While this is a start, we knew we had to do more. So we partnered with private industry and higher education to not only spur innovation in Nevada, but also create the work force of Nevada's future. Education and work force development play a critical role in making Nevada a business-friendly state, and we are committed to ensuring that our students keep pace with the jobs of the 21st century.
As a result of the recent legislative session, the Knowledge Fund was established to spur research, innovation and commercialization in the state and will be a key component for advancing innovation-based economic development.
Additionally, the state of Nevada recently partnered with IBM to create the Nevada Center of Excellence (COE), a public/private joint venture to promote innovation-based economic development in our state. Combining domain expertise from our institutions of higher education and IBM's advanced computing technologies, COEs throughout Nevada will deliver high-value shared services to public and private sector clients.
COEs will also help build job skills and assist the state's Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation to grow the work force for tomorrow, the work force that will support the thriving start-ups across our state.
The spirit of Nevada has attracted incredible leaders of industry, like Howard Hughes and Bill Harrah who led Nevada through some of its earliest successes to Tony Hsieh of Zappos, which now calls Nevada home; Rob Roy of Switch, one of the world's most reliable technology ecosystems, and Warren Buffet, who now is helping lead Nevada into a new chapter of energy innovation. Nevada is on the move.
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In fact, according to the Kauffman Foundation, Nevada's entrepreneurial spirit has made the state a "Top 10" entrepreneurship state.
Nevada is also No. 3 in the nation for business tax climate according to the Tax Foundation, No. 1 for new business launches according to Kauffman and No. 2 for small-business survival, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Nevada is a place where business thrives. And while our state has the economic development resources to help businesses open and expand, Nevada's location is also key to business success.
Nevada is within a day's drive to 60 million customers and the U.S. ports that serve as a gateway to the Pacific Rim and Asia. Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport is the seventh-busiest airport in the country, with direct domestic and international flights daily. Nevada is the world's fifth-largest producer of gold and a world leader in renewable energy.
Because of our climate, our state is the world's center for the intellectual capital driving developments in unmanned aerial systems and we have the land space necessary to facilitate the testing of these applications. We are leading the nation in export intensity and export growth, and I am confident we will continue to do so.
Nevada was built on the entrepreneurship of the mining towns and the gaming industry, but Nevada is a state where all businesses can and do succeed. Simply put, no matter the path a business chooses, Nevada is the place that will help foster success.
I invite you to discover more at DiversifyNevada.com and encourage any businesses or entrepreneurs out there to take a look at the Great State of Nevada. You will be glad you did. All Nevada!
—By Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval.
Read more blogs from U.S. governors here.