Joining forces, a Made in Nevada success story

A group of dreamers have gathered under one umbrella hoping that together they can draw a lot of attention to themselves.

They are some of Nevada's entrepreneurs - small business owners who have taken their dreams and made them reality. The rest of us Nevadans should lend them a hand.

It's important that small business owners thrive. Just in Carson City, according to the 2000 Census, 1,713 Carson City residents work for themselves.

They may not all have signed on with Made in Nevada, but they make up 7 percent of the employed. Government workers, by comparison total 23.1 percent.

Among the dreamers are folks like the Sagebrush Carver, of Lovelock; Reno Envy, of - you guessed it - Reno; Botcha-Caloops, in Virginia City; American Pet Diner Inc., in Eureka; Betra Manufacturing Corp., of Mound House; and Bay Area Biscotti, which is ironically out of Las Vegas.

But no matter the neighborhood the products from each of these businesses share the Made In Nevada trademark.

The more than 20-year-old program is open to qualified Nevada producers. According to the Made in Nevada Web site, "a strict selection process is in place to ensure that high quality, Nevada products from reliable producers are part of the program."

Some of the selection criteria include:

• Gift items: 75 percent of the end product is produced, finished and packaged in Nevada.

• Specialty food items: Products produced or processed in Nevada.

• Nevada manufacturers: Nevada-based companies manufacturing 50 percent of their products in Nevada.

Made in Nevada week was April 30-May 4 as proclaimed by Gov. Jim Gibbons, but we encourage everyone to make Made in Nevada week a priority every week - and shop at home.

For information on the program, visit www.madeinnv.com.