71 to 35, with 26 of the survivors in Southern Nevada. About 44 percent of Nevada children under 6 in working families have a parent working before 7 a.m., after 6 p.m. or on weekends — the second-highest share of any state, against a 36 percent national average — and that rises to 70 percent for children of working single parents. Why it matters: Employers staffing swing and graveyard shifts are recruiting from a workforce with 35 licensed overnight childcare options statewide. — The Nevada Independent, Oct 18 2026

• GBank’s founder hands over the top job. GBank Financial Holdings said Oct 22 that Jeff Newgard, already president and CEO of its GBank subsidiary, has been appointed president, CEO and a director of the holding company, with James K. Sims becoming independent chairman. Founder Edward Nigro stepped down as executive chairman and CEO and remains on the board, after a tenure in which the Las Vegas company grew from $22 million to roughly $1.4 billion in total assets as of June 30, 2026. — GBank Financial Holdings via SEC, Oct 22 2026

Policy & Government

• The gaming industry escalates its prediction-market fight. The American Gaming Association filed an amicus brief in October backing New Jersey’s petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether states can regulate platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket; the NFL and a coalition of 39 states and Washington, D.C. filed separate briefs, and Kalshi has until Nov 9 to respond. The appeals courts have split — the Third Circuit sided with Kalshi against New Jersey, while the Ninth Circuit in August upheld a ruling banning Kalshi from offering sports contracts in Nevada after the state Gaming Control Board sent it a cease-and-desist letter. The AGA also released research finding that gamblers outscored non-gamblers on financial literacy and that prediction-market users combine bettors’ confidence with non-bettors’ math skills. Why it matters: Whether the Supreme Court takes the case decides if Nevada’s regulator keeps the authority the Ninth Circuit just affirmed. — Vegas Inc, Oct 19 2026 · CDC Gaming, Oct 23 2026

• Nevada regulators license two casino executives with familiar names. Christopher Ruffin was licensed as a Circus Circus vice president but has no immediate plans to leave Kansas, while MGM executive Sean Lanni added Park MGM to his leadership portfolio. — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 22 2026

• Nye County clears an early hurdle for the Copper Rays solar project. Commissioners approved a preliminary development plan and a special use permit for the proposed Copper Rays Solar project over continued objections from residents. — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 23 2026

Gaming & Tourism

• Las Vegas climbs seven places in a global cities ranking. Oxford Economics credited improvements in economic growth and environmental measures for the metro area’s seven-place rise, while other rankings give Las Vegas a more mixed picture. — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 19 2026

• Strip marquees now tell visitors tipping is optional. Digital marquees along the Strip are carrying a new message: “When watching a performance or taking a photo, tipping is not required.” — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Oct 19 2026

• Station Casinos closes a $500 million incremental loan. The Red Rock Resorts subsidiary said Oct 21 it signed an incremental joinder to its senior secured credit agreement for $500 million of additional term B loans, priced at Term SOFR plus 2.00 percent and carrying the same maturity as its existing term B debt. Proceeds go to repaying its revolving credit facility, related fees and general corporate purposes. — Red Rock Resorts, Oct 21 2026

Small Business

• Tariffs and a weaker international visitor are squeezing small operators. Brew Tea Bar’s sales are down 20 to 30 percent from last year while the cost of its imported cups, tea and matcha has climbed, and Firefly Tapas owner John Simmons said he cut staff last year after business fell 15 percent and is now operating in the red. International visits to Las Vegas fell 4.8 percent in 2025 and traffic from Canada, the city’s largest foreign market, dropped 17.4 percent; RestaurantData counted an estimated 78 mom-and-pop restaurant closures in Clark County in the first half of 2026. Why it matters: UNR economist Frank Fossen notes international visitors spend the most per trip, so a tourism dip lands hardest on the small businesses with the thinnest margins. — Las Vegas Sun, Oct 20 2026

• Travel Nevada opens an outdoor-recreation hub in Boulder City. The Travel Nevada Adventure Center–Boulder City opened as the southern anchor of two centers funded by a $3.7 million Economic Development Administration grant the state won in 2022. Six operators have signed on, including e-bike rental companies, guided-trip outfitters, Hoover Dam Rafting Adventures and Papillon Airways, and Colorado-based Outside Interactive took a three-year naming-rights deal on both centers; the Carson City counterpart opens in spring 2027. — Las Vegas Sun, Oct 17 2026

Sponsors

Leah Martin Law

Our Podcast

Connect.Vegas

Interviews with the people who make Las Vegas creative, exciting and successful. Our mission is to Connect.Vegas!

Meet Andrew Woods

“It’s like adding another city of Henderson in the next ten, fifteen, twenty years.” In this episode of the Connect Vegas Podcast, Andrew Woods—director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at University of Nevada, Las Vegas—explains what that level of growth means for Southern Nevada.

The Next Ten Days

Your Networking Calendar

Sponsors

Living La Vita Ladies

Created By

Hunter.Marketing

Network.Vegas is a creation of Hunter.Marketing. We are Las Vegas based digital marketing firm serving clients for over 13 years. Contact us to promote your brand or next event!

Our Brands

That’s it for this time.

Keep showing up, keep cheering each other on — and as always, happy networking! 🤝💛

Network.Vegas