Showcase features Nevada goods

Local and regional merchants will set up shop inside the Carson Mall on Wednesday to show off their goods - from sourdough yeast starter kits to hand-made pottery.

And all of them have one thing in common: Their products are made in Nevada.

The two dozen businesses attending Wednesday's event, including a special showcase for lawmakers on Tuesday, will offer samples of their products and give locals an idea what their neighbors are making and selling. The "marketplace" will last from 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Moreover, it will be a chance for the collective marketing initiative known as "Made In Nevada" to let others know what the Silver State has to offer, said Lynette Castillo, a volunteer program manager for the 22-year-old effort. To belong to the organization, a business must make or assemble half of its product in Nevada.

Two of the organization's newest members are based in Carson City and will be at the event on Wednesday.

Robin McGregor, the owner of Carson City Pottery, which is located inside the Children's Museum of Northern Nevada, 813 N. Carson St., said she joined about two months ago to help market her business.

"I just hope to get a lot of exposure," McGregor said. "People don't know about the school and I'd love to sell out all of my pottery. Making connections with other artists that will be there."

The same goes for Landon Roser the owner of San Rafael Coffee Co., 711 South Carson St., who joined last week.

Long-time member Sharon Donaldson-Arnold, owner of Great Basin Sourdough Starter Co. in Winnemucca, said she opened her business in 1994 after wandering into a Made In Nevada store and asked if they sold any sourdough starter kits.

The store didn't at the time.

"So I did," she said.

Donaldson-Arnold said she started cultivating sourdough yeast cultures in 1972 and turned her yeast culture into a business. Today, many museums around the state, as well as the gift shop inside the Nevada Legislature, carry her product that includes a recipe book for sourdough goods and a freeze-dried sourdough yeast starter kit.

She said she's been a member of Made In Nevada for 13 years and currently chairs the board for the nonprofit.

"So yeah, it's helped me a lot," she said.

Donaldson-Arnold said the organization had about 40 members in 2005 and has grown to about 150 since then.

Fran Pritchard, 67, the owner of Killer Salsa in Minden, said she started her business 18 years ago after she and her husband moved to the region. He had retired and she decided to look for work, but had little luck finding it.

"I couldn't find a job and everybody told me I made a killer salsa," she said.

So she whipped up a batch and brought it to area gas stations to try and sell it.

"And the next thing I know I'm in business," Pritchard said.

Eventually she got her foot in the door with Scolari's, the Reno-based grocery store chain, and today sells her product - which includes seven flavors - in 89 supermarkets throughout the region.

"This event we're doing Wednesday, it will just make people aware that we're a local company," Pritchard said. "We're just trying to keep people employed in our little valley."

If you go

Made In Nevada Marketplace

Where: Carson Mall, 1313 S. Carson St.

When: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday

What: About two dozen merchants will showcase and sample their Made In Nevada goods.

Contact: 775-315-5718

Online: www.madeinnevada.org