INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — The Incline Village Crystal Bay Community and Business Association has made an impact on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore and Executive Director Linda Offerdahl is grateful to lead the growing organization.

“My husband and I have lived here for 34 years and it has given me great pleasure to bring the community together and start organizing our community in ways that could lead to advocacy and some issues that we often get neglected,” Offerdahl said. 

IVCBA has added more than 300 members in less than two years that include three levels of business members and community supporters. In addition, they’ve been able to produce their own magazine and a newsletter that comes out weekly. 

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In order to bring attention to issues in the community and also receive plenty of feedback, the IVCBA hosted multiple gatherings, including two Inclined to Meet events; one hosted around the topic of Incline Village incorporating and the other an IVGID candidate forum hosted in partnership with the IVCB Community Forum. 

Working with Washoe County is also a priority for the IVCBA. In April, the Washoe Tahoe Community Collaborative Summit was held, which brought together family advocacy nonprofits and other community based organizations with the Washoe County Human Services Agency to discuss problems the community faces. 

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“The Summit identified housing and communication as the most significant challenges our community faces,” said Offerdahl. “We met again in October to discuss the housing issue and problems that can be addressed on a local level. IVCBA hopes to meet with businesses in January that are interested in the Regional Transit Center’s van pools for commuters.” 

Work with Washoe County will continue on the Incline Village Main Street Project, which recently received a $250,000 grant from the county in order to hire staff to run committees for the project. In the coming years, work will be done to establish the entrance into Incline Village and make SR-28 more accessible and friendly to walkers. 

The work doesn’t end there. In order to bring together community in fun and creative ways, the IVCBA has taken over the celebrations during Fourth of July and Christmas. 

“We have become the premier organization for promoting all of the events that go under those umbrellas,” said Offerdahl. “We call the Fourth of July celebration the Local Heroes Weekend.” 

The organization sponsors two events for the weekend along with bringing together local businesses and agencies to celebrate heroes throughout the holiday. The events include a parade and a pancake breakfast. 

“The local hero’s parade allows anybody to pick a local hero; it can be a firefighter, a service worker. It could be their parent, it could be a superhero, and of course the armed forces,” said Offerdahl. “Then this year we brought back the community fair … So it was a really fun thing for the entire family.” 

The Northern Lights Festival is also run by the IVCBA, but is rooted back to the early days of Diamond Peak. 

“It was to bring people into the community and into the ski area in a time when it was quiet and a part of shoulder season,” said Offerdahl. “But I think now it’s really become a celebration time for the locals.” 

The Northern Lights Festival includes an incredible lighting contest and activities scheduled throughout November and December including Sip and Shops, and this year, an inaugural tree lighting for the community. 

Offerdahl doesn’t want to lose the momentum the agency has built, and plans to continue growing into the next year. 

“We’d like to increase the news coverage, particularly of our local business,” said Offerdahl. “We’d like to conduct more mixers. We call them Biz Buzz Mixers, and they highlight a business and bring the community to that business in ways they maybe hadn’t gone before. We want to have more town halls and Inclined to Meets.” 

For more information about IVCBA, visit their website at ivcba.org.