Residents provide input to economic development model

Last week at the Lincoln County Regional Development Authority meeting, a dozen community members and leaders worked together to identify valuable community assets. Now, Lincoln residents are asked to participate in an online survey that will contribute to county planning and development down the line: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RP5ZSB6.

As part of the Nevada Economic Assessment Project, or NEAP, economic specialists from Extension are working with rural counties to establish a baseline of data including demographic, social, fiscal, land use and economic characteristics. In their second visit to Lincoln, they delivered a draft of the secondary data to county leaders and residents, who then provided input on the community?s existing and desired assets.

?This is simply a snapshot of the assets that the community has identified as good,? says Marlene Rebori, with Extension. ?It is a process that helps a community identify desired outcomes as well as gaps in services, which is useful in setting community goals.?

Participants pointed out several valuable community assets alongside assets that are lacking. For example, the local bike trails attract residents and visitors, but there is a lack of local bike clubs. Gunsmiths were an identified asset, but participants also expressed interest in seeing other types of trades in their community. Other desired assets included a Rotary Club, a mental health center, and a substance abuse center. The online survey is a great opportunity for residents who did not attend the meeting to identify the community assets they view as most valuable.

This is the second time that NEAP has been presented to the LCRDA. Vice-Chair Varlin Higbee commented that NEAP provides good support for future grant writing and planning. Executive Director Jeff Fontaine mentioned that even early drafts of the report have been beneficial to county planning.

Extension Educator Don Deever, who has contributed cultural research to the full report, said this step of the process will ?determine how Lincoln County can best profit from its bountiful assets.? By the end of the meeting, members of the audience were discussing aspects of Lincoln County they had not known about, such as the past presence of a Chamber of Commerce.

The program is not complete without input from Lincoln residents who were unable to attend the LCRDA meeting, but who know the strengths and needs of their county. The online survey is available February 12 at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RP5ZSB6. The survey takes an estimated ten minutes to fill out. By participating in the survey, community members will provide input that will aid in county planning. The survey will be open through March 24.

NEAP is led by the University of Nevada, Reno Extension and the University Center for Economic Development, but an entire team is collaborating including University of Nevada College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, the Nevada Association of Counties, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development.