With the Silver State securing Tesla’s gigafactory battery manufacturing plant, the northern Nevada region has put itself in position to move even further away from its post-recession economy.
Not only will the region grow at an accelerated rate, but future graduates of the University of Nevada, Reno, will also reap the benefits of this important breakthrough.

According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the factory would employ 6,500 people with an average wage of about $25 an hour. Indirect jobs created could reach 22,000—a number equivalent to 2 percent of the state’s entire workforce and 11 percent of the region’s workforce.

While these numbers certainly represent a huge spike in available jobs for the future, recent university graduates might not want to put all their eggs in the manufacturing basket that the plant offers; rather, graduates should turn their attention to the indirect job explosion and the opportunities for campus investment the company could potentially provide.

Recent college graduates will not likely secure the premium positions, but it is still a viable alternative to working in the gaming industry if it does not meet their skillset.

Every discipline from engineering (plant workers) to business students (building businesses around the factory) could have significantly more opportunities and reasons to stay in the region.
The factory will avoid taxes for at least a fifth of a century—a huge piece of the deal is 100 percent sales tax abatement for 20 years.

It also has 10 years on its property tax before Storey County and the state will start assessing taxes for use of the facility on Nevada land. The initial economic growth, though, will not likely come from the taxes, but rather the region itself.

The immediate vicinity surrounding the compound could explode in retail chains looking to mop up the demand created by the thousands of new workers and tourists that will come to frequent the area.

Another spillover effect Tesla could potentially bring to the campus is the opportunity for advertising and investing in the university. The corporation could build scholarship funds, advertise with the athletic department and even write a huge endowment.

While there is nothing in writing pertaining specifically to the campus, the opportunity for these ventures is absolutely there. Tesla has already agreed to start investing in Nevada’s education system by donating $7.5 million each year for five years starting in 2018, though it is yet to be seen how that money will be used.

Conversely, there are some potential downsides for certain fields following the Tesla announcement. Film production companies, car dealerships and insurance firms may all feel the sting of the tax abatement legislation that the company received. Film and insurance companies would not receive the tax dollars they are used to, as the money is diverted to paying off the Tesla deal.

Car dealerships could also take a hit, as the Nevada legislature is allowing Tesla to sell their cars directly to the public instead of signing an auto dealer franchise agreement.
Another downside to the construction of the battery facility is that the opportunity for advancement might be limited within the five-million square foot compound.

The initial wages will be good, but the facility is still not the corporate headquarters and the ability for upward growth in the company could be limited to a select few. This could force workers to seek jobs elsewhere if they are searching for that promotion.

Nonetheless, other companies might follow the standard set by Apple, Amazon and now Tesla in moving their operations into Nevada. The industrial park located east of Sparks could become a burgeoning area for university graduates in the next decade.

This will be especially true now that the state has bought the right of way to USA Parkway for $43 million, which will direct the flow of traffic to the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center and also to connect it to U.S. Highway 50 in Lyon County.

There is nothing necessarily certain about these developments. However, the very fact that Tesla landed in Nevada rather than other states can only mean that Nevadans will reap any resulting benefits.

How the company will be used is up to the residents of Nevada and we will see if former University President Milton Glick was right in saying, “the next Comstock Lode is not in the mines of Nevada … it is in the minds of Nevadans.”

The Nevada Sagebrush editorial staff can be reached at cboline@sagebrush.unr.edu.