<html> <body> If I weren't so old and so close to retirement, I DEFINITELY consider it! Even at $200.00 a tuning! :-D Avery At 09:34 AM 4/7/2006, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">   Hi David   How are you.  Sound prosperous but overworked.     Hey I'll come down for a couple weeks & we'll bill 300 dollars a tuning for the prophets from out of town value added, hot gas, add naueum & travel expense etc. People luv that stuff!!   Just kidding.  Sound like an oppurtunity for some one who might love the desert.   Dale       Greetings, <dl> <dd>If anyone is interested or has thought about relocating to a new area please read further. <dd>A brief history: I moved to Las Vegas in 1992 from Southern Maine. My reason for picking this area is because it offered a boating industry that I could fall back on in case the piano biz didn’t work out. Houston would’ve been my first choice (did a market survey, thanks Randy) but I saw more entry potential in Southern Nevada. I began with a yellow pages ad and after two years of courting piano dealers I was able to have a good relationship with a reputable business as an independent technician. <dd>Since I have been in Las Vegas the population has grown from 500,000 and is now close to 2 million. According to city static’s 7000 family’s a month move in and 3000 move out. The construction industry has exploded and projections are the same for the next 20 years. Yes, the hotel/casino industry does supply a lot of jobs for the economy, however, all aspects of the service industry flourish. <dd>Our local PTG Chapter has 13 members (7 RPT’s, 6 Assoc.). Most of us are working full time as self employed business owners with some dealer work and major residential accounts. Two members have rebuilding capabilities but one of them will be retiring soon and some of the other RPT’s are no longer in business. One member handles most of the “strip” accounts had has done so for almost 30 years. This area is also expanding with the construction of new luxury hotels. <dd>My cries are this, This city is growing at an alarming rate at the need for good tuning and technical skill is in demand. I average 40 to 50 calls on my answering machine a week. Unfortunately I cannot keep up with the requests and I have been referring some work to other tech’s in town but they are also busy. I have been fortunate enough to have built a good reputation for myself and have tuning, regulating and voicing work to keep me busy without any large commercial accounts. PianoDisc and Yamaha Disklavier player piano’s are very popular and I have expanded my service to include electro/mechanical service and installation. This takes the lions share of shop space and time but I am able to do some rebuilding between dealer projects. I cannot keep up with the demand of the piano dealer to keep floor models tuned and prepped as well as provide after sales service calls and concert rental service. There is one technician that has partnered with a store owner and has expanded his retail store and is now offering Sauter, Petrof and some other economy brands. Another business will soon be opening a Bosendorfer dealership soon. There are three existing reputable dealers in town with brisk sales business throughout the year. <dd>Las Vegas is a great place to live as well as a vacation destination. The arts are not as outstanding as other cities yet but the University has a wonderful theater with Ballet productions, L.V. Philharmonic as well as guest performers. <a href="http://www.lasvegasphilharmonic.com/"> http://www.lasvegasphilharmonic.com/</a> <dd>Also, there is a performing arts theatre in the planning stages to be built at the south end of the Strip. <dd>If anyone would like so more information about moving to the area please contact me privately, David Chadwick RPT <a href="mailto:chadwick61@cox.net"> chadwick61@cox.net</a> I am currently the chapter president and would enjoy speaking with anyone who is interested in establishing a business in Las Vegas. </dl> </blockquote></body> </html>