Flirtey CEO Matt Sweeney claims that the drone delivery age is right around the corner and Reno will be the first on the list.

The Reno-based drone company completed the first multi-drone delivery demonstration with a single pilot in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Drone Integration Pilot Program. The test was successfully performed in front of FAA representatives and put the company on track to approval for its drone delivery program. They hope to send consumer products by air, including FedEx packages, medical equipment and supplies.

“This program runs us through the end of 2020, so we expect that we’ll be regularly saving lives and improving consumer lifestyles through drone delivery in Reno even before that,” Sweeney said. “We’re

Reno residents are being blessed with more options for food delivery, now from grocery stores.

Shipt, an online grocery delivery service began offering same-day delivery from Safeway on July 26 and Door Dash, an online restaurant delivery, soon followed suite on August 1. For either, orders can be placed through their app on iPhone or Android, or on their website.

Shipt and Door Dash aren’t the only other food delivery platforms running amuck in Reno. They’ve joined the crowd including Uber Eats, Instacart and drivers from Grubhub. These launches are following a macro-trend in which consumers desire time savings, convenience and an ecommerce experience with their food delivery.

In the past five years, deliveries of restaurant food has risen

Gone are the days when people flocked to Reno to waste dollar bills on slot machines and tables. Today, the Biggest Little City is completely different.

Just south of the Truckee River is the hip Midtown area, the “it” place to enjoy the city. Shops, restaurants and bars inhabit early 20th century bungalows and give it an eclectic feel. This neighborhood arose from entrepreneurs finding their way during the recession and because of that there is a feeling of authenticity found there. Business owners will recommend their competition with a smile and a sense of community is in the air. The people here have one thing in common – they’ve all come together to create something special from what was once considered seedy.

There is no shortage of events

Five Reno startups were recognized by the city and state officials this month for raising funding and creating high-paying jobs.

From a company that caters to endurance athletes to one that specializes in the Internet of Things, Governor Brian Sandoval and Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve paid them a special recognition. Breadware, the Sufferfest, Talage, MyVR and Bombora have brought 125 new tech jobs to the area and raised more than $10 million in funding. Even better, the average annual wage for those jobs is $77,000.

“We’re at the brink of a fourth industrial revolution, a new economy,” Sandoval said. “This community… has to be at the foundation and at the beginning of this fourth industrial revolution so we can position this state as the new

An 11 million-square-foot data center facility will be joining the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center (TRIC).

EdgeCore has been granted $26.3 million in tax abatements by Nevada’s board of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. The company’s senior VP of investments said that EdgeCore is a startup with zero clients so far.

“Demand will continue and we want to position our platform accordingly,” said Matt Muell of EdgeCore.

Legacy and emerging industries in the Silver State have and will continue to rely increasingly on big data. Several experts have predicted that Nevada will need more data centers before too long in order for the new economy to continue maturing. The EdgeCore facility will have 225 MW capacity and will be built in

Companies looking to relocate are flocking to Northern Nevada - why?

The Reno-Sparks region has become a distribution mecca, due mostly in part to its proximity to I-80. Nancy McCormick is the vice president of business retention, expansion and workforce for the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN) and they use I-80 as a selling point. According to data from EDAWN, the area has one-day truck service to the Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Portland and Boise. Add an extra 24-hours and two-day service is available to Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico.

"We have immediate access to port of entry in California and logistically can reach locations in 11 western states within 24 - 48 hours," said McCormick. "It's

All women, all entrepreneurs, all inspired.

Inspire Reno is changing up the business game for women in Reno. Susan Ackerman was struck with a vision when she attended an all-women entrepreneur event. After seeing folks listening attentively to a workshop leader, huddled around tables networking over coffee, a room full of like-minded people who are chock-full of ideas, she knew. She went to the owner and asked to lease the building housing the event, a historic mansion disguised as an office building along the Truckee River in downtown Reno.

From that, Inspire Reno, a women’s entrepreneurial development center, was born. Ackerman is an author, speaker, motivator and entrepreneur in her own right. When she got the go-ahead to lease the 3,900

The new Business Improvement District in downtown Reno will provide public safety, cleaning and marketing services.

Based on the assessed value of their property, owners in the district will be charged a fee to fund a private organization to provide these services. The new fee will replace two special property tax assessments already paid by most property owners in the proposed downtown district and will generate over $2 million for the private, non-profit organization to maintain the area.

The organization will be run by a private board of directors selected by a nomination committee. The nominating committee will be run by a group of downtown business activists. Ambassadors will be hired to greet tourists in the district and to provide public

More than 200 tech sector CEOs, executives and government leaders flock to Reno for the inaugural VentureBeat Blueprint event.

These tech superstars will examine Reno’s potential at holding the blueprint for emerging technology hubs at this invitation-only, three-day gathering. Their goal is to craft a plan for heartland cities and other areas that feel left behind by the ongoing growth of the industry.

After the 2016 presidential election, VentureBeat noticed an unusual trend with their website. Their traffic dropped by a drastic 20% for about two weeks. Their readers were more interested in knowing what was going on in the nation’s political realm. Along with the drop, Silicon Valley was under a lot of criticism. The west coast tech hub is

Along with Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve, Apple CEO Tim Cook surprised us all with his appearance at the groundbreaking of the new data center in Downtown Reno.

Image courtesy of Las Vegas Review Journal

The new $4 million warehouse is a small extension of Apple’s already wide footprint on the Reno area. The company has announced plans to invest $350 billion in the U.S. economy over the next five years, including doubling the size of its $1 billion data center east of Reno.

“We are pleased to be part of transforming downtown Reno to the vibrant city it should be,” Cook said at the ceremony. “Our commitment to Reno and Northern Nevada is representative of the commitments we’ve made throughout the U.S.”

Cook