To build our state economy, we could start by hiring at home

Burson-Marsteller, a prestigious New York -based worldwide advertising and public relations company, was awarded a $3 million state contract to promote tourism in Nevada, a choice criticized by two Nevadans, who believe local companies should be given extra consideration in state contracts.

It's the second time that Valerie Glenn of the Glenn Group, with offices in Reno and Nevada, has lost an advertising and PR contract with a state agency. Last year, the Department of Transportation gave a $2 million contract to a Utah firm while the Glenn Group came in a close second.

At that time, she raised the issue with Gov. Brian Sandoval, who said then he'd consider whether a change of the law to give Nevada companies preference would be helpful or detrimental.

Right now, the law says Nevada companies may not obtain any preferential treatment when vying for in-state contracts.

In this tourism contract, out of 19 applicants, the final four were all from out of state: New York, Los Angeles, Ohio and Arkansas. None of the eight Nevada companies made the final four.

"It's ironic the state of Nevada is trying to market to get people to travel in our state and we're not going to use a Nevada firm to make that happen," Glenn said.

While Sandoval supports Nevada businesses, he said the Tourism Commission "followed the law in terms of the committee that vetted the applicants."

He's checking out how Arizona and other states handle giving preference to their in-state companies, but warned that Nevada companies doing business outside Nevada could be penalized if other states give their companies preference.

"Frankly, I want to get the best possible people bidding on these things," Sandoval said. "I want to make sure we're doing it the right way and providing the proper balance."

Burson-Marsteller is a worldwide advertising company and has partnered with RedRock Strategies, primarily a campaign firm, but with a Las Vegas office.

The only Las Vegas company to submit a proposal was Purdue Marion & Associates.

"Understanding rural Nevada obviously didn't count for anything," owner Bill Marion said. "Eighty percent of the marketing is to be rural Nevada. How do you bring in a firm that doesn't even know where Ely is?"

Two of Las Vegas' biggest firms adept at tourism advertising didn't try for this contract - R&R Partners and SK+G.

R&R's Billy Vassiliadis said he didn't pitch a proposal because he and his partner, Pete Ernaut, are close to the governor, and he didn't want political attacks suggesting his firm could have received the contract because of "juice" with the governor.

SK+G didn't bid either. The firm's managing director Ellen Curtis explained, "We knew that a relatively large number of RFP's were distributed, and we knew there was some importance placed on having a Northern Nevada office. Those two factors were deterrents for us."

As for the argument that a local company will know the state better, Vassiliadis pointed out that his company knows little about planes, but landed a contract with Boeing.

"We didn't know much about aviation, but we knew how to promote a product."

With guidance from the Tourism Commission and plus research, not being in-state shouldn't be a problem, he said.

If a Nevada firm and an out-of-state firm were close, it might be fair and appropriate to give the in-state firm a slight edge "if they're as good as anyone competing," Vassiliadis said.

"There'd be nothing wrong with a directive from the governor that's reasonable and allows for some extra credit, which recognizes and gives an edge to Nevada firms," Vassiliadis advised.

Sandoval doesn't believe he has the legal authority to do that through a directive when the law prohibits that.

The governor wants the best for state contracts, and he's fine with tourism officials inviting out-of-state companies to pitch for contracts here.

It just won't create jobs in Nevada.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Email her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call her at (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Morrison.