Not going gently: businesses fighting the good fight

"Do not go gently into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light." - Dylan Thomas.

The recurring lines of Thomas' poem have become a mantra in these difficult times. Those with the fight in them are finding new ground. They're looking at the old world receding, as if standing on a ship watching the shore fade, mourning all that was taken for granted, or finally seeing what was complacent or perfunctory, or what was built there out of mere bad habit.

The new world ahead is formidable, immense and daunting. But those with the fight in them are reaching into the fires of necessity and forging a new spirit.

"We had to think outside the proverbial box," Lisa Hoyt-Valdez, owner of Gimli Ironworks in Johnson Lane, told me two weeks ago. "Instead of sitting around crying how times are tough, we looked at other avenues."

For the small metal fabrication shop, that meant looking at state and federal work, and eventually landing a contract with the U.S. Air Force to build some heavy-duty trailers.

"We went out and looked for work, and if they wouldn't come to us, we beat them into submission," Hoyt-Valdez said. "I've always believed that when opportunity knocks, you open the door and pull him in by the arm."

Historians call it rugged individualism " that spirit of self-reliance and self-made fortune that settled the American West. Lone prospectors wandering the desert in search of precious metals. Farmers in covered wagons traversing the continent, looking for some black soil to call their own. Thus were the arid lands bridled, broke like broncos. Cities erected. Laws established.

Yet, much of the West remains wild, still subject to the boom-and-bust cycles of old. Where other communities are built out, ours still abuts the raw open land, still throbs with that impulse of westward expansion that started two centuries ago. And perhaps this condition lends Nevada and other western states a certain transience, or incompleteness, where the booms are felt with more gusto and the busts with more despair.

The idea of rugged individualism takes on special meaning in the driest state in the country. Those who settled here were pitted against the elements in a way that those who settled in California or Oregon were not. "Battle Born," the phrase on our flag, aptly describes those pioneers who battled the wind and sun and extreme temperatures to carve out some form of civilization in the high desert. And no where in the state were those efforts more successful than in Carson Valley, where there was already water and soil, and where generations of pioneers were able to cultivate the land and build three towns and prosper in the shadow of the mountains.

Things come full-circle. The ones surviving the current economic maelstrom are the ones finding that old rugged toughness, that nail-sharp determination. But they're not finding it by themselves. They have allies helping them get there.

"We strongly believe in surrounding ourselves with good people, and we have a wonderful employee team, just wonderful and hard-working," Hoyt-Valdez said of her employees, whom she credits with the company's success.

As the business reporter, I see emerging in the community a very real spirit of cooperation.

Last month, the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce laid out a new program called WHOLE (We're Helping Our Local Economy), designed to boost morale and unify local companies.

"It's a simple concept " asking businesses to become partners," said chamber director Bill Chernock.

Chernock said the program would be open to all businesses, including those not in the chamber. To participate, before receiving a sticker of the program's planetary logo, a business must pledge to follow four tenets: purchase business supplies and services locally whenever possible; provide excellent customer service; offer the most competitive pricing possible; and patronize local businesses as consumers whenever possible.

"We want to think twice about where we're spending our money," Chernock said. "If we take care of each other, everything comes out ahead."

Unfortunately, I'm not smart enough to say whether the program is going to work, but the fact that they're trying is comforting, and the idea behind it seems to be spreading.

Last week, I met with Tom Brooks, owner of Carson Valley Golf Course. He's started a pay-it-forward promotion where each customer who pays a normal green fee is given a $2 bill. The catch? They're told to spend it in the community. The result? Brooks is extending the promotion until the end of the month, and he reports that he's already seen one of the bills at Raley's.

"It's positive for everyone," he said. "I'm tired of all the gloom and doom. I want to grab a few points of light and spread them around."

Those interested in supporting their local businesses should attend the chamber's ninth annual business showcase, 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. More than 60 local businesses will be displaying their products and services and giving out free samples. It should be a hell of a show. Don't miss it.

In other news, Gardnerville Main Street board members are inviting business owners and residents to join them for an informal gathering 5:30 to 7 p.m. April 28 at the Carson Valley Museum &Cultural Center

Participants will learn more about the downtown revitalization program while visiting with neighbors. Appetizers and beverages will be served, thanks to several restaurants in the Main Street district, including Sharkey's Casino, J.T. Basque Bar & Dining Room and Bravo Cafe & Bakery. Battle Born Wine will also provide a door prize of a $35 gift certificate. Those interested in attending should RSVP by April 24 by calling 782-8027 or by emailing plochridge@mainstreetgardnerville.org.