Impact of closures trickles down
By Ken Alltucker
The Pyrenees Motel in downtown Winnemucca advertises "depression rates."
It's no gimmick.
Owner Nalin Bhaata says the eye-catching sign is just a snapshot of the town's mining-dependent economy, which went south one year after he bought the motel in 1996.
"I don't know how we'll do," said Bhaata, wiping the grease off a screwdriver he uses to complete his own repairs around the motel. "Time will tell."
Bhaata, who saves money by not hiring a contractor or handyman, has searched for ways to cut costs because a mining bust has resulted in more than 2,700 layoffs throughout rural Nevada since July 1997. These were among the state's best-paying jobs, with an average salary of more than $52,000 a year, and their loss has dealt a punishing blow to businesses throughout town.
Bhaata's customer base is a combination of travelers and miners seeking temporary quarters. Both are in shorter supply these days.
Business owners in Winnemucca, Battle Mountain, Elko and Ely have laid off employees, eliminated services and trimmed other expenses to weather the downturn. Some have opened new businesses. More often, companies have closed, leaving behind boarded-up storefronts in towns that are shrinking every day.
The net effect: There are fewer jobs in rural Nevada today than two years ago, and not just in the mining industry. Bakeries, restaurants, tire shops and secondhand stores are eliminating employees.
"Everything is hurting, and hurting badly," said Mike Clarke, an economist with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. "Anything mining-related is going to be in trouble."
Clarke said the state doesn't have any up-to-date figures on total job losses or unemployment rates outside Elko, large enough to be classified as a metropolitan area. But for every four miners who lose their jobs, three others in the community also lose work, according to a study by University of Nevada, Reno economist John Dobra.
By that formula, rural Nevada has lost a total of 4,725 jobs - mining and non-mining - in two years Town officials are attempting to diversify the region's mining-dependent economy. Winnemucca is building a special events center to draw more tourists, Battle Mountain plans improvements for its airport and Ely is fostering growth of small, home-grown businesses. But officials concede these are long-term endeavors with little or no immediate payback.
Retailers feel pinch: Rich Choate, the manager of OK Tire in Winnemucca, said he formerly had six employees but now gets by with a crew of three, often pitching in himself.
"It's hurt us with the mining guys being laid off," Choate said, balancing a tire for an older-model Ford Taurus driven by an elderly woman passing through town. "They're not coming in here to buy any fancy tires. They're holding onto their loot."
Choate and many other retailers along Winnemucca Boulevard do better during the summer months. Interstate 80 and U.S. 95 cross through town, and many travelers driving among California, Utah and Idaho stop for the night, eat in local restaurants and get their cars repaired, if needed.
But there seemed to be fewer travelers this summer than a year ago, said Kathy Aboud, who owns the Griddle, a popular restaurant for both tourists and locals.
"Our volume is down one-third," she said. "It's a domino effect. You see it every day."
Retailers that cater more to locals, such as Country Harvest Fabrics, are having a tougher time.
Debbie Seller, who owns the fabric and crafts shop, said business has been drying up the past last couple of years. She attributes the decline to the mining slump and a new Wal-Mart, which opened in January 1998.
"At one time, I had the only fabric store between Reno and Salt Lake City," said Seller, who helps sustain her business by working extra shifts as a waitress at the Red Lion Hotel Casino.
About 30 minutes east on I-80 is Battle Mountain, in Lander County. Retailers there depend on fewer tourist dollars because U.S. 95, the state's main north-south route, doesn't run through town. The difference is illustrated by the state's taxable sales figures for June: Sales in Humboldt County are down 10.8 percent. In Lander County, the figure is 18 percent.
Shop owner diversifies: He started off fixing motorcycles, but now does more repair work for snowmobiles and ATV owners - a popular vehicle for area ranchers.
A longtime Battle Mountain resident, he understood the mining industry was slumping when he opened his shop. He figures things will turn around; otherwise his business might not hold on much longer.
"We haven't been making much," said Killian, a husky, gravelly-voiced man wearing a graying beard, tattered blue jeans and black "Lone Wolf" T-shirt. "A lot of people left, and there are a lot of empty homes around town. It's going to pick up. Otherwise, we're skunked."
Unlike other businesses, Killian's operation is surviving. An auto parts store across the street from Country Boy's closed. Nearby Lemaire's Grocery & Deli is up for sale and its shelves are not being restocked; owner Mary Sisson plans to leave town soon. And just down the street, the Owl Club Casino and Motel, perhaps the most popular spot in downtown Battle Mountain, laid off 30 workers this summer and boarded its windows.
The club's owners posted this brief explanation: "Due to the continued decline in the Battle Mountain economy, which has resulted in a negative impact in the operation of the Owl Club, Jackpot Enterprises Inc. has terminated the operation effective June 29, 1999."
Locals said the plywood-shuttered Owl Club is a reminder of what many don't want to admit. The town is struggling.
Reality hits home:
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Lander County Commissioner Cheryl Lyngar said the Owl Club was a popular meeting spot. "It was kind of the grandfather of the town - it had been here forever," said Lyngar, adding many locals now congregate at nearby Nevada Hotel. "I don't believe we're going to end up a ghost town. We'll move on."
About 215 miles to the southeast, in Ely, where 433 workers were laid off in June with the closing of the Robinson Mine, residents seem more optimistic. It helps that miners will get severance checks at least until November.
Also, Ely has benefited from a wide assortment of government agencies and politicians working to stem off economic disaster. Among other things, development officials are encouraging homegrown businesses. Officials figure it would be tough to attract industry to Ely because it's not located on an interstate.
One business that economic development officials tout as a prototype is Gone Wild, a repair shop that also builds custom Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
The shop is owned by Kelly Marker and Raymond Fisher, who previously owned a successful Reno business, Circular Head Exchange. Fisher sold that business three years ago, moved to his hometown Ely and opened Gone Wild.
His love is to build custom Harleys that are far more powerful and tailored to the customer than the standard factory variety. He builds up to 10 custom bikes a year, with the rest of his revenue generated by repairs and parts sales. White Pine County economic development officials want Fisher to apply for a grant to open a machine shop to make his own parts, but he's uncertain. His new enterprise has eaten up a lot of the profits earned from the sale of the Reno business.
And with the layoffs, he's not sure how this winter will go. "That another reason why I haven't taken that grant," Fisher said.
"I'm not sure we'll be here."