on the cover / By Ryan Burns

Spending Headwaters

Former County Supervisor and Board Chair John Woolley, who now works for Assemblyman Wes Chesbro, thinks that people’s expectations for the Fund might simply be too high. “We always worried — and are still worried — that the cost of significant economic development is more than what the Fund can provide,” Woolley said. “It sounds like a lot of money, but when you divide it up to make it useful for the long term, it’s not a lot.”

As the economic needs of the County and the nation grow more acute, the amount in the duffel bag may start to seem even smaller. With creditors tightening their loan requirements, demand for loans through the RLF have increased. Business loans that would have been approved through banks and credit unions a year ago are now being rejected. To compensate, the HWF Board sent a report before the Board of Supervisors that recommends doubling Fund allocations to the AEDC from $1.5 million to RREDC’s level of $3 million. “We’re doing OK,” assured AEDC Executive Director Ross Welch. “But if all banks and credit unions say certain loans are too risky, we don’t have a bottomless pit.”

Cleary and the rest of the board, meanwhile, are looking for ways to be more proactive and increase the Fund’s influence. “We’ve had a whole series of meetings where we talked to the business community, we talked to the financial community, we talked to the people who run the infrastructure — the water, the sewer plant — and really tried to figure out how we can have a bigger impact,” Cleary said. The most common response they got from employers was that they lack for skilled applicants. While Humboldt County has a good high school graduation rate, relatively few of those graduates go on to college. Used to be, locals would go work for the mills after high school. Now what the County needs most is nurses, accountants and entrepreneurs. It doesn’t help matters that the size of senior classes will nose-dive in the next few years. Hoping to maximize the usefulness of this dwindling home-grown workforce, the HWF board has been talking with local high school administrators about establishing new training programs in the schools, as well as continuing education opportunities after graduation.

The harbor may be coming along, too. According to Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District CEO David Hull, the modernization of the Redwood Marine Terminal will create a multi-purpose dock that’s just as capable of handling short-sea shipping and project cargo as it is cruise ships, container ships and bulk cargo, ready to be offloaded to rail. Even if, as many contend, the latter ideas are mere pipe dreams, the County will still be better off, according to Hull. “Right now we’re just stepping down the path,” he said, “and if [the railroad] never comes back, we’ll still have a modern facility.”

Other key plans for the Fund include include upgrades to the Martin Slough sewage system, a $500,000 loan from the Community Investment Fund for a new flake ice plant to serve local fishermen (replacing Eureka Ice, which closed last year) and a loan fund from which small-time timber producers could borrow money to start a harvest. “If we came up with a loan fund, we could say, ‘We’ll lend you money for your costs, then you pay us when you cut it,” said Cleary. “With interest, of course,” he added with a grin.

Ultimately, the long-term impacts of Fund investments may only be clear in retrospect. For now, the most representative example of its results may be the Botanical Garden: Seeds have been planted. Paths have been laid out. There’s an ambitious (if amorphous) master plan. But it remains to be seen which seeds will take root and just how many people will eventually walk down those paths. Of course, as long as the Fund’s balance remains intact, withering plants can be uprooted in favor of new, more promising species.

As for the critics, the Fund’s one current employee recommends they join in the process. Sitting cross-legged in her cubicle, Elsbree spreads her arms and shrugs. “You know, I’m here,” she said, raising her eyebrows and smiling. “I’m always available to answer questions. Our meetings are open to public and the agendas are posted on the Web site.” After all, the money in that duffel bag belongs to all of us, and unlike the HWF board, we don’t have to rely on other people’s suggestions. “If there’s somebody out there with a great idea,” Elsbree said, “they need to come to Headwaters and make a proposal.”

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