There's a new rider on the range of Nevada's rural counties, and he's encouraging them to think seriously about the future of their economies.
They've really been shocked out in the field because the position long has been vacant, says Joe Locurto, rural economic development coordinator at the Nevada Commission on Economic Development. His first task, since taking the job four months ago, was letting rural economic development directors know he's here.
But it's up to them, he says, to determine where they want to be. "They have to have a vision," he says, before he can help find the tools to build it.
Locurto's position is a conduit between the state and federal funds available and the rural economic development authorities who field proposals. Depending on the project, funds might come from the Department of Tourism or from a community block grant to build an industrial park.
"Rural economies can be highly exciting, when they catch a vision of where they see themselves in 10 years," says Locurto.
But some counties don't want change.
"There's no such thing as coasting," says Locurto.
"There's no such thing as staying where you are. Nothing coasts unless it's going downhill."
When citizens gather to talk about projects, he sometimes hears ranchers say, "We don't want growth."
Why?
"It'll ruin the open space."
But, says Locurto, these days on the farm, someone in the family has to work a day job.
"If you don't have those job opportunities, that's a double blow to agricultural economies."
And sometimes it's the county governments that don't want help.
"The history of the West is one of independence and self-sufficiency," says Locurto. "The pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps mentality. That went out with the Industrial Revolution."
He saw the same situation in Wyoming, where he previously worked at the Uinta County Economic Development Commission.
"You can't promote economic development in a vacuum. I was always looking for ways to unite the counties. I saw this position as an opportunity to connect the rural parts of Nevada. Two counties working on the same thing is inefficient. Duplication can kill a project. Counties don't always like to work together. If we can come in and hook them up, it could be win-win situation."
Success, he notes, is measured by the citizens of a county. To some, tourism is their measure of success. Some communities, such as Elko County, have a healthy blend of tourism and industry. And White Pine County is moving that way.
But when it comes to resources, the rural counties do not compete on a level playing field.
"The more remote they are from major highways, air and rail, the more difficult development will be," says Locurto.
However, all the rural counties stand united in their top concerns: affordable housing and workforce availability.
While affordable housing is the No. 1 workforce problem, a shortage of workforce skills is the more pernicious. A near-term solution is to recruit skilled labor. But a company that moves here can just as easily pick and move somewhere else, he says. "It's got no roots."
The long-term solution is for communities to grow their own skilled workforce.
"A good university program can attract students from around the world," Locurto says. "There's always an interest in developing research centers, but that requires seed money from the state. It wouldn't have to be biotech; it could be agriculture.
"Then," he says, "there has to be a mechanism for commercializing the research. Incubators must partner with business."
