HENDERSON – A German company that has built a strong U.S. client base is setting up shop in southern Nevada.
Spreadshirt, a manufacturer of custom shirts, was founded in 2001 as a print-on-demand company, later developing online technology to fill customers' orders.
The company allows its customers to submit custom designs and graphics to be printed on such items as shirts, aprons, accessories and umbrellas.
The company decided to expand to Las Vegas because it wanted a West Coast presence. California was considered but in the end, the tax benefits in Nevada won company executives over, said Laura Platt, human resources manager for Spreadshirt.
For Las Vegas, the manufacturing plant means jobs.
"We walked in on Monday morning (and) we weren't in the door yet," Platt said. "We had 30 applicants outside and that was just on one posting that we put up on Friday."
The company has plans to hire about 75 workers by the end of the year.
Andre Gibson, 27, said he applied to work at Spreadshirt for the chance at a new career.
"A job like this is hope," he said. "It's hope for people without experience."
He said he would like to see more companies like Spreadshirt start operations in the Las Vegas area.
"As long as the economy is growing, we are all growing," he said.
Platt said the deals offered to Spreadshirt by Nevada business leaders were hard to pass up.
"The price was right for the building," she said. "There were great tax incentives and (there) was a good employee pool for us."
Stephen Brown of the UNLV Center of Economic Research said that although nationwide companies are slow to invest, companies are considering their growth options.
"Because housing is less expensive and the available workforce, firms are finding it attractive to move to the Las Vegas area," Brown said. The only thing holding them back is the U.S. economy is still weak and we are not seeing investment growth in the U.S. economy."
Brown said online companies are doing well because their overhead is lower than the standard brick-and-mortar operations.
"We have a long way to grow before we see strong growth here in southern Nevada," Brown said. "These new businesses are coming in and creating a foundation for future growth."
Brown said a company like Spreadshirt can take advantage of cheap commercial space and an abundance of labor, provided they are willing to train most of their workers.
