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North Lake Tahoe Bonanza: The Village Guide is a business directory for Incline Village that connects a caller to 81 local businesses through a single phone number. Every dime that comes from businesses who are featured in the guide goes to the Incline After-School Organization, which provides free after-school activities to hundreds of local youth.

What is the cost of the guide?

The guide is free to use and is distributed free all over Incline and beyond. The server and software to run this service were donated.

What is the guide's history?

It was first distributed at Thanksgiving 2007, so December was the first full month that the guide was in use within Incline Village. In addition to distribution through all businesses listed in the first guide, many other establishments also distribute the guide to their customers.

In December, the Incline After-School Organization distributed the guide as an insert in the Bonanza and calls increased 700 percent for the four days after the Bonanza insert.

How does the guide work?

The guide's software keeps track of calls to businesses through the guide's local number: (775) 831-8636 (to-do) and toll-free number: (877) Tahoe-10. Customers who sign-up to be listed in the VG give IAO the value of a customer reservation. Based on that input, IAO can assign a total value of business it directed to local businesses. In December that number is $62,315 for all 81 businesses and $769 per business on average. We are directing a large amount of business to businesses that support free after-school activities in Incline and Crystal Bay.

Any future plans?

This is a great start, but IAO plans to put another 70 businesses in the guide (maximum size) and make sure the Village Guide becomes Incline's preferred phonebook to reach local businesses for both locals and visitors. We are hoping to be directing over $100,000 per month to local businesses by summer 2008. The next guide printing is planned for May with distribution before summer vacation starts for local students.

How can you get the guide?

You can now get your guide online at www.VillageGuide.org for those who prefer to surf the web. However as a quick reference by your phone or in your car or office, the ease of use of the printed Village Guide is hard to beat. An after-school web publishing activity is planned so that students can gain experience with online web-site development while designing a page view for each VG business..


"Business Profile" is a regular feature that looks at local businesses in the Incline Village area. The Bonanza does not endorse this or any other business. If you would like your business to be profiled, please call the Bonanza at (775) 831-4666.