The strangest question Pamela duPre
has been called upon to answer?
"Where can I get my gas mask
recharged in Reno?"
Like any lifelong resident of Reno,
duPre immediately knew an answer
Twin City Surplus on East Fourth.
Her ability to quickly answer questions,
both routine and strange, is being put to
the test more these days.
DuPre, a support services assistant at
the Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce,
is on the front line whenever anyone
seeking information about moving to the
area calls the chamber.
Her business is booming.
In September, the chamber office
mailed 192 relocation packets. That's
more than double the number mailed in
the same month last year. And, duPre
noted last week, the September onslaught
of requests came on the heels of recordbusy
months during June and July. In
those early days of summer, she typically
hauled three carts a day filled with relocation
packets down to the mailbox.
The pace will only pick up, chamber
officials guess, when the fall edition of
Where to Retire magazine hits the stands.
The magazine describes Reno as a vibrant
place to live, where "festivals give Reno a
feeling that a party is always going on
somewhere in town."
Already, duPre said, requests for relocation
packets from seniors outnumber
other requests by a two-to-one mark.
How can she tell a caller is a senior?
Some, of course, say they plan to retire.
Another giveaway is the common query
whether Del Webb has built a Sun City
property in the region.
"They are moving here in droves," said
duPre. "My phone is ringing off the
hook."
Relocating retirees, she said, are particularly
curious about crime rates, healthcare
services, taxes and the availability of
gated communities in the area.
Cultural amenities, too, rate highly. As
one caller asked duPre, "Please tell me
that Gordie Brown isn't your only art and
culture."
Callers for business relocation packets,
meanwhile, are interested in taxes,
demography and growth rates. DuPre
refers many of those callers to the
Economic Development Authority of
Western Nevada.
No matter whether the callers are
retirees or businesspersons planning to
relocate operations in Nevada, the largest
number of calls come from California.
Texas is next, followed by Florida.
While duPre tries to answer every
question tossed her way, she deflects a few
that would require her to pick one chamber
of commerce member over another.
"Can you recommend a Realtor?" is one.
Another is, "Who has the best buffet in
town?"
The occasional caller who wants information
about brothels also sets duPre
back.
"I give them the Nevada Brothel
Association phone number, and let them
take it from there," she said.
The ability of duPre and her co-workers
to handle the rising tide of relocation
calls wins praise from chamber chief executive
Harry York, who called their performance
"superb."
It helps that duPre believes in the
mission.
"At the end of the day," she said, "I
know I've truly helped people."
