Who’s more fun?

Not content with being a gaming and tourism juggernaut, Nevada is actively courting non-gaming development–at the expense of other states. It’s hardly surprising that New Jersey is at the top of the list of targets. From the AC Press:

When the Nevada Development Authority, or NDA, picked New Jersey as the first target of its new East Coast campaign, they weren’t looking for gamblers.

“Las Vegas. Always Open For Business,” boasts the NDA’s full page ad, which appeared in Monday’s Press of Atlantic City.

“Nevada’s nongaming sector is growing in leaps and bounds,” said Somer Hollingsworth, NDA’S president and CEO. “We don’t do gaming companies. We don’t do retail.”

Instead, the 50-year-old nonprofit group looks for states that have anti-business legislation, then plays up Nevada’s business-friendly qualities to lure companies in.

“You guys were at the top of the list of anti-business taxes,” Hollingsworth said. “You have the worst taxes for businesses of anybody.”

“Obviously, they have too much money,” Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority Executive Director Jeff Vasser said of the campaign. “If we had a couple million like they have for advertising, I guess I could do fun things like that too.”

But Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s office isn’t buying whatever the NDA is selling.

“What a good bluff, but our friends from the desert should try again,” spokesman Anthony Coley said. “Nevada’s gaming industry is understandably nervous about Atlantic City’s renaissance and by the fact that Gov. Corzine, the former chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, knows how to create an environment that grows the economy and makes business successful.”

The NDA isn’t looking to steal gamblers or visitors, Hollingsworth said. It’s all business. Well, almost.

The ad includes a list of “Six Reasons To Bet On Las Vegas” next to Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman — a former East Coast lawyer who once defended Nicodemo Scarfo’s nephew, mobster Philip Leonetti.

Reason No. 6? “Our mayor is more fun than your governor and your legislature!”

“I’ve met our governor, he was pretty fun,” Vasser said of Corzine. “I’ll put our governor up against Mayor Goodman any day.”

“That was kind of the kicker for us,” Hollingsworth said of the tongue-in-cheek comment. “We’re serious about what we’re doing, but we can still poke a little fun.”

Vegas takes a shot at Jersey’s business climate

“Our friends from the desert?” It makes it sound like Nevadans are riding around in a caravan, looking to loot oases and trade routes.

On the other hand, I haven’t heard too many Nevada casino executives growing “understandably nervous about Atlantic City’s renaissance.” Forgetting for a minute that most major Nevada gaming companies have interests in Atlantic City (Harrah’s, MGM Mirage, and Boyd are the most prominent), the whole idea is kind of funny.

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