Check out our advertisers www.risingstarpr.com and www.scorchingimages.com for your PR needs.

Las Vegas- from www.lvbusiness.com – It’s funny when you think about it.

Las Vegas’ prudish nature perhaps only is matched by its reputation for the opposite. But true Las Vegans know: It can be difficult to run an adult-centered business in Southern Nevada, the place known worldwide as Sin City.

“Las Vegas is a really conservative town,” said Wayne Bridge.

As CEO of the Sin City Chamber of Commerce, Bridge knows firsthand the obstacles that face adult-oriented businesses in Southern Nevada. In fact, he and president Loretta Holt founded the chamber for just that reason.

“The other eight chambers in Las Vegas will not allow the adult community to join them,” Bridge said.

“They want to project a family image,” Holt added.

Bridge explained that while other chambers of commerce will allow a strip club management company to join, that business isn’t able to list any of its holdings in a member directory.

“It’s very controlled,” he said.

With more than 40,000 people employed in adult-oriented businesses in Las Vegas, Bridge and Holt have made it the Sin City Chamber’s mission to reach out to those businesspeople.

“UNLV has done studies on the adult industry’s economic impact on Nevada, and they have estimated anywhere from $6 to $8 billion a year that comes to Las Vegas,” said Bridge.

When they founded the chamber in 2004, though, the adult community wanted nothing to do with the Sin City Chamber for its first year of existence.

“It’s easy to understand when you’ve been burned and you’re leery of getting involved in a business organization,” Bridge said.

The chamber’s first member was Brenda Stout [pictured], owner of Mustang Accounting. She knew Holt and Bridge from the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and trusted them. And, she shared their feelings that chambers should be inclusive.

“There were a lot of groups that were left out of the big chamber. Why not include them?” Stout asked.

One of the first adult-business owners to join was Christine Floyd, of Lady C Leather. Floyd said she joined because “it wasn’t a clique.”

As a mom-and-pop business, Floyd benefits from being listed on the Sin City Chamber’s website. And, she enjoys doing business with Holt and Bridge.

“They’re so open-minded and open-hearted,” Floyd said. “I don’t have the strippers, but I have the chains and whips to go with them.”

Sin City now has about 200 members, which is down from its 500-member peak prior to the recession. The drop, though, seems to have leveled off.

Of the 200 members, only 20 percent are adult-related businesses.

“We wanted to create a chamber that treated all businesses with dignity, equality and respect. We did not want to discriminate at all,” Bridge said.

Throughout the year, the organization hosts networking events in places like swingers’ clubs, drag bars and strip clubs. Each May, the Sin City Chamber hosts its annual barbecue and golf tournament at the Chicken Ranch brothel in Pahrump.

In addition to planning parties, (Holt and Bridge are getting ready for their Christmas fiesta now) the two are avid promoters of a red-light district for Las Vegas. It’s a move they think will add to the economy while providing a safeguard for tourists.

“We get a lot of people that are kind of upset because they can’t find what they’re looking for in Sin City,” Holt said. “They’re looking for Sodom and Gomorrah. They don’t want to go underground. They’re looking for an open experience and they’re not finding it here.”

Holt and Bridge argue a sexual corridor would drive business in a regulated, safe environment.

“There could be a lot of businesses that would come to this town if they knew they had a specific area and a good chance of getting a license,” Holt said.

“The regulations here for opening risque businesses are practically impossible for people to overcome.”

In fact, Las Vegas might be losing its reputation as the top Sin City.

AskMen.com rated the 10 best sin cities for their levels of debauchery, and Las Vegas ranked No. 4 on the list. Amsterdam, Tijuana, Mexico, and Pattaya, Thailand, ranked third, second and first respectively.

The article cited prostitution, while not technically legal, as being widely available in Las Vegas, disguised as escort services.

Holt suggested if the city wants to remain at the top of the vice industry, that it take a section like Industrial Road and Dean Martin Drive, and transform it into an entirely adult corridor.

“If we set that little section up here in Las Vegas, perhaps it would be a huge draw for those people who are looking for that kind of entertainment,” Holt said.

But, they don’t know what it would take to get that movement going.

“The majority of the people probably don’t want it, but it’d be a huge tourist draw and that’s what we’re all about,” Holt said.

Bridge also emphasized that legalizing prostitution and setting up a corridor where it can exist will help tourists stay safe.

“I can’t think of anything worse than coming to Las Vegas, having an illegal prostitute experience, picking up an STD and then giving it to your wife or passing it through your community. It’s a tourist issue for Las Vegas. The way to regulate that is to have some kind of regulation on the industry,” Bridge said. “Right now there’s no way to protect tourists from those types of situations.”

Holt said she receives many calls from people who already think prostitution is legal in Las Vegas. When they find out it’s not, they’re shocked.

“If people want a quiet place, go to the Bible Belt. This never was, and hopefully never will be, that type of atmosphere,” Holt said. “America is so diverse. So, we should take advantage of that ability to be diverse.”

Though its founders believe strongly in founding a Las Vegas red-light district, the Sin City Chamber of Commerce does not endorse any political candidates, and never will.

“We are as nonpolitical as we can be, although we do believe that legal prostitution can be good for all of Nevada, not just some of Nevada,” Bridge said.