ECONOMIC VITALITY IN DOUGLAS COUNTY

With 13 years of experience in the Hospitality industry, Nikki Rudelbach, Economic Vitality Manager for Douglas County, shared with Minden Rotarians what her new position entails and who would benefit from reaching out to her.

The Economic Vitality Manager is responsible for implementing the Economic Vitality Plan (developed in 2021 and will be updated in 2027), and connecting new and existing businesses to economic development services. “The majority of my time is spent engaging with the community,” says Rudelbach, “particularly in the areas of housing and workforce.”  She helps local businesses search for funding sources, navigate the planning and permitting process, and make connections, including possible employees at job fairs.

In an effort to develop a thriving climate for business, she is focused on:

• Broadband - search for funding continues to improve broadband access.  While the access has been updated on 395, there are still spots (in town, off Johnson, TRE and in Lake Tahoe) that still have weak coverage yet the FCC shows we have plenty of coverage.  So better coverage needs to come from lines linked to the 395 updated lines.

• Career Bound NV - Work based learning for high school students was initially focused on Healthcare.  In the last state funding, NV works got the money instead of Career Bound, and so it is yet to be seen what programs will be continued.

• Minden Tahoe Airport is now managed by a Douglas County employee.  The vision is to bring a new power and glider hanger to the facility.

Rudelback also focuses efforts on developing distinctive downtown areas (such as facade improvements modeled in the successful program in Gardnerville, streamlined tools for small businesses and a vision plan for Kahle Drive), enhancing arts and culture through outdoor arts program installations, and capitalizing on outdoor recreation and lifestyle through a comprehensive trails program.

Finally, Rudelback indicated that she is putting a lot of effort into creating a local Douglas County business toolkit similar to that available to businesses on the state SilverFlume website.  Howard Vipperman, Rotarian and local business owner that was moved from California, praised the state of Nevada for how much easier it is to operate a business in this state than it was in California.