LAS VEGAS, Nevada —Amidst the noise in downtown Las Vegas, a quiet movement is taking place to transform the area into a tech haven.

The programme, aptly named the Downtown Project, is a US$350-million initiative led by Tony Hsieh, chief executive officer of online shoe shop and customer service centre Zappos.com. Supported by the three pillars of “collisions, co-learning, and connectedness in a long-term, sustainable way”, the aim of the Downtown Project is to “help make downtown Vegas a place of inspiration, entrepreneurial energy, creativity, innovation, upward mobility, and discovery.

Now in its third year, the five-year project has seen the acquisition of dozens of properties, starting off several businesses and investment into other start-ups ranging from technology to health, to fashion and education and even transportation.

On its website, the project said the focus for 2014 is on “optimising core while finding the top winners to pick as ‘cannonballs’ to double down our bets on (in terms of additional follow-on investments, resources, and time) while streamlining our other operations”. In 2015, the focus will shift to streamlining and scaling operations and in 2016 the spotlight will turn to profitability and sustainability.

“Based on what we are about, we not only measure returns on investment, but returns on community and returns on luck,” Hsieh declared at Tech Cocktail Celebrate Conference Monday at Inspire Theatre in downtown Las Vegas. The event was held under the theme, ‘The City as a Start-up’.

“The [vision] will not only lead to a happier community, but a more productive one,” he added.

Arlene Martin-Wilkins