Also under way is a dampening effect nobody wants to talk about: an ever-shrinking pool of experienced resort developers.

With major companies locking in their executives with employment contracts and rewarding officials with record-breaking salaries and bonuses, the latest wave of Strip developers needs to look harder and deeper for talent.

Some are finding success in luring people out of retirement or attracting them with opportunities to play a major role in big, upcoming resorts.

One of the biggest hiring binges in town is at Edge Group, the partnership that is building Las Vegas' first W hotel with hotel chain Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. The company has hired more than 50 people in recent months — many of them condo sales people as well as some high-ranking officials from competing properties.

Among the new hires:

• Glen Kaiser, a former vice president of resort builder Marnell Corrao Associates, who will become the project's senior vice president of design and construction. Kaiser supervised construction management for the Bellagio, Mirage and Treasure Island.

• Nick Naples, senior vice president of development and operations, is a former corporate vice president of hotel operations for Harrah's Entertainment and oversaw Harrah's expansion from 12 to 26 properties. He also managed properties for the Ritz Carlton and Hyatt chains.

• Josh Hirsberg, chief financial officer, served as treasurer and head of investor relations for Caesars Entertainment before it was purchased by Harrah's.

• Kevin Stuessi, senior vice president of food and beverage, was Steve Wynn's food and beverage chief when Wynn owned Mirage Resorts. He headed food and beverage at Wynn Las Vegas and also worked on the concepts for Wynn's Macau casino, scheduled to open this year.

• Peter Walterspiel, vice president of development, was assistant vice president of hotel operations at Wynn Las Vegas responsible for the construction, engineering and purchasing for the 2,700-room property.

• Mark Birtha, vice president of development, is former executive director of casino marketing administration at the Venetian. Birtha managed the beverage department at the Mirage and oversaw planning for Las Vegas Sands' Sands Macau, Venetian Macau and Cotai Strip properties.

Hiring for Edge Group, with three partners who were relative unknowns in Las Vegas, was difficult at first.

But that got easier with time as the project, including financing, has come together, Edge Group President Adam Frank said.

"We're evolving into a company, not just a property," he said. "We are attracting entrepreneurs who are excited about being involved in something from the ground up."

Separately, casino newcomer Olympia Gaming recently hired Dean Harrold, the former president of Bally's, the Las Vegas Hilton and Caesars Palace under Park Place Entertainment, to oversee at least four planned casinos in Southern Nevada and a proposed $500 million resort in Sparks.

Olympia Gaming is a subsidiary of a company owned by real estate developer Garry Goett that built the Southern Highlands master-planned community.

Harrold was more recently involved with an investor group that attempted to buy the Aladdin out of bankruptcy. His severance package from Park Place, which became Caesars Entertainment before it was swallowed by Harrah's Entertainment, would have allowed him to retire comfortably.

Harrold, who turned down other job offers for the vice chairman post at Olympia, said he couldn't refuse the assignment to create a casino company with entrepreneur Goett.

"This is an incredible opportunity to create a culture," he said. "Our culture will be one where there's no elitism, from top to bottom ¦ the most important people are those who come into contact with our guests."

Olympia Gaming's parent company has hired Cass Palmer from Boyd Gaming Corp. Palmer worked under Harrold at Bally's and Caesars Palace.

"He was going to be hired out of Boyd by another company in town and was going to call me for a reference," Harrold said. "I called Goett and said, 'If we want Cass, we'd better act now.' "

Harrold and Goett are looking to fill some top positions.

With all of the other casino projects under way around town, "it's a very tight labor market right now," Harrold said. "But we want the very best people."

"There are a lot of presidents who worked for me that now run their own properties," he said. "We were a team. As president, I was always on the floor (with my employees). I know a number of people who, if they're not under contract, I can get in a heartbeat."

Olympia runs the Casino Fandango in Carson City with consultant Navegante Group in Las Vegas. It is planning a $2 billion mixed-use project with a casino resort at the northeast corner of St. Rose Parkway and I-15. The company also aims to build a locals casino in North Las Vegas near the Aliante community as well as a casino resort near Mesquite.

The company also owns 250 acres of land between Starr and Cactus avenues, south of the South Coast, on which it expects to build at least one and perhaps two casinos.