Tahoe Prosperity Center press release
LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. - The Tahoe Prosperity Center announced today that it received a notice of award of a US Economic Development Administration grant of $164,348 to facilitate a Tahoe Basin-wide Economic Recovery and Resiliency Plan.
“Tahoe’s Transition – Economic Recovery to Resiliency will create an action plan with steps for the region to implement to diversify the regional economy, which has become dangerously dependent on the Tourism sector,” said Heidi Hill Drum, Tahoe Prosperity Center’s CEO.
Since the Great Recession, Tahoe has transitioned from 42 percent reliant on the tourism sector to 62 percent. Tahoe struggled to get back the 5,000 jobs lost in 2008 and when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the region lost another 9,000 jobs. Although Tourism brings in $3 billion a year in revenue to the region, this is mostly on the backs of locals working jobs that don’t pay a living wage, which made it impossible for so many of Tahoe’s residents to prepare for a lengthy unemployment. Tourism dependency brings with it the added challenges seen in the region last summer: too many visitors driving up to the lake, impeding traffic, trash left on trails and beaches, and not enough respect for this beautiful area.