May 19, 2021 — The pandemic has been an economic catastrophe as well as a health disaster. In Mendocino County, where 98% of the businesses are small, the blows have kept landing. Now a group representing a variety of local interests has assembled economic data and a plan they think will help the county climb out of a slump following multiple disasters and long-term stagnation.
A little over a year ago, the county received a grant from the Economic Development Department to come up with resiliency strategies after the fires. West Business Development Center contracted with the county, and assembled a group that is now called MOVE2030, to do the research and report back with ideas. Executive Director Maryann Petrillo says the time is now.
Paul Garza, who assembled much of the data for the team’s analysis, said that even before the most recent crises, the county was in a weak financial position. The average annual income in Mendocino County is $20,000 below the national average. But that doesn’t mean the cost of living is commensurate with low wages. A real living wage for a local family of four would be $27 an hour, plus benefits.
The group has a few requests for the Board of Supervisors. They want ordinances that will simplify licensing and permitting requirements. And they want an employee of the county to help bring together local economic and educational players to form a business hub where entities like non-profits and chambers of commerce could coordinate their approach. And Garza envisions a grant writing clearinghouse, because there have been instances where two organizations with a similar mission each assumed the other was applying for a particular grant, so neither of them did so.
We’ll hear about the connection between local private industry, non-profits, and what MOVE2030 wants from the Board of Supervisors.