Future to change area dynamics

Northern Nevada has been going through an industrial boom for the past two years aided in part by expansion and the construction of the Tesla Gigafactory that began more than two years ago in Storey County.

Tesla broke ground on the Gigafactory in June 2014 at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center located midway between Sparks and Fernley. According to the Tesla website, the Gigafactory will reach full capacity in 2018 and produce more lithium ion batteries annually than were produced worldwide in 2013.

Growth is inevitable as Nevada is quickly becoming a leader in the West.

Sarah Lafrance, candidate for the Board of Regents District 9, is sponsoring an open town hall discussion on Monday on the future of western Nevada and the Fallon-Fernley area

Entitled “What will our community be like in 2020.” the discussion will focus the need of higher education in developing the workforce.

The town hall begins at 5 p.m. at the Fallon Convention Center.

Lafrance is passionate about an educated workforce meeting the challenges of the 21st century, one of the many thoughts she had after touring the area with Lance Gilman, a developer and principal of TRIC, a 102,000 acre industrial complex known as the largest planned industrial center in North America.

And what people see is just the iceberg. The Nevada Department of Transportation’s USA Parkway/State Route 439 project has reached a milestone as paving of the future roadway extension has begun. When travelers pass TRIC on Interstate 80, they don’t see the center on the other side of the mountain. Lafrance said the south side of the mountain has about the same number of parcels as the north side, the one where all the expansion and building is now occurring.

“All parcels are divided and all utilities and fiber are installed,” she said.

“I thought of how Fallon could be impacted, and Fernley is beginning to feel it,” she said.

Furthermore, several weeks ago, the state director of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Rural Development also noted Fernley and Fallon will feel the impact of the new businesses at TRIC.

Sarah Adler said people new to the area will need a place to live, and she is encouraging families to consider communities east of TRIC because of affordability.

What Lafrance saw on her tour is the number of companies that need trained employees — either companies who seek graduates with university degrees — such as engineers — or technically trained employees who have specific certifications.

“It’s almost impossible for a young person to get out of high school and get one of the jobs,” she said.

Because of her tour and her discussions with Gilman, Lafrance thought it would beneficial to the area for Gilman to speak in Fallon about TRIC and the need for an educated workforce. A resident of Northern Nevada for almost 30 years, Gilman was the exclusive broker for the South Meadows Business Park. Since 2000, L. Lance Gilman Commercial Real Estate has been the exclusive broker for TRIC.

While Gilman will discuss the current and future growth, retired Western Nevada College Fallon dean and current county commissioner Bus Scharmann will discuss education and WNC’s role in developing and training the workforce.

Scharmann retired as dean in 2011 after serving 35 years. He also served one year as interim superintendent for the Churchill County School District until the trustees selected a new educational leader.

Voters first elected Scharmann to the county commission in 2012, and he ran unopposed this year.