Shelly Belly NY Bagels named Nevada SBDC Rural Business of the Year

Shelly Belly NY Bagels built its reputation one order at a time in Pahrump, first selling at farmers markets, the VFW swap meet and other community events before opening a storefront at 1190 E. Highway 372. Now the family-owned shop has added a statewide title to its local following: the Nevada Small Business Development Center named it its 2026 Rural Business of the Year.

The award was presented March 18 in Reno during Nevada SBDC’s SBDC Day recognition event, with Director Winnie Dowling making the presentation. Shelley Fisher said the honor came as a surprise because she did not know the business was even in the running. The recognition matters in a town like Pahrump, where a business can survive for years only if customers keep coming back and telling neighbors where to find it.

Shelly Belly is not a startup story. The shop says it has served Pahrump for more than 20 years, and its move into a brick-and-mortar space gave the business a more permanent foothold after years of selling bagels, coffee, sandwiches and other baked goods around town. Fisher later described the operation as a more limited bistro-style business, with dinner service added in 2025, a sign that the shop has kept adapting as customer demand changed.

That kind of staying power is exactly what Nevada SBDC says it is built to support. The statewide network offers free and confidential one-on-one advising and training to help Nevadans start and grow businesses, increase job creation and expand access to capital. Nevada SBDC says its work touches more than 350,000 small businesses, which account for 99.2% of all businesses in Nevada.

The local scale is part of what makes the award notable in Nye County. Pahrump’s 2020 population was 44,738, large enough to sustain a strong small-business corridor but still rural enough that a shop’s reputation can spread faster by word of mouth than by advertising. Fisher’s recognition also reflects the role of advisor Donna Corey, who has worked with rural Nevada businesses since 2017 and has deep hands-on experience in construction, festivals, a solar power project and even a one-room schoolhouse.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto visited the shop on April 1 to congratulate Fisher on the award, adding a federal spotlight to a business story rooted in local loyalty. Nevada SBDC’s 2025 rural business honor went to JT’s Steakhouse in Ely, another reminder that the program is looking for long-haul operators in places where small businesses anchor daily life. For Pahrump, Shelly Belly’s win is more than a plaque on the wall. It is a sign that a homegrown business can still grow, adapt and endure in a rural market where survival is the real measure of success.