Topping the recent list of announcements, Business Bank of Nevada has unveiled plans for a headquarters complex in Summerlin.

The new offices will be part of a 150,000-square-foot office development at West Charleston Boulevard and and Pavillion Center Drive. Business Bank will occupy about 35,000 square feet, up from the 20,000 square feet the Las Vegas-based bank occupies at its current headquarters at 6085 W. Twain Avenue.

Construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year and be completed by late 2005.

Bank President John Guedry estimated a final cost for the project at $30 million. The bank's holding company, Business Bank Corp., is an investor in the property and lease revenue will help offset the cost of the new building.

Guedry said the new headquarters will be a key component in the bank's effort to attract and keep top employees in a market he described as increasingly competitive.

"It's a tough labor market (for banks)," he said. "What we wanted to do was locate our corporate offices where the predominant number of our employees are going to live."

Business Bank also is considering the inclusion of additional perks, such as an on-site exercise facility, again to make the company attractive to employees.

Additionally, Guedry said the high-end offices at a notable address should be seen as the company's prospects for growth.

In December, Business Bank sold its Twain headquarters building for $5.7 million and sped up work to finalize the move. The branch at Twain will remain open.

While unpopular, new state banking taxes passed by the 2003 Legislature might play a role in fostering some bank expansion plans, Guedry said.

"Part of the motivation to continue to grow is to offset some of those new expenses," he said, adding that expansion into some smaller markets could be limited.

Business Bank recently announced plans for a 4,100-square-foot branch in Minden. The move allows the expansion of a small office and loan production office in that Northern Nevada town. Guedry, however, said that the plans might not have been possible if there was more competition in that market, given the new taxes that would cut into revenue.

"It does affect plans for the small-market areas," he said.

Business Bank also announced plans to move one of its three Las Vegas-area branches from Maryland Parkway and Flamingo Road to a site twice as large at Tropicana and Eastern avenues. The company also is building a branch in North Las Vegas.

Along with Business Bank, Nevada State Bank has opened a new branch at 10610 Southern Highlands Parkway. Also, Bank of America continues its plan to open 19 new branches in two years, and U.S. Bank has opened two new grocery store branches this year.

Accounting Alliance Staffing Services, which has one office in Las Vegas, will change its name next month to Ledgent.

The name change will unite all of the accounting subsidiaries of parent company Roth Staffing Companies Inc. under one name. The company had been operating under the Accounting Alliance and Abacus staffing names.

The new name takes effect July 15.

Kevin Rademacher covers utilities and finance for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4069 or by e-mail at kevinr@lasvegassun.com.