How Gerlach earned the score
Population 130 permanent residents (US Census 2020, Gerlach CDP), down from roughly 800 when the gypsum mine was active.
Situation A former mining town that shrank to about 100 people now sits at the gateway to Burning Man, with over 70,000 attendees passing through each August.
Action Embrace its role as the entry town for a major annual event and capitalize on the crowd without overbuilding for the off-season.
Result Once 80,000 people flux through each year, more than $50 million can be made, and even $175 more per person in unique spending adds over $14 million.
Let’s meet Gerlach, Nevada
In some parts of the world, caiman crocodiles wait as motionless as possible, waiting for the one time a year when herds pass through the area and the water level is full. This is their shot to make it for the year. This time of year is when they capitalize. It is a slightly apt analogy for Gerlach, Nevada and its opportunity to capitalize on the Burning Man festival.
Can a dystopian festival bring prosperity?
A little history first. Gerlach was yet another mining town that relied upon gypsum in the earth to financially sustain itself. When the mine moved, the town shrank from 800 people to just around 100. Needless to say, the town is in trouble.
Enter Burning Man, a festival out in the middle of the desert celebrating free thinking. Over 70,000 hippies are in attendance. It is like a dystopian celebration of free thinking.
Burning Man is a huge opportunity for Gerlach
Burning Man is a huge opportunity for Gerlach, Nevada. This is an open-minded, early-adopter culture. The edge is the limit for how creative you want to get with your product or service.
What could you sell to the crowd?
Just think, what could you sell that people coming out of a multiple-day festival in the desert need? You could sell so many different things to these baked, sun-baked people, and the edge really is the limit for how creative you want to get with the product or service you offer them.
This city is blessed with an entrepreneurial opportunity. BLESSED, you hear. People come from as far as Russia and Australia to be here. The creative city development happened under their feet. Gerlach, Nevada simply needs to make some moves and embrace the fact that Burning Man as an event is not going to stop, and that the crowd it delivers is not going to stop either.
The money is already flowing past
The event already brings in more than 50 million dollars in revenue to Northern Nevada, according to this article. It even talks about people trying to capitalize on the festival. My belief is not that they need to make an entrepreneurial opportunity for themselves. They just need to capitalize.
Once a city has 80,000 people fluxing through it each year, more than $50 million can be made. That is only $625 a person. Think if you could get everybody to spend another $175 on a truly unique purchase or experience (+14 million).
You could sell absolutely wacky stuff. Best part of all, these people are early adopters. They will love you if you get creative for them. Let the creative entrepreneurs loose.
You could open up a temporary flea-market-style venue for people to shop at.
Why other towns should follow Gerlach’s lead
Lastly, making people remember your creative city is the next critical step. The long-term play. I have talked about the use of flowers, but in the desert it just does not work, I do not think. So I would recommend monuments along the road as people exit and head home from the town. People would not forget that and would start spreading pictures of the town to people. Think about all the Snapchats with that town’s filter.
You could even replicate the burning figure each year by making a sculpture of it on the road leading up to the venue.
Gerlach has enormous opportunity to succeed. Unlike Leavenworth, Washington, where they had to design their buildings to be Bavarian style to get people there, Gerlach already has people coming through their town and has to assume much less risk in starting to capitalize.
There are definitely some people who are already capitalizing.
