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Keeping
In Touch
 Two bedroom communities
in Arizona and Nevada found that closer cooperation
worked to the benefit of both. Bullhead City and Laughlin discovered
they were dependent on each other for their employment base, economic
support and social demands. By focusing on their community economic
and social interdependence, they multiplied their efforts to address
similar community issues and future decisions. Nevada
Cooperative Extension facilitated discussions among political
leaders, key business executives and social agencies of both
communities and helped them develop a strategic plan and a way to
measure economic and social linkages. Key issues identified were
economic dependency, tourism development and childcare. As a result,
community leaders initiated a shop-at-home campaign, resulting in
local sales increases of up to 20 percent for participating
businesses. The leaders also developed a proposal for a youth and
child care facility that received $2 million in funding support from
Clark County Commissioners, and boosted tourism by raising nearly $18
million for a state highway extension into southern California.
 Local retailers in
Fallon, Nevada learned that sometimes bigger is better, even in a
small town. Already feeling an economic pinch, local businesses were
threatened when Wal-Mart opened a store in the community. Nevada
Extension educators conducted an economic study and found there was
enough retail potential for Wal-Mart and the local retailers. As a
result of Wal-Mart and other new businesses coming in, and the
revitalization of old businesses, taxable sales in the county rose
more than 30 percent the first year and an additional 11 percent the
next year. The county Economic Development Authority noted that
Wal-Mart put no one out of business; on the contrary, the area was
able to attract all kinds of new businesses and become a regional
commercial hub. The business owners who heeded the economists’
advice are actually doing better.
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