MARK WAITE / PVT Information on everything from small business development to SCORE counselors was available as the Business Expo bus pulled in at the Pahrump Nugget last week. Advertisement

A brief power outage delayed the 3 p.m. start of the traveling presentation by various state officials at the Pahrump Nugget Hotel and Gambling Hall Monday.

A bevy of representatives for various state agencies were on hand to answer questions from interested business owners. One man was overheard asking a Nevada Commission on Economic Development representative about opening up a motocross track in Pahrump.

"This was something we did in Reno earlier this year. We had the entrepreneur show," said Dave Archer, chief executive officer of Nevada's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology.

That show featured 32 exhibitors and 26 speakers, he said.

"We were all looking at each other wondering how we can bring it out to smaller communities," Archer said.

The visit to Pahrump lasted from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. during the second week of the bus tour. The bus continued on to Eureka, Tonopah and Fallon.

"You can't solve people's problems in five hours, but you can establish relationships," Archer said. "We see this as a way of starting relationships."

Kathy Dow, with the Nevada Procurement Outreach Program, was informing people who weren't aware of the existence of her office, which steers contractors and vendors toward providing services at federal facilities in Nevada, like Nellis Air Force Base.

Tim Ribauld, executive director of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development, said the Nevada Business Express has been very well received.

"We're trying to bring the government to the people, or at least the parts of government that have resources to offer people," Ribauld said.

The bus also included representatives from the U.S. Farm Service Agency, U.S. Small Business Administration, Nevada Department of Taxation, Nevada Secretary of State, U.S. Department of Commerce and SCORE Counselors to America's Small Business.