23 Projects Selected Through Stringent Scoring and Evaluation Process
The North State Planning and Development Collective (the Collective) at California State University, Chico along with the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment, co-conveners for the CA Jobs First North State Region, have announced the recipients of $9 million in pre-development funding for rural economic development projects as part of the CA Jobs First Catalyst Fund award process. The North State Region is comprised of Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties. The Collective and Sierra Institute serve as co-conveners for the region.
“Collaborative, regional economic development is key to a thriving North State,” said Jason Schwenkler, executive director for the North State Planning and Development Collective. “This pre-development Catalyst project funding will allow our rural communities to move forward with initiatives designed to support our most vulnerable populations and ensure the health and well-being of the rural North State for years to come,” he said.
Recipients were chosen by members of the North State Region High Road Transition Collaborative team representing all 10 North State counties following a strict scoring and evaluation rubric that entailed three rounds of evaluations to ensure a fair and equitable process.
Awardees and areas of impact are (in random order):
1. Underutilized Species Utilization Regional Partnership (USURP) (Shasta County, Anderson)
2. Youth Apprenticeship Pilot (Tehama County)
3. Tulelake Cultural Visitor Center (Siskiyou County, Tulelake)
4. Fabric Intelligent Mass Timber Factory Design (Shasta County, Redding)
5. Modoc College Center Co-op in Modoc Co (Modoc County, Alturas)
6. North State Together - Educating Future Environmental Stewards (Butte County, Colusa County, Glenn County, Lassen County, Modoc County, Plumas County, Shasta County, Sierra County, Siskiyou County, Tehama County, Trinity County)
7. Regional Revolving Loan Fund 3CORE/SCED (Modoc County, Shasta County, Siskiyou County, Trinity County, Butte County, Tehama County, Glenn County)
8. Modoc-Siskiyou Community Wood Utilization Planning (Siskiyou County, Modoc County, Trinity County, Shasta County)
9. California Prescribed Fire Training Center - PFTC-CA (Butte County)
10. E3 Summer Internship Program (Shasta County)
11. CRAFT Apprenticeship and Shasta College EWD (Butte County, Colusa County, Glenn County, Lassen County, Modoc County, Plumas County, Shasta County, Sierra County, Siskiyou County, Tehama County, Trinity County)
12. Butte College- State Approved Electrician Program Development/ Implementation (Butte County, Glenn County, Tehama County, Plumas County, Lassen County, Modoc County)
13. Good Jobs Pit River Tribe Greenhouse Complex (Modoc County, XL Reservation)
14. Outdoor Recreation Industry Sector Partnership (Siskiyou County)
15. Mt. Shasta Nordic Center Facilities Upgrade (Siskiyou County, Mt. Shasta)
16. Modoc Meat Processing Facility - Marketing the Project (Modoc County)
17. Lost Sierra Food Project's EPIC Harvest (Sierra County, Plumas County, Lassen County, Modoc County)
18. LARP Urban Agriculture Composting Project (Lassen County, Susanville)
19. Catalyst for Workforce, Equity, and Community Empowerment (CHYBA) (Shasta County, Redding)
20. Shasta-Cascade Outdoor Recreation Accelerator (Siskiyou County, Shasta County, Trinity County, Modoc County)
21. Siskiyou Business Incubator (Siskiyou County, Yreka)
22. Devices for Digital Literacy (Butte County, Colusa County, Glenn County, Lake County, Lassen County, Modoc County, Plumas County, Shasta County, Siskiyou County, Tehama County)
23. Scotts Valley Composting and Green Waste Facility (Siskiyou County, Fort Jones)
All project applications were scored on seven key criteria: Equitability, Sustainability, Project Resilience, Job Access and Job Quality, Economic Opportunity and Competitiveness, Scalable Impact, and Feasibility. The projects selected align with the North State Regional Strategies Plan which was developed by the North State Region HRTC and released in December, 2024 after more than a year of collaborative and inclusive listening sessions, hands-on workshops and survey input. The plan focuses on agriculture, health, tourism and natural resources with foundational sectors as support.
The program’s implementation phase application round will be announced in early 2025 and operate through July 2026. The implementation phase application process will be managed and awarded through the State of California for a total of $150 million statewide.
Sierra Institute and the Collective will continue to convene and facilitate the North State region across all participating sectors, jurisdictions, special interest groups and most importantly, those not traditionally included in planning processes. Their skills and abilities will complement each other to ensure that coordination, collaboration and consensus will be the driving motivation for the CA Jobs First activities.
“We look forward to continuing to support this collaborative and inclusive effort alongside Sierra Institute for Community and Environment as the CA Jobs First program moves into its next phase” said Schwenkler. “It’s an exciting, pivotal time for the North State,” he said.
The Sierra Institute for Community and Environment and the Collective were awarded $5 million to serve as Co-Conveners for the North State region, which consists of Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties. The Collective and Sierra Institute have guided the input and collaboration sessions across the North State to develop roadmaps for the region, resulting in the recently released North State Regional Strategic Plan.
On March 28, 2025, The plan was accepted by the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration as the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for the North State Region. This is the first time all counties in our region (and the state) have been included in a CEDS. The plan will complement and work in tandem with the existing CEDS developed by 3CORE, Inc. (Butte, Glenn, Tehama counties) and the Superior California Economic Development Corporation (Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou and Trinity counties) to support the region and leverage additional funding opportunities.
Executive Director of the Sierra Institute, Jonathan Kusel, stated, “It’s been exciting to produce a roadmap based on deep engagement of residents from across the region who participated in North State Jobs First local workshops, Subcommittees, and the full High Roads Training Collaborative. We’re excited about the roadmap that was produced and look forward to the upcoming implementation work.”
Learn more about the awardees at https://www.csuchico.edu/about/projects-initiatives/nspdc/projects/economic-and-workforce-development.shtml
North State Planning and Development Collective 35 Main Street Suite 132 | Chico, CA 95928 US
