Local businesses that are trying to expand, as well as new companies looking to locate in Pahrump, will soon have the chance to get a helping hand navigating through the bureaucratic quagmires of licensing, permits and the building process.

Pahrump Alliance Valley Economic Development has been awarded a United States Department of Agriculture Rural Business Enterprise grant.

The company plans to use the funding to begin work on organizing educational classes and preparing a step-by-step guide to assist burgeoning businesses in getting started or growing.

The planned workshops and publications are formally called the Pahrump Business License and Entitlement Process Workshops and Publications program.

The first workshop has yet to be scheduled but is expected to take place by the end of the year.

Workshops will be open to the public and business representatives and will be free of charge.

The total budget for the program is $19,695. The USDA grant will fund $8,275 of that amount.

Matching funds totaling $6,620 will be provided by PAVED from funds its acquired though previously-approved tourism room taxes, fund raising efforts, membership dues and in-kind contributions.

Private and in-kind contributions will make up the remaining $4,800.

PAVED applied for the grant in April and credits its receiving the funding to PAVED Member Mary Ann McNeill.

"This is a remarkable achievement to be granted the first application that our three-month-old company has applied for," a PAVED release said.