UNR center bolsters rural development

Thomas Harris has driven nearly every inch of Nevada.

He remembers one trip to Elko, in particular, when he almost collided with an elk as he came around a curve.

After that, he says, he honked wildly around every turn.

Most of Harris' trips around the state are a lot tamer than that - some might even say mundane.

Harris, an agricultural economist, is director of the Economic Development Center at the University of Nevada, Reno.

The center does research to help Nevada's rural counties grow their economies, and Harris travels the state to collect data to help them apply for federal grants.

"We data gather so people can write economic development plans for CEDS," or Community Economic Development Strategy, to obtain grants from the U.S.

Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration.

He works closely with the Western Nevada Development District, which works in seven northern Nevada counties to secure federal funding.

"Douglas County is by far the best off with the highest income, lowest unemployment," said Mary Lou Bentley, executive director of WNDD, at a recent economic development forum in Carson Valley.

"The bad news is Douglas County qualifies for very few federal programs."

The picture is very different in Lovelock, Hawthorne and other parts of rural Nevada, said Bentley.

"The rural counties are not homogeneous," said Harris.

"Lyon, Douglas, Carson City, they're all growing with Washoe County."

Harris says that as land prices rise in the Reno area, both homeowners and businesses are moving into those adjacent counties.

"You move out to Humboldt County, Elko, that's where mining has been in boom and bust," Harris said.

"That's where we're looking at trying to diversify the economy."

Harris and the center are working to help those counties develop tourism and retail.

In Storey County, for example, the center is working to help Virginia City expand its tourist trade.

"We've been at it for years," said Harris.

To that end, the center is working with the MBA students at the university's business school to develop a marketing plan for Virginia City to better promote its attractions.

Harris also supports efforts to expand the V&T Railroad to Mound House and Virginia City.

The railroad would both provide reliable transportation for more tourists as well as reassure visitors there was a safe way to get in and out of the hilltop town in winter.

"If they could get the railroad then hotels might open up there," said Harris.

"It's a chicken and egg thing."

Harris is also working with Dayton, one of the earliest settlements in the state, to develop history tourism as well as establish a wild horse and burro center in the area.

The center is working on retail development in the rural counties, including attracting Wal-Mart stores and helping Ely keep its J.C.

Penney store.

"Elko,Winnemucca and Fallon all have Wal-Marts," said Harris.

"Wal- Mart is a magnet for attracting other retailers."

In Ely, J.C.

Penney announced plans to close, but with the help of the state economic development division and Gov.

Kenny Guinn the town was able to persuade the retailer to stay open for at least the next nine months, said Harris.