Rural Nevada leaders discuss critical issues at economic forum

A lack of housing and essential infrastructure, coupled with a shortage of skilled workers, dominated discussion at a recent Rural Nevada economic forum in Ely.

A panel of nine state and local officials answered audience questions during the two-hour panel held in the White Pine High School gymnasium on Oct. 11. Housing was the first portion of the discussion as panelists addressed the chicken-or-the-egg conundrum that is rural home building. Rural communities like Ely are poised to grow, with good-paying jobs available. However, potential employees will not relocate without adequate housing. It is estimated Ely needs hundreds of units but only sees a few permits yearly.

The panel included State Agriculture Director J.J. Goicoechea, County Commissioner Janet Van Camp, Assemblyman Bert Gurr, Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony, State Sen. Pete Goicoechea, Ely Mayor Nathan Robertson, educator and City Councilwoman Dr. Jerri Lynn Harper and Northeastern Nevada Regional Development Authority Director Sheldon Mudd.

Robertson lamented the lack of local contractors to build needed homes, and the panel discussed the challenge of potential contractors meeting licensing requirements in Nevada. Those requirements include obtaining at least four years of experience, passing a construction management exam and acquiring an adequate bond.

Meanwhile, recruiting contractors from Las Vegas or Reno is a tall order, as they have plenty of work to do in their backyard. The same goes for contractors in other states who must jump through several hoops with the Nevada State Contractors Board to get licensed in Nevada.

One solution discussed was improving reciprocity – cutting red tape between states to make it easier for out-of-state contractors to work in Nevada.

Gurr said all regulations are on the table as Gov. Joe Lombardo asked every state agency to identify unnecessary regulations to repeal – something J.J. Goicoechea praised, adding, “We need to get reciprocity across the board.”

The panel also discussed how to provide interested youth a path to the construction industry or other trades benefiting the local economy. Gurr mentioned a high school in Reno that builds a house yearly as part of its trade program.

White Pine School District Superintendent Adam Young, who was in the audience, took the opportunity to highlight the district’s “robust tech program,” adding, “Every student that walks through the doors, we serve that student.”

Young said that not every student is motivated to choose a career pathway and “we all need to encourage them not to do the bare minimum.”

A major challenge for the district is inadequate facilities, particularly for David E. Norman Elementary and White Pine Middle School. Both schools are in buildings over 110 years old. State legislature bills in 2021 and 2023 to appropriate $60 million to build new schools went nowhere, and the county doesn’t have the tax base to fund new schools locally.

“It is fiscally impossible for us to build a new school,” Young said.

This led to a conversation on education funding in the state, where Nevada Nevada ranks 46th in the U.S., according to recent reports.

An attendee asked where the money from the newly legalized cannabis industry was going. Sen. Goicoechea, who didn’t support the legalization, said the funding windfall did not materialize.

“[People] thought it would be the golden goose,” he said. “Turns out they were pretty small eggs.”

The outgoing senator later added the state is making strides in education funding. However, he worries about the programs created during COVID that will soon expire. He said the next legislative session “will be a nightmare” as elected officials grapple with the budget.

“A lot of programs we are standing up today are unsustainable,” he said. “We’ve been living on a COVID high.”

Harper brought the conversation full circle as she reminded the gathering that rural Nevada needs to find a way to shine as it competes with the rest of the country to attract talented professionals.

“Being a teacher is a shopper’s paradise,” she said.

The group also focused on positive things happening in Ely and rural Nevada, including how the community “fights for our kids.”

Anthony praised the growing tourism industry and successful agricultural and agritourism businesses. Harper highlighted Great Basin College and its range of job prep programs. Also praised was the White Pine Main Street program, which focuses on revitalizing Ely’s commercial district.

Robertson mentioned road projects in Las Vegas that cost hundreds of millions of dollars and said there are opportunities to solve the biggest problems in rural areas “at a fraction of the cost.”

“We have to interact repeatedly and often with our state and federal officials,” the mayor said. “Government is a team sport.”

The panel was part of the annual Rural Nevada Business & Education Expo, where rural stakeholders recently converged on Ely to network and learn about what is working in rural business and education. The event, organized by the White Pine Chamber of Commerce, included a small business resource fair featuring around 35 business support organizations and a full day of business and education sessions.

Chamber CEO Shadrach Robertson said having state officials “coming out to speak and listen to our community is a welcomed shift towards a better and more rural focus for our state’s leadership.”

He added, “Abundant support from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office of Small Business Advocacy and Melissa Saavedra, its Deputy Director, provided incredible connections for the small business community in White Pine, and other rural areas of Nevada, to the resource organizations that can best support economic growth.”

The CEO said the event was particularly successful in emphasizing education as a way to create economic stability. 

“When education systems enhance the quality of their product it provides sharper development of the workforce and improved market value of homes, as well as enticing new investments in the community,” he said.