Department of Business and Industry outlines staffing, technology and board-oversight priorities to Commerce and Labor Committee

Christopher Sanchez, director of the Department of Business and Industry, told the Assembly Committee on Commerce and Labor in Carson City that the agency will prioritize adding staff and consolidating information-technology systems to improve services across 12 regulatory divisions.

"We touch almost a million Nevadans annually," Sanchez said, describing the department that houses 12 regulatory divisions and the occupational-licensing boards transferred to the agency under 2023 legislation. He said the department is pursuing what he called a "rightsizing" effort to provide in-house human resources support and to consolidate IT work now spread across multiple divisions.

Sanchez and deputy directors outlined reasons the changes are needed and work the department expects this session. The presentation, delivered at a committee organizational meeting, detailed division responsibilities ranging from industrial-relations workplace safety to the Nevada Housing Division’s administration of roughly $1 billion in ARPA funds for the Home Means Nevada initiative.

Why it matters: Committee members pressed the department on customer-service timeframes and staffing for specialized technical positions. Several divisions said insufficient staff and aging technology are constraining licensing and oversight functions; the department said it will follow up with more detailed response-time data for all divisions.

Key points from the presentation

- Organization and staffing: Sanchez said the department employs about 775 people and is seeking dedicated HR staff and additional public-information capacity to better coordinate with boards and the public. "We do not have a single in house HR person in our agency," he said.

- Boards and commissions oversight: Nikki Hague, deputy director for the Office of Boards, Commissions and Council Standards, briefed the committee on the office created by SB431 (2023) and said SB78 is intended to expand oversight and accountability for Title 54 occupational-licensing boards. "SB431 did not provide the necessary funding or staff to fully support these efforts," Hague said.

- Small-business support and outreach: Marcel Schaerrer, deputy director for business advocacy, described the Nevada Business Resource Hub and its interactive "road map" of more than 400 links to state and local resources, and said the office conducts quarterly meetings, a small-business fair and other outreach. "We connect, we educate, we innovate," Schaerrer said.

- Consumer protection and minority outreach: The director’s office houses a consumer-affairs unit that Sanchez said receives more than 3,500 calls a year; Schaerrer noted the unit recovered more than $1 million for consumers in 2024 and highlighted a small minority-affairs commission that advises on outreach.

- Division-level highlights and bills mentioned: Perry Fagan, deputy director, summarized operations in industrial relations (e.g., mine safety training, OSHA consultations and mechanical licenses), the Transportation and Taxi authorities, and the Division of Insurance, which he said regulates an industry he estimated at roughly $25 billion in Nevada and contributes premium-tax revenue to the general fund. Presenters referenced AB74 (Department of Insurance omnibus bill) and AB38 (Nevada Housing Division changes for manufactured housing and recovery-fund language) as bills that will affect division operations.

- Housing and ARPA funds: Steve Aichroth, administrator of the Nevada Housing Division, said the division is moving Home Means Nevada ARPA funds and expects substantial disbursements to be completed by fiscal year 2026; he also said AB38 contains cleanup language for manufactured-housing inspections and the recovery fund. In response to a member question about whether AB38 addresses a private-plumbing responsibility dispute in a constituent case, Aichroth said, "Specifically to your question, no, it does not," and offered to follow up individually.

Committee direction and next steps

Committee members asked the department to provide data on average licensing and permit processing times by division after members raised concerns about past backlogs. Sanchez said the backlog described earlier in a different hearing appears to be from the pandemic period and pledged a written report on current response times for each division.

No formal committee votes were taken on policy changes during the presentation. The committee scheduled follow-up information and signaled interest in legislation affecting boards and division staffing this session.

Ending

Department staff said the common theme of the presentation is investment in people and technology: updated job descriptions, training and centralized IT and HR to improve customer service and administration across divisions. Committee members thanked the department and asked for a written report on licensing response times and specific staffing requests.