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Joe Ponte, warden of the Nevada Southern Detention Center, told Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce members Tuesday to give it a year, then judge how Corrections Corporation of America is running its new 1,072-bed facility in Pahrump.

"I believe, personally, CCA is going to be a good partner for this community and be able to bring good jobs in a safe environment for everybody," Ponte said at a chamber luncheon at the Saddle West Hotel and Casino.

"We don't want to change the community. We want a safe community, a safe environment, and there's been expectations set for what we will do as an organization and for what the detention center will do to help the economic well being of this community," he said.

As an example of the possible economic benefits, he pointed to Sonny Ng, owner of House of Fortune restaurant, who came to Pahrump 10 years ago, but in the last three years said he has been making decisions week to week on how long he will stay open.

"I don't have a way to measure, in a very specific way, the impact of $13 million in salaries and wages on this community, but I do know if it's enough to make businesses like Mr. Ng's to stay open just a little longer, it may be one event in a series of things that need to happen to help this community begin to recover," Ponte said.

In speaking briefly with residents at the Biz Expo, Ponte said he met with an Army veteran who has been back home for four or five years, who had to support his family working at a fast food restaurant.

The Nevada Southern Detention Center is an $83.5 million construction project, which generated $7.7 million locally for materials and local contracts, Ponte said.

Another benefit is building infrastructure, he said. A three-party agreement with Utilities Inc. and Nigro Development will bring $10 million worth of infrastructure to the neighborhood -- five miles of sewer lines, 3.5 miles of water lines and a 1.5 million gallon water storage tank.

When CCA comes into a community there is a partnership, with the U.S. Marshals Service, police, fire and public inspectors, Ponte said.

"I won't make any guarantees today. I won't predict the future. I'll leave that up to you to do a year from now. Hopefully, a year from now we get back together in this room and you can be the critics on what we've done and how we did it," he said.

"Unless you've lived in towns where you had prisons or jails it's hard for me to explain. But I don't think anyone is going to be disappointed."

Ponte said he could promise the best management team in place, backed by a strong company, with some of the best correctional workers in the country.

Ponte said he was the second most senior warden at CCA with 40 years experience. He began in 1969 working for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections for 21-1/2 years, then went on to New Jersey, Idaho, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi and Arizona.

"I believe I have the experience to get this facility activated and it will be something that we'll all be proud of down the road," Ponte said.

CCA, founded in 1983, is the fourth largest correctional system in the country, behind the federal government and two states, he said. The company has 17,000 employees supervising 80,000 offenders.

"People who don't like detention centers, or don't like CCA, will bring up all the negative things in the company. But if we look, on average all the things that we do well, in comparison to the things we made mistakes on, we compare very well. We're much better than the public sector," Ponte said.

The company has more of an obligation to its customer than the public sector if there is something like a riot, a disturbance or an escape, he said.

As an example of the economic benefits, Ponte referred to Pinal County, Ariz., where CCA first moved 15 years ago. Today it has six correctional facilities in Florence and Eloy, Ariz. Ponte said CCA has become the largest non-governmental employer in the county, providing 2,733 direct jobs, 1,700 indirect jobs, $435 million in economic activity, $26.2 million in tax revenue and $205.4 million in salary and wages.

"During this recession, this county was the No. 1 county in the country at creating new jobs. Now I'm not advocating. I'm not standing here telling you to build five or six more prisons," Ponte said.

He said CCA was able to turn around the concerns by citizens in tiny Shelby, Mont., with a population of only 5,000, where the company opened a prison in 1999. The population has grown 1 to 2 percent per year, the unemployment rate of 3.7 percent is the lowest in the area, there was a slight decrease in families on welfare and no escapes, Ponte said.

"The mayor of Shelby said that it's one of the safest communities anywhere in the state, and the president of the First State Bank of Shelby believes the one downside of the prison is the shortage of affordable housing," Ponte said.

Ponte told Lillian Donohue there would be a citizens advisory board to help get accurate information out to the community.

Car dealer and restaurateur Tom Saitta said the majority of Pahrump residents welcome the facility but don't like the location. Saitta admitted he canceled a sale for a five-acre property that had already gone to escrow, when he found out the detention center was being built next door.

"If you were a property owner before the detention center came here, how would you feel about having that prison or detention center right next door to your home?" Saitta asked.

Ponte said based on his experience he wouldn't have any problems. He said in Massachusetts, a much smaller state, million dollar homes are built right next to the prisons, so close they can hear the intercom used to page inmates.

Ponte told Saitta the installation of infrastructure should improve property values in the neighborhood.

Pat Wall wanted to know what other businesses may spring up. Ponte said Casa Grande has a brand new shopping mall, something that wouldn't have been expected in that community.

Ponte said he couldn't give a breakdown yet on how many Pahrump residents who submitted applications will be called in for interviews next week.

But he emphasized, "We're committed to hire from this county."

Ponte told Ron Frazier inmates will be housed that committed crimes in this area. Prisoners won't be housed here that have to go to California, or committed crimes in, say, New York, he said.

In seeking to assure residents nervous about the transport of inmates, Ponte said many prisoners will be able to communicate with judges and attorneys by video conference.

"I don't want to use the word eliminate. It will help reduce the amount of movement of inmates to and from court," Ponte said.

Some judges will still want to see prisoners in person, he said, adding the federal court system has been a little slower than some state and local jails where up to 95 percent of the inmates receive their first and second hearings in front of a video.

When a chamber member asked if CCA would build another facility if this one does well, Ponte said, "That's something the community will have to decide. I'm sure if that was brought up right now in this community, given we've got an election coming up, I can pretty much guarantee you what the answer is."