NORTH COAST, Calif. — Redwood Region Resilient Inclusive Sustainable Economy, or RISE, has announced the preliminary selection of Catalyst Awardees who will receive a total of $9 million in funding to boost economic development throughout the Redwood Region.

With North Edge Financing as fiscal agent and the California Center for Rural Policy at Cal Poly Humboldt as regional convener, this California Jobs First initiative will support pre-development projects that align RRRISE’s 10-year Regional Roadmap.

“The Catalyst Fund represents critical investment in the future of Redwood Region’s rural economies,” says Susan Seaman, Program Director of North Edge. “These preliminary awards mark the beginning of projects that will leverage our key industry sectors and foster inclusive economic development and job growth for all Redwood Region residents.”

The Catalyst Awards support high-impact projects at two key stages: early-stage “exploratory” initiatives and near implementation-ready "last-mile" efforts. These awards position promising projects to compete for future regional, state, private and federal implementation funding, focusing on initiatives that advance the RRRISE Regional Roadmap's four key sectors: Arts, culture, and tourism; health and caregiving; renewable and resilient energy; and working lands and blue economy.

With over 70% of the Catalyst funding directed to projects led by priority and disinvested communities, officials said the selected awardees address critical regional challenges through sustainable food systems, renewable energy projects, affordable housing solutions, workforce training, cultural preservation, and forest management practices.

Many projects specifically target priority communities to overcome persistent barriers to economic advancement in rural and tribal areas.

The preliminary list of Catalyst Awardees includes:

• BLBS GRID Workforce Training Tiny Home Construction ($331,702): Building Lives By Building Structure Hoopa. Combining affordable housing construction with renewable energy integration while training Native American youth.

• Career Pathways: Fire, Forest, Fish & Facilities ($1,127,936): Trees Foundation, creating sustainable wage opportunities in natural resource jobs across three counties.

• Del Norte Performing Arts and Civic Center ($268,250): Partnership for Performing Arts, cultural hub serving as performance venue, educational space and emergency resource.

• Fire Lines & Fiber Bioregions: A Regional Wool Industry Cluster ($607,856): Kaos Sheep Outfit, developing sustainable fiber production and exploring a regional wool industry cluster.

• Lake County Healthcare Education and Simulator ($650,000): Lake County Economic Development Corp., Enhancing healthcare education and workforce development through simulation facilities.

• Middletown Rancheria Community RISE Project ($500,000): Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California, addressing tribal community challenges through housing, climate resilience, and cultural preservation.

• North Coast Resilient Food Systems Initiative ($2,306,574): Connecting Del Norte Meat Processing Facility, Hmong Association of Crescent City with North Coast Food System Network, North Coast Growers' Association to strengthen regional food systems.

• Redwood Corridor SEEDS Network ($450,000): North Coast Opportunities, creating community food hubs along Highway 101 to address food security and access.

• Tribal Energy Sovereignty Initiative ($795,316): Pinoleville Solar Port & Renewable Energy Workforce Development, Pinoleville Pomo Nation with Red Hills Bioenergy Facility & Central Wood Processing Plant ($345,316), Scotts Valley Energy Corp. to advance renewable energy solutions and workforce training.

• Timber & Workforce Development Initiative ($1,959,897): Three interconnected initiatives: Carving a Legacy: Tribal Traditions, Woodworking, and Workforce Development, Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe; Connecting Mass Timber to Regional Housing and Building Needs, Mad River Mass Timber; and Developing a Climate Forward Workforce and Innovation Pipeline, Forest WRX Alliance.

“The California Center for Rural Policy is proud to support this process as the Regional Convener,” said Dawn Arledge, executive director of CCRP. “These projects reflect RRRISE’s 150+ organization’s collaborative vision of and commitment to help rural and Tribal communities access the resources they need to thrive.”

Preliminary Catalyst Awardees will undergo contracting and compliance measures before receiving funding. Implementation is expected to begin in May of 2025, with completion by September 2026.

The Redwood Region RISE Collaborative and its four sector investment coordinators are committed to supporting these and the many other excellent economic development projects throughout the region.

The work of Redwood Region RISE is supported by the statewide initiative California Jobs First and has helped inform the newly released California Jobs First Economic Blueprint.