Redwood, Uptip, among tech companies expanding or relocating in Northern Nevada

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Earlier this month the Peppermill’s Tuscany Ballroom was full of representatives from companies that are either new to our area or are expanding here.

“We were in the bay area years ago and companies said they would never move to Reno,” explained EDAWN CEO Mike Kazmierski.

Kazmierski says Reno used to be viewed as simply an older gaming community. But that has definitely changed, and its now an ideal place for tech and manufacturing.

“We have not had to work that hard to attract companies in the last few years. More and more companies are coming our way,” he explained.

27 companies were on hand at EDAWN’s welcome event on December 8th, including one who is relocating here from San Francisco called Uptip.

“we’re a young company,” explained CEO Eric Plam. “We anticipate having 20-30 employees in the next year or two.”

Plam says his company has created a system using QR codes that allows people who don’t carry cash to tip, and he says in addition to Reno being a more affordable place to live than the bay area, it’s also perfect for his business model.

“There is an acute labor shortage in the hospitality industry,” Plam mentioned. “We help workers to get more income.”

Utip says it has already partnered with the Atlantis here locally.

A company that isn’t relocating here, but rather, expanding is Redwood Materials. A company that aims to recycle lithium-ion batteries. Perhaps fittingly, it was started by JB Straubel following the 15 years he spent as Chief Technology Officer at Tesla.

“We’re committed to spend $1.1 billion over the next decade to build the first US based battery materials campus in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center,” explained Alexis Georgeson, a VP at Redwood.

Georgeson says Redwood already had about 600 employees and they will be hiring an additional 700 people with their expansion. She says those Jobs will have an average wage of $32 per hour.

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