Despite darkening financial concerns nationwide, Nevada County business people found cause for optimism in the area’s medical and technology industries during the Economic Resource Council’s annual bus tour Thursday.

But the lack of road infrastructure challenges business owners who want to expand or relocate here, speakers at the event warned.

“The purpose of the tour is to expose the enormous economic engine behind the manzanita curtain,” ERC president Gil Mathew said.

As many as 118 people attended the tour, up from 86 last year. Participants visited Thomson Grass Valley Group, Furniture by Thurston, Open Energy Solar and Hills Flat Lumber Company. A total of 130 stopped to nibble lunch and sip wine at Loma Rica Organic Farm.

“I’m here to meet forward-thinking entrepreneurs,” said Pearce Boyer, who started an in-home care business for seniors three months ago. He started with 20 caregivers and aims to employ upwards of 100 active seniors to meet a growing demand.

“We have a large elderly population,” Boyer said, citing 20,000 county residents over 65. “There’s 3,000 people with Alzheimer’s in the community. There’s at least that many caring for them. They need a break.”

Video, solar power shine

Bryan Scott sees a bright spot in the area’s solar power industry.

Open Energy Solar went through several local iterations before a San Diego corporation took over the think tank three years ago. The research and development company manufactures solar panels and employs about 14 people in its facility in Grass Valley’s Whispering Pines area, said Scott, the company’s production manager.

He has lived in the area for about 30 years and has worked at Grass Valley Group and Eigen. He sees local video and green technology companies holding strong despite economic troubles in other industries.

“Because solar and green are the new answer to environmental questions, we have good opportunity to grow. The tech industry seems to be on the upswing again,” Scott said.

The community will sell itself and attract businesses from outside the area, he added.

Yet challenges, such as the lack of road infrastructure — specifically the Dorsey Drive Interchange — stand in the way of future development, said Grass Valley engineer Dale Creighton, of SCO Engineering.

Perched atop the hospital roof with a bird’s-eye view of the area slated for business development between Idaho-Maryland Road and Dorsey Drive, Creighton said local dollars are needed to match state and federal funds for the $35 million project to unclog city streets.

Quality of life will suffer without traffic relief, existing businesses will struggle to expand and it will become more difficult to attract outside companies to relocate here, Creighton said.

“A lot of vacant land out here is earmarked for business park,” Creighton said.

The interchange would allow the expansion of the east side of the highway, including Sierra College and the hospital and the roads they sit on, ERC chief Gil Mathew said.

“That’s ripe for medical offices,” Mathew said.

The construction of the interchange has been on the books for close to 25 years. Some fear the interchange would lead to more traffic problems.

To contact Staff Writer Laura Brown, e-mail lbrown@theunion.com or call 477-4231.