This year PODIM was a venue of another important milestone in strengthening cooperation between Nevada and Central Europe, as Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development and SPIRIT Slovenia Business Development Agency signed there a Memorandum of Understanding and mutual collaboration.
Michael Brown, head of Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development who also had a speech at this year’s PODIM opening, said their strategy was about finding potential economic partners around the world, especially in Central Europe. And working on trade and venture capital initiatives in the EU. And during PODIM further steps were taken in this cooperation bringing many opportunities also to CEE region.
We talked about opportunities for startups in a business-friendly state Nevada with Dijana Mitrovic, Nevada Director, U.S. Small Business Administration, State Trade Expansion Program & GOED International Business Development Coordinator and U.S. Business Ambassador at Slovenian Business Club. Have a look at the interview.
For those who don’t know Nevada Governor’s office of Economic Development yet, what should they know about you?
Nevada GOED, how we like to call it, was created during the 2011 session of the Nevada Legislature, as a result of a collaborative effort between the Nevada Legislature and the Governor’s Office to restructure economic development in the Silver State. GOED’s role is to promote a robust, diversified, and prosperous economy in Nevada, to stimulate business expansion and retention, encourage entrepreneurial enterprise, attract new businesses, and facilitate community development.
Nevada is famous for being a business-friendly state with a very low-regulation environment, a streamlined licensing and approval processes, and a favorable tax environment for businesses. Nevada is the fastest growing state in the nation, #2 for private sector job growth in 2021. Our state was #2 best state for women entrepreneurs in 2020. For more information about the agency and the benefits of doing business in Nevada, visit us here.
What do you offer to startups/companies?
Low-cost startup, regulatory, licensing and annual fees. No corporate income tax. No personal income tax. No franchise tax on income. No inventory tax. No inheritance or gift tax. No estate tax.
Las Vegas is #1 largest metro area with most startups (2020).
GOED offers a variety of resources, programs, incentives to assist companies interested in the U.S./ Nevada market, to name a few:
- Business Development & Assistance Programs
- Workforce Development Programs
- Innovations Based Economic Development Programs
- International Trade Programs
- Rural Community & Economic Development Programs
- Procurement Assistance & Outreach
- Nevada Film Office Tax Incentives
- Emerging Small Business Program
GOED also facilitates connections with the other partners in the Nevada ecosystem, either at federal, state, or local level.
More detailed information may be found here or feel free to contact us and schedule a meeting with us.
Why should a startup choose Nevada for doing a business?
We have a growing ecosystem with various funding opportunities, acceleration, and mentorship programs.
Nevada is projected to have the 2nd fastest rate of tech job growth in the nation (20.4 %) through 2026.
Nevada is 6th in the U.S. for startup job creation, as per the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
We have fantastic partners in the state, incubators, and accelerators such as StartupNV, gener8tor, and BizAssembly to help your startup succeed.
- Community development such as “Sip and Learns” and “Tech Alley” events provide casual networking-based learning.
- Low-cost coworking and innovation centers: Blackfire Innovation, International Innovation Center, InNEVation Center, and more!
If you’d like to learn more about starting a business in Nevada, explore the interactive roadmap our partners in the Nevada Department of Business and Industry developed for interested companies.
Do you have any success story you would like to share?
We’re proud to share that we have organized hundreds of inbound missions for startups, coming from Poland, Slovenia, Serbia, Australia, France, South Korea, Japan, India, Israel, and so forth. Numerous international companies we’ve been working with established their presence in Nevada and continue to go and thrive.
Immersion programs usually occur through our well-known Nevada Global program, which stands for a recruited platform that leverage our extensive contacts around the world.
How successful is cooperation between Nevada and Slovenia and what does this cooperation mean for the CEE region?
Slovenia is our strategic partner and we’ve developed close working relationships ever since 2019 thanks to the efforts of the Embassy of Slovenia in Washington D.C..
Recognizing the importance of strong collaboration, Slovenian Business Club open its business embassy in Las Vegas in March 2022. In May 2022 during the PODIM conference Government of the Republic of Slovenia/ Ministry of Economic Development and Technology/ Slovenia SPIRIT Business Development Agency and Nevada GOED signed a Memorandum of Understanding and mutual collaboration.
Do you have any successful companies in your region?
Just to name a few global brands in various industries:
What did you expect from Podim?
Since 2019 Nevada has been planning on attending PODIM and finally we made it. We’re truly glad we’ve worked with PODIM as Golden Unicorn partner. PODIM surpassed our expectations from the programmatic perspective. Commitment, passion, dedication seen withing the organizational team, startups, partners deserve every recognition. Great job!
What would you advise the startups that want to enter US market?
Be present in the community, network, work hard and don’t give up! Nevada’s dedicated group of economic development professionals stand ready to assist companies and look forward to working with you all.
Would you like to share any other information with Podim audience?
Follow us on social media! We have an amazing Comms team, who’ll keep you in the loop regarding the latest developments and news from the U.S. and Nevada.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DiversifyNevada
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nevada-governor’s-office-of-economic-development
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NevadaGOED
Also, we warmly welcome you to visit us in Nevada!
