Wendover businesses omitted in the city’s need assessment should not expect any apologies or retractions from the reports authors and have not received any from the city itself.
“The report was accepted by the city council,” said George Kleeb, Small Business Development Center Specialist at Great Basin College. “It is up to them.”
The report was indeed submitted and accepted by the city and was characterized as a smashing success despite some rather glaring omissions, errors of fact and erroneous statements concerning just what was present or lacking in the Nevada/Utah border town.
One of the largest errors was that according to the report West Wendover has no hard ware store, which came as a surprise to A & I Hard Ware owner Arby Stone.
“Maybe it is because we are so hard to find,” Stone said. “We are only a big building on Pueblo with a big sign that says ‘HARDWARE’.”
Kleeb defended the report by insisting that most of the information came from for days of town hall meetings his group held in Wendover and that the absence of a hardware store was mentioned.
But while the lack of a hard ware store was a comment made during the meetings the report itself added:
“One would think that with all the homes in West Wendover, the casinos, government buildings and other infrastructure, a local hardware store and a few handymen could exist and be profitable. While there is a hardware store on the Utah side, the study would indicate why these services do not exist on the Nevada side, and what is needed to justify their development. The casinos may prefer to employ their own maintenance staff rather than employ businesses to provide maintenance and repair services. However, this culture can change if it can be shown to be in the long term interests of the casinos and the local community.”
“The problem I have with this report is not that they didn’t see my business,” Stone said. “But if someone reads this report they might think it is a great idea to relocate to Wendover.”
In the second paragraph down the report suggest just that:
“Again as with other services, it might be possible to speak to hardware and other business owners in Elko, and to an number of tradesmen, to see if they would be interested in traveling to West Wendover on a regular basis to provide services to that community. Of course, Elko businesses are extremely busy at this time with mining-generated business and may not have the spare capacity to go to West Wendover to provide additional services there.”
In addition to overlooking a hardware store the report cited there were no auto parts stores or mechanics in town.
Again from the report:
“It was also noted that certain types of businesses people might expect in a community the size of West Wendover/Wendover do not exist. Examples of these businesses are the lack of a dry cleaning business or an auto mechanic. To find these services residents need to travel almost two hours to go to Elko or Salt Lake City.”
While there is no dry cleaning plant located in Wendover there are about a half a dozen mechanics and a franchise auto parts store owned by Wendover, Utah Mayor Mike Crawford.
“No that you mention it I do remember seeing the hardware store,” said the author of that part of the report Carl Dahlen, Community Assessment Coordinator Nevada Rural Development Council. “But there are still parts of the report that are accurate and there may be other parts that are less accurate.”
Dahlen echoed Kleeb’s remarks that most of the fallacies of the report came from audience members not from the team.
But while team members put in observations they may or may not have known as factually wrong in some cases they did some rather heavy editing in others.
“Great Basin College came under heavy criticism,” Kleeb said. “Some said we weren’t offering enough classes or giving good service during the meetings.”
However the report glossed over those comments with “Increased opportunities for college classes such as classes offered by Great Basin College were mentioned. Participants expressed their concerns that the current curriculum offering at Great Basin College was not adequate to meet the demands of the community.”
According to the report, The West Wendover City Council invited the Nevada Rural Development Council (NRDC) to complete a Community Assessment for the City of West Wendover. Funding was secured through the Governor’s Office of Economic Development Community Development Block Grant program. The NRDC assembled a trained and certified resource team to assist in evaluating community challenges, assets and hopes. The team then developed suggestions for improving the quality of life, and the social and economic future for the West Wendover community. The four-day assessment began Monday, April 22, 2013 and concluded with a Town Hall Meeting in the West Wendover City Hall on Thursday, April 25, 2013.
The Resource Team began its visit with listening sessions at the West Wendover Jr. and Sr. High School where they heard the hopes and dreams of High School Students. The next day they received a tour of West Wendover including Wendover, Utah. The team participated in 15 listening sessions overall and received hundreds of citizen comments as well as comments through email and in writing.” Read the report.
Just as unapologetic as the authors is the West Wendover City Council and city staff.
The report is still offered on line for down load and still called a great success on the city’s web page.
