The county may not have been willing to fund a delegation to go to the West Coast Advanced Design and Market Place Business convention in Anaheim, Calif., but the town board is all for it.

The board approved funding not to exceed $10,000 from the room tax fund for members of the Pahrump Alliance Valley Economic Development, or PAVED, to participate in the trade show.

Andy Alberti recently asked the county commission to contribute $19,853 to send a delegation to the show with representatives from all parts of the county but was denied.

Although Alberti is a member of PAVED, his request to the commissioners was not made on behalf of that organization. The request to the town, however, was a PAVED proposal.

The show, Jan. 29-31, is an opportunity to promote Pahrump as a place for businesses to relocate and grow.

Al Balloqui, director of PAVED, explained to the board that the town would have a booth provided by JobConnect and that EDEN as well as other county representatives had been invited to join.

"It's a new time of cooperation here, and I think this is an excellent example of that," Balloqui.

Balloqui explained that last year he and Alberti attended the convention together and managed to foster communication with some businesses that may be interested in relocating to Pahrump.

However, they learned that it was considered more appropriate to promote the town if they had a booth at the convention.

Alberti re-stated his argument that the convention should be funded by both the county and the town.

"I think that there should be cooperation between the county and the town in creating economic development," Alberti said. "So my proposal, basically, to the county said that we think the county should have some financial commitment and the town should have some financial commitment so that everybody's involved."

Alberti also emphasized the opportunities the show held for Pahrump specifically.

"This is a great idea," Alberti said, adding that last year the convention had 2,000 booths and this year would have 3,000.

"A lot of the companies that go there are small companies that have the capability of locating to Pahrump," Alberti explained. "For these companies, we don't need a rail system, we don't need natural gas. They are companies that function without it. And this is what I think we should be looking for, and I've been saying that ever since I came to Pahrump."

Balloqui responded to Alberti's comments by explaining to the board why PAVED was unwilling to solicit funds from the commissioners.

"What we want to do is we want to prove ourself," Balloqui. "What I mean by that is to go out and raise money from the private sector and then go and ask for a match."

Balloqui pointed out PAVED did budget for the show and he was confident they would be successful in attending it.

Furthermore, Balloqui pointed out in the commissioners' proposal, those who worked at the show would be compensated, whereas his delegation had volunteered to go without getting paid.