Long-term solutions are needed to help keep the area's tourist-driven economy humming during down times such as these, economic advisors said Tuesday.

Ongoing plans to lure higher-paying jobs to the area and diversify the economy remain a work in progress, said Economic Resource Council president Gil Mathew.

Tourism, which drives much of western Nevada County, is a fickle business, Mathew said, especially when people don't have the money to take vacations or short trips.

"There has to be something to sustain the economy through the down times," he said.

The Country Rose Cafe at Pine and Commercial streets in Nevada City is the area's latest economic casualty. It closed Tuesday after 22 years in business, though its owner had said previously it might be forced to shut down.

In addition, Mountain Song on Pine Street in the same town is running liquidation sales in advance of closing sometime soon.

Country Rose Cafe owner Michael Johns said he decided the close the business after several years of declining revenues, exacerbated by the recent economic slowdown.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, "the tourists all disappeared, the economy started going south, and it just kept getting worse and worse every year thereafter," said Johns, who estimated he grossed an estimated $800,000 in revenues in 2001, compared to just $350,000 this year.

"I'm a little sad about it," he said. "I've spent my life savings keeping it open, and I can't spend any more."

Mountain Song Owner Colleen Burke said the store tried to take consignments for several months, since people weren't buying new inventory.

"It was our way of trying to hang on for a while," said Burke, who marketed the new policy as a way of "going green."

In April, the ERC was tasked with mandates to retain and bring in new businesses, to create a property inventory for new businesses that wished to locate here and to complete a branding strategy for the county.

The ERC is also building a database of Bear River and Nevada Union graduates who have expressed an interest in building "home-grown" businesses in the county.

What hasn't worked, Mathew said, is a countywide branding approach that would attract tourists and potential businesses.

What needs to be accomplished, he said, are long-term solutions to bring in solid businesses which then bring individuals with money to spend.

"We have a very good high-tech economy that's going well," Mathew said. "We need more of those businesses to broaden the tax base and broaden the employment opportunities."

The news isn't all bad.

A major Silicon Valley company confirmed last week that it was interested in building a $4 million plant in Nevada County, and western Nevada County is heading into a busy tourist season that includes Cornish Christmas in Grass Valley and Victorian Christmas in Nevada City.

Cathy Whittlesey, executive manager of the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce, said Nevada City has certainly felt the brunt of the sour economy.

"It's the worst economy I've ever seen," said Whittlesey, a Nevada City native who has worked for the chamber for better than two decades.

"Things are tough. I just encourage locals to shop local and avoid going out of town. I tell my husband, 'Let's go to dinner so we can stimulate the local economy,'" she said.

Whittlesey said she's looking forward to Victorian Christmas and the possible establishment of California Organics in the Broad Street Furnishings building downtown.

"Things are happening all the time to draw people to town," she said.

Mary Ann Mueller, chief executive of the Grass Valley/Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, said she's been working to increase midweek traffic to Grass Valley through small conventions that might utilize space at places such as the Holiday Inn Express.

"We need to find what the niche is," Mueller said. "There is no magic bullet. It's just people hanging in there."

To contact Staff Writer David Mirhadi, e-mail dmirhadi@theunion.com or call 477-4239.