The cover of the April 11, 2011, edition of the Northern Nevada Business Weekly.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week in 2021, we will feature snippets of stories that published a decade ago to provide readers a 10-year perspective of business news in the region. This week’s stories first published in the April 11, 2011, edition of the NNBW.
Restaurants re-think tactics as costs of ingredients rise
Dean Christopher, owner of Blind Onion Pizza & Pub stores on South Virginia Street and Victorian Square, hangs up the phone after a lengthy conversation with his bookkeeper and shakes his head.
Christopher each month purchases more than a ton of flour and about 2,000 pounds of cheese between his two stores, and prices are rising rapidly on both commodities, as well as other dairy products, produce and meats.
“That is what is frustrating about food prices — as soon as there is some sort of catalyst, they will raise prices right away,” Christopher says.
In addition to the rising cost of fuel, which has many food-service companies adding surcharges of $4 to $7 per delivery, a harsher-than-average winter and increasing global demand for U.S. commodities have resulted in sharp increases in commodities prices.
— Page 1, by Rob Sabo
‘Haycations’ provide boost in revenue for ranches, farms in state
Fifty miles from the nearest telephone line and far beyond cell-phone coverage, Soldier Meadows Ranch north of Gerlach appeals to visitors grown weary of bright lights and big cities. But as the snowpack begins its retreat up the Black Rock Mountain Range to the east of the ranch, owners Jim and Kathy Kudrna hold their breath as they wait to see what the summer tourism season will bring.
“We only have a couple of reservations for the summer months right at the moment,” says Kathy Kudrna. “As with last year, it looks like the trend for reservation-making is a lot more last-minute or at least much shorter notice is given to us before our guests’ arrival date.”
For a growing number of farms and ranches in Nevada and nationwide, visits by rural vacationers to take “haycations” are an important part of their annual revenues.
— Page 1, by John Seelmeyer
Manufacturer: Nevada move aids survival
Erika Meciar doesn’t pull any punches in describing the decision of her company — LACO Inc., a manufacturer of wire and cable assemblies, sub-assemblies and final assemblies — to move all of its manufacturing operations to Reno from Livermore, Calif.
“Manufacturing in California,” says company CEO Meciar, “is suicide.”
LACO expects to employ as many 100 people at a new facility at 1150 Trademark Drive in Reno within the next couple of years, and the number of jobs could reach 200 within five years.
Northern Nevada, Meciar says, proved to be a central location to serve LACO’s customers in California, Arizona and Nevada — plus, the region’s business-friendly tax and regulatory environment was key.
— Page 3, by John Seelmeyer
