Las Vegas Mayor: 'Full Steam Ahead'

"Any city in the world would give their right arm to have 130,000 people come for a convention like this," Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said in a Tuesday interview with Tech Daily Dose, reflecting on the impact of the annual Consumer Electronics Show on his city's economy. He acknowledged that attendance for this year's show is lower than in the past but said the 300 companies (of about 2,700) exhibiting for the first time at the high-tech exposition is a sign that the industry and multi-day mega-meeting remain healthy. But Goodman is concerned about the local and national economy and stressed the importance of Congress passing a "Main Street stimulus package." Such a proposal was the focus of a U.S. Conference of Mayors teleconference earlier in the day, he said. "Our city has been very aggressive in capital improvement projects and we're not putting anything on hold," Goodman said. He cited the development of a Frank Gehry-designed brain research institute and a massive new performing arts center as proof that "it's full steam ahead."