It's 1969 all over again when it comes to quality Carson Country's economy

Carson City and surrounding rural counties may have flourishing economies, but the quality of the local economy doesn't measure up to 1969, an economic analysis of the region shows.

Low wages that plague Northern Nevada drive down the gains the region scores in economic growth, said Bill Fruth, who did economic reports for Carson City, Douglas and Lyon counties.

Fruth said the quality of Carson Country's economy is well below where it was in 1969.

"People will see these wage numbers and say you should force employers to pay more money," Fruth said. "That would be the worst thing to do."

The region needs to bring in higher-paying jobs rather than drastically raising wages in low-skill jobs, he said.

"The bottom rung gets pulled up as you improve the wages in the primary industries," he said.

"Overall, I think you're about in the middle of the pack, rankingwise," Fruth said.

Fruth is president of POLICOM Corp. in Jupiter, Fla., a research firm that analyzes community economies and helps these communities set economic goals.

A private-public partnership in the three counties hired Fruth for $14,000 to pick apart the local economy as Carson City strives to establish an economic strategic plan. City Hall, together with business leaders and schools, wants to determine how best to develop the dwindling undeveloped land in the city.

Fruth weighed the economic strength of Carson Country by analyzing the year-to-year consistency of the economic climate. He added in growth and size, especially looking at job opportunities.

Fruth found that the local economy has grown faster than the nation, state and 10 strongest metropolitan areas during the past 20 years.

The quality of the economy, however, has not kept up, resulting in relatively slow growth of the annual earnings per worker.

Fruth ranks the Carson City-Lyon-Douglas region at No. 234 in growth in worker earnings from 1994 to 1998, compared with the nation's 318 metropolitan areas. Population growth and job growth in the same time frame ranked No. 9 and No. 14, respectively.

The capital region is not a metropolitan area, but Fruth matches its statistics with the list of official metropolitan areas.

"The money that people earn beyond subsistence defines the quality of life, what you eat, how you're entertained, the type of car you drive," Fruth said.

"The quality of the economy depends on the wage level in the primary industries."

In Carson, where annual earnings per worker ranks No. 149, the primary industries are government, where "wages are not bad," and manufacturing. The primary industry in Douglas County is the Stateline resorts, which ranked No. 315.

"The quality of the economy (in Douglas) ... is at the same relative level it was in 1974," Fruth wrote in the summary of his comparative, historical economic analysis of Douglas County.

Lyon County's economic quality remains at a 1980 level. Even with substantial growth in manufacturing, Fruth still regards the retirement industry as the most important contributor in Lyon.

Health services account for only 14 percent of the services sector in Lyon, whereas the national average is 28 percent in communities where retirement is the major industry.

"Aside from manufacturing employment, most industries pay a relatively low wage in Lyon County," Fruth wrote.

Fruth said the quality of an economy depends on a community's primary industry paying a much higher wage than the local average - "110 percent is a rule of thumb."

The POLICOM report, which has yet to arrive, is the second of the city's three-part approach to strategic planning that started early this year. The utility companies completed the first phase: providing a detailed map of how utilities serve a dozen undeveloped sites.

The city is leaning toward bringing in the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C., to combine all the POLICOM and utility data as a strategic plan for future economic development.

Fruth will present his findings in depth to local leaders Sept. 14-15 in three sessions. Kris Holt, executive director of Northern Nevada Development Authority, is presenting a summary of the POLICOM report at 7:30 a.m. this morning at the Ormsby House at NNDA's monthly breakfast meeting.

Carson City, Western Nevada Community College and the Northern Nevada Development Authority each chipped in $3,000. Lyon and Douglas counties each paid $2,000.