LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A tech company has partnered with some big-name companies like Kroger and Dominos to deliver orders to homes in a driverless vehicle. The new technology will be built and tested right here in Southern Nevada.
Nuro is an autonomous delivery company with plans to expand in the Las Vegas valley. They have agreed to invest $40 million to build two facilities, a manufacturing facility and a test site.
Gov. Steve Sisolak said this will provide 250 new jobs and will help Southern Nevada recover from the pandemic.
“We have lost a lot of people from jobs, especially in the hospitality that we will never get back, we will just not be able to return all these guys, so we need a new work field to train people to get into,” Gov. Sisolak told 13 Action News.
The thought of robots taking over people’s jobs is a fear for some. Dave Ferguson, the co-founder and President of Nuro, said his company will be creating entirely new jobs with his technology.
“As opposed to replacing existing jobs, most of these deliveries don’t exist today,” Ferguson said.
“So, if you look at groceries where 3% to 4% are delivered, we anticipate that it’s going to be more like 50% once you can get a service that can do it incredibly affordable.”
The projected average starting wage for these jobs will be $27.50.
Sisolak said we must be mindful of our future. He wants to bring in more tech companies to speed up the recovery from this pandemic.
“This should solve some of the labor shortages that are existing and it’s going to transfer the labor from the driving to another function,” said Sisolak.
Ferguson said safety is their number one priority when it comes to their autonomous vehicles.
“It’s a full-blown commitment to make sure we are putting out an unbelievably safe vehicle and really contributing to the overall safety of roads and communities,” said Ferguson.
The Governor’s Office of Economic Development is expecting these facilities to be completed in 2022.
