Hope for the holiday

If you're still rooting around for Christmas presents, the Nevada Commission on Economic Development has two words for you: buy local.

Supporting Nevada businesses is more important than ever this season, state officials say. The state's economy is hurting. Taxable sales have fallen, and legislators will face big budget holes when they meet in February.

But shopping through the commission's Made in Nevada holiday catalog could bolster the Silver State's fortunes, said Kimberly Elliott, marketing director of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development.

"The entire economy is feeling the pinch," Elliott said. "Shopping locally keeps money in our economy."

Strapped shoppers in tough times want more value for their dollars, Elliott said, and the Made in Nevada catalog can help thanks to its eclectic mix of offerings.

"Consumers are looking for those special items," Elliott said. "Our Made in Nevada members can really shine this season because they have the opportunity to provide things you're not going to find at Wal-Mart or your local mall."

Shoppers certainly won't find PassionFly's products in any big-box chain.

The Henderson business makes eco-friendly note cards and gift cards featuring some of the desert Southwest's most-beloved indigenous critters. Anne Johnson, PassionFly's founder and artist, established the company to combine her creative abilities and her interest in protecting the environment. She sells her work online and in gift stores at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve and the Nevada State Museum.

Some buyers transform the gift cards into gifts, putting them in picture frames and giving them as artwork, Johnson said. Her best seller: a card with a desert tortoise sniffing a red cactus flower as stars gleam in the background. Other PassionFly cards feature pupfish, dace fish and spring snails. Johnson makes her cards with recycled and tree-free paper, using biodegradable soy ink and minimal packaging. Ten percent of PassionFly's profits go to U.S. nature-conservation efforts.

"I wanted the subject of my work to be about the Western landscape, the habitats it creates and the small animals who live in it," Johnson said. "A lot of people think of the desert as not having life in it, but there's an amazing amount of life here. I wanted to draw that to people's attention and encourage them to share that joy of the desert."

At West Best Foods in Las Vegas, managers will share the joy of sweets, contained courtesy of candy jars custom-etched by Botcha-Caloops in Virginia City.

Linda Larson, who co-owns Botcha-Caloops with husband Bruce, said etched candy jars are the company's biggest seller among Las Vegas businesses, though Botcha-Caloops engraves anything from stainless-steel travel mugs and mirrors to Christmas ornaments and special-occasion wine bottles. Some of the company's biggest orders have come through the Made in Nevada catalog.

Linda Larson called the Made in Nevada program "the best thing that ever happened to our business."

The 2008 catalog, with its 100 or so companies, is also good for pocketbooks of every size, Elliott said. Shoppers can buy everything from a $5 bar of Blackberry Sage Shea Butter soap from Gardnerville-based Sierra Snow Soaps to a steel camper shell valued at thousands from Caravan Camper Manufacturing of Reno.

Local businesses featured in the catalog include Go Raw Cafe & Juice Bar, which sells health books and organic foods; tortilla seller Los Arcos; Cloud Nine Candle & Bath Co.; the Fisher Space Pen Co.; and Eagle Spirit Productions, which publishes children's books.

Some bigger names, including Anderson Dairy and Minden biodiesel maker Bently Fuels, grace the catalog. And then there are the lesser-known companies, such as Reno truck-trailer hitch maker Jodog Sport, or Restroom Facilities, a Reno-based modular outdoor bathroom seller. Sparks-based Surrounded by Asses sells "humorous jackass" calendars. You can even buy mineral supplements for yourself, your pets or your vegetable garden through Window Peak Trace Minerals in Las Vegas, or alfalfa pellets for your chinchilla through American Pet Diner in Eureka.

The catalog's diversity comes from its status as part of a bigger Made in Nevada economic development program. Through Made in Nevada, the commission on economic development provides technical assistance and expansion advice to members of the Silver State's cottage industries. A company must design, produce, assemble or package at least half of its end product in Nevada to qualify for Made in Nevada.

Napa-Sonoma Grocery Co. in Reno has emphasized supporting Nevada businesses for much of its 22 years in operation. The company joined Made in Nevada when it began five years ago, and its managers go out of their way to feature products from Silver State suppliers in the gift baskets they sell, said Napa-Sonoma consultant Martin Kloska. Consumers especially return to the store and its Web site for organic teas from Davidson's Teas of Reno, relishes and soups from Country Cupboard in Virginia City, brandied cherries and pickles from Mrs. Auld's Gourmet Foods in Reno and cantaloupe jam from Fallon's Lattin Farms.

Napa-Sonoma's best seller is its Made in Nevada box. The Nevada-shaped package comes stocked with a dozen homegrown goodies and retails for $50.

"Right now, it's important for all of us to support the little guy if we can," Kloska said. "These businesses are small businesses. They're not big national companies. We want to keep the money at home."

People interested in shopping for Silver State goods can download the Made in Nevada catalog at the Commission on Economic Development's Web site, www.expand2nevada.com. The new Made in Nevada Web site, which launched Tuesday, features profiles of each member business with half a dozen product photos. Companies interested in joining Made in Nevada can also pay the annual $50 fee online with a credit card, a first for the program, Elliott said.

Interested shoppers can also check out local displays of Made in Nevada products, including PassionFly's cards, inside the Sawyer Building at 555 E. Washington Ave.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.