The Lake Tahoe Basin Prosperity Plan has just been released and marks the beginning of efforts to achieve this aspiration of prosperity with a view. The Prosperity Plan represents an unprecedented collaboration between all five counties and the City of South Lake Tahoe and is guided by a Steering Committee comprised of representatives from each county, the city, TRPA, educational institutions and business leaders. The premise was simple – how to diversify the local economy to develop a sustainable economy thereby increasing living wage jobs while preserving the environment.

During the process significant input was sought at numerous public workshops held around the basin at various locations and times of the day. Throughout all workshops ran a common thread that citizens desired a more attractive “built environment” and felt that without significant improvements we would be unable to keep current residents, much less attract new businesses, residents and visitors. Similarly, there was a strong cry for improvements to our public transportation system in order to simplify residents’ daily travel and reduce the number of Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) by guests.

The consulting firm worked hand in hand with the Steering Committee and residents in reducing the potential nine “industry clusters” (how buyers and suppliers organize within an industry such as tourism) to three by focusing on those concepts perceived to have the greatest likelihood of raising the standard of living for residents. The community’s input matched the data very well. The three clusters believed to provide the greatest likelihood of success are: Health & Wellness; Environmental Innovation and Tourism/Geotourism.  I will attempt to provide you a brief overview to entice further reading and participation.

As many will agree our tourism industry was built upon a foundation of gaming. While gaming is not likely to recede to a distant memory it has receded in its importance and is now just one of the assets or amenities we provide to our guests. It seemed that all who participated agreed that in order to grow our tourism economy we must work together to preserve and share our authentic assets which range from our favorite cafes, beaches and trails to our arts, culture, entertainment (festivals, concerts & gaming) as well as initiating an invigorated effort around recreation in the form of team sports, masters events and elite athletic events such as the Amgen Tour of California.  Many of these concepts are contained within the premise of Geotourism along with concepts such as Voluntourism, sustainable practices and preservation of the local culture and wellbeing of the residents.

Health and Wellness was identified as a cluster dependent on and related to tourism. The hospitals on both the North and South shores are each pursuing centers of excellence (oncology and orthopedics respectively) and both will require that our communities are sustainable and attractive to potential patients and their families. Also identified (and desired) by many of the workshop participants was the concept of alternative medicine and health and wellness type facilities that might range from a day spa to a full week’s vacation of outdoor exercise, nutrition and spa treatments.

The third industry cluster looks at environmental innovation by leveraging the tremendous natural assets of the Basin as well as the number of qualified individuals already located here. Ideas for this cluster ranged from a High Alpine Research and Visitor Center to the pursuance of environmentally sound practices for all local institutions and businesses.

By now the reader is assuredly thinking something along the lines of “So what - we’ve had planning for decades and nothing ever changes!” Each of the five counties, the city and the hundreds of individuals who have given of their time over the past 18 months are asking for increased participation from all citizens as we move into the next phase of forming the Prosperity Center in order to provide a convening entity to assist community groups in implementing the recommended strategies. To view the Prosperity Plan please go to www.Tahoechamber.org or www.Tahoeprosperity.org and consider joining the efforts by aligning your own business or getting involved in working on a community initiative.

“B” Gorman is the President & CEO of Tahoechamber.org as well as a Board Member of the 25-County Sierra Nevada Geotourism Council, and a member of the South Tahoe Rotary Club.