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Regional development director outlines pipeline, recent wins and infrastructure gaps
Summary
Sheldon Mudd of the Northeastern Nevada Regional Development Authority told Elko County commissioners the RDA manages a 40,000-square-mile footprint, fields roughly 24 business leads a year, and has recently helped land projects including Ultra Tank and an Amazon parcel in Wells; he stressed power, rail access and housing as constraints.
Sheldon Mudd, executive director of the Northeastern Nevada Regional Development Authority, told the Elko County Commission that the RDA’s footprint covers roughly 40,000 square miles and that economic development activity in the region remains driven by mining, agriculture and a handful of target industries such as value-added manufacturing, warehousing and aerospace.
“ We are the largest regional development authority in the state of Nevada covering approximately 40,000 square miles,” Mudd said, describing the RDA as a quasi-governmental interlocal collaboration of four counties and five incorporated cities. He said the authority averages about 24 leads a year, moves about six to eight into negotiations, and typically converts one or two into “solid wins” that involve multimillion-dollar capital investment.
Mudd cited recent local outcomes: Ultra Tank and Equipment located a facility in Wells (projected to generate roughly $2 million in tax revenue over ten years at state and local levels) and an Amazon site in the Wells industrial park that the RDA estimates could produce about $6 million in combined state and local tax revenue over a decade and more than $100 million in total economic impact. He said lead times can be long — an example he gave was Southwest Energy, where the initial contact occurred in 2016 and production started years later.
Commissioners pressed Mudd on constraints. He named power capacity on the east side of the region, rail access — especially the cost and multi-year process to extend spurs — and housing availability as top barriers. “You’ve got to have a population for certain retail to come…we're looking to diversify industry here,” he said, adding that infrastructure deficits often drive prospects elsewhere.
Why it matters: The RDA’s work to recruit industry affects local employment, tax revenue and long-range planning. Commissioners indicated willingness to coordinate on land transfers and infrastructure priorities — including potential county efforts to identify land parcels adjacent to rail — but also signaled concern about capital and long lead times for big projects.
The commission did not take formal action on the presentation itself; commissioners used the session to ask clarifying questions and to flag infrastructure and property-availability topics for follow-up with staff.
