Downtown envisioned for Pahrump — how it’s coming together

In 2017, the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) established Nevada Main Street and the program has quickly grown to include more than two dozen active Main Street organizations all across the state, the newest of which is launching right here in Pahrump.

“Being part of this program, it’s so valuable,” Donna Corey told the Pahrump Valley Times. “Particularly for the rural areas of the state. Through this program, members can have access to some funding, to some training, to a strong format by which they can help the businesses that exist to improve the look and the feel of their downtown areas.”

Corey is the assistant executive director of Southwest Central Regional Economic Development Authority (SWCREDA), which falls under GOED. As such, it is part of Corey’s mandate to assist with creating the local Main Street organization.

She is now a member of the newly formed Pahrump Valley Main Street Board of Directors, along with SWCREDA President Roy Mankins, Great Basin College Pahrump Director Chris Salute, community activist Dr. Tom Waters and town of Pahrump tourism director Arlette Ledbetter.

Acting as a liaison of sorts for the board is Jaynee Reeves, who works as an administrative secretary for the county and town.

Selected as the director for Pahrump Valley Main Street is Karen McHale, a real estate agent with a background that includes accounting. She’s also a retired engineer who worked in construction project management for many years. “So I know how to estimate everything, how to put the projects together. If we need permits or anything like that, I know how to do all of that,” McHale said.

Now that the organization’s by-laws have been written and its nonprofit paperwork filed, the board can get down to the business of picking projects to pursue. They’ll be starting with small initiatives, mainly aimed at beautification, McHale explained.

As it stands today, Pahrump doesn’t have a formal “downtown” area and that’s something Pahrump Valley Main Street aims to change.

“We’ve designated a ‘downtown’ and we’ll begin to work to give it that feel, as much as we can,” Corey explained, noting that the stretch of Highway 160 from Calvada Blvd. to just past Basin Avenue has been selected for Pahrump Valley Main Street’s focus. The group is also eyeing the stretch of Calvada Blvd. from Highway 160 to Pahrump Valley Blvd. as a possible future arts district and looks to include businesses along Highway 372 in its efforts, too.

“There’s been a lot of brainstorming and we have a long list of things we could do, so we’re going to pick a few small things to focus on first. We’ll then have to develop those out. We need to figure out what we need, how much it’s going to cost, who is involved - is it county, is it NDOT, is it private? — and then we have to get funding,” McHale added.

The Nevada Main Street program offers its own funding opportunities, with $663,000 awarded to 16 different Main Street organizations this year alone. That allotment included almost $50,000 for Tonopah Main Street for downtown park storefront improvements. McHale said she intends to apply for Nevada Main Street funds in the 2025 grant cycle but she’ll be looking into much more than just this.

“We can also go after all kinds of other grants,” McHale, who has grant writing experience, remarked. “So I’ll be going out there to see what other funds we can pull in as well.”

The domain name for the pending website PahrumpValleyMainStreet.org has been secured and the board will be holding formal meetings once a month moving forward. McHale noted that board intends to work closely with as many local partners as it can to achieve the greatest outcome for the community. For more complex projects, the board will also be forming sub-committees that will offer a chance for local stakeholders to get directly involved.

For more information on Pahrump Valley Main Street contact Corey at Corey.SWCREDA@gmail.com

More on the state program can be found at GOED.NV.gov

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com