I hope you have been following the selection by Tesla of the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center for its world's largest lithium battery gigafactory with Panasonic.
A Los Vegas Review-Journal article 9/14/14  titled "out of the depths of recession, a new, more resilient Nevada emerges", by Robert L. Land, Director, and William E. Brown, Ass't Director, of Brookings Mountain West. The article seems to want to say to the Las Vegas area:  "Don't be afraid of Northern Nevada domination, you have more strength."  The article comforts us in Las Vegas, saying:
"Las Vegas is also primed for economic growth.  Las Vegas has one of the strongest and best positioned tourist, entertainment complexes in the nation, with only Orlando, Fla, as a rival, and has diversified by adding conventions, shopping, live entertainment, food and beverage options, destination resorts, ecotourism, media and film, and even the manufacture of gaming equipment.
Make no mistake, Southern Nevada's tourist complex is and should remain Nevada's single most valuable economic asset.
. . . Las Vegas has enormous potential for economic diversification.  The Brookings team reported that expanded medical services in metro Las Vegas to meet predicted demand was the best and fastest path to an immediate restoration of Southern Nevada's economy.  A state-supported M.D.-granting medical school is by far the single most important investment Nevada could make in the region.
. . .  Arguably, with the announcement of Telsa in the north and Southern Nevada's economy back at peak scale, the state has passed a tipping point and is now on a path to a more robust and expansive economy recovery.  . . . Like Reno, Las Vegas can expand manufacturing, logistics and especially its IT sector, benefiting from Switch Communications' role in developing the highest capacity in the U.S. Internet.  Tech manufacturing in aerospace and green energy can further diversify Las Vegas."
Blog by Dr. Bruce Ricks, Realtor/Owner, AwareBuyers.com and Derek Parent, Branch Manag