Jessica Cejnar Andrews / Wednesday, Aug. 14 @ 4:18 p.m. / Economy, Local Government
Committee To Determine Whether, And How, County Should Offer Economic Development Services
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County supervisors are just starting to research the issue, but Del Norte needs a position devoted to economic development.
At least that’s the big takeaway the UC Cooperative Extension’s Alec Dompka said he arrived at after conducting 24 interviews as part of an economic development needs assessment for Del Norte County.
“Everyone I talked to said this position needs to exist,” said Dompka, who is the economic development advisor for the Cooperative Extension’s Del Norte County office. “And that’s with no prompting from me. That was just a natural reaction.”
Dompka spoke following a presentation from Assistant County Administrative Officer Randy Hooper on Tuesday.
After the Tri-Agency Economic Development Authority’s dissolution in June, supervisors tasked Hooper with crafting a preliminary feasibility study on whether the county should provide economic development services and what those might look like.
That preliminary report included information about 13 counties that do provide economic development services, but Hooper noted that those counties, compared to Del Norte, are prosperous.
Hooper’s report cited statistical information regarding the local labor force, the educational levels of its residents and median incomes gleaned from the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission’s 2023 Economic and Demographic Profile of Del Norte County.
For a look at the DNLTC's 2024 profile, click here.
Hooper said he also spoke with representatives from the California State Association of Counties, Rural County Representatives of California and the California Association of Local Economic Development, or CALED.
“In my mind, there’s a direct correlation between the investment by the community in economic development and these issues,” Hooper told supervisors. “Because, again, the other commonality is the inverse from we see in prosperous communities. And that is in communities that are not [prosperous] you don’t see this type of attention or investment.”
Despite that conclusion, the Board of Supervisors directed its economic development technical advisory committee to author a more thorough feasibility study. Supervisors Dean Wilson and Darrin Short also participate in that technical advisory committee.
District 2 representative Valerie Starkey argued for her colleague Chris Howard to participate in the technical advisory committee, saying that economic development is “right in his wheelhouse.”
Howard said he was content to wait to see what the technical advisory committee brings back before the full Board, but he questioned the timeline involved in the process.
Hooper said the economic development technical advisory committee could begin its research in the next three to four weeks and have its report completed within four to five months.
“I wouldn’t want to go any faster than that,” Hooper said, adding that the Board of Supervisors would make the ultimate decision in response to the recommendations the technical advisory committee makes. “I think there are a lot of specifics that need to be ironed out, but if the recommendation from the technical advisory commission is to create a position there is a whole set of processes that have to occur under that scenario. It’s really hard to say, but I think in terms of the assessment piece of it we could be completed within five to six months and where we go from there is really up to the Board.”
Howard said he was content to wait to see what the technical advisory committee brings back before the full Board, though he was concerned about losing out on potential opportunities while that research was being conducted.
“My biggest feeling is let’s not lose a lot of time here,” he said. “There’s a gap currently in our community. It’s my understanding the city is not refilling their position either and so, losing a year with potential opportunities we could move forward on — that’s really going to fall in your lap for lack for lack of a better term.”
Crescent City Manager Eric Wier confirmed that Ashley Taylor, the city’s economic development and recreation director, resigned last month. He said the City Council will be asked to consider a slight reorganization, which would have Taylor’s former position focus more on community events, as well as running the Fred Endert Municipal Pool and Shoreline RV Park “like a business” rather than economic development.
As the city’s economic development director, Taylor was tasked with implementing the city’s economic development strategic action plan. But focusing on those issues while addressing the position’s other duties was challenging, Wier told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Wednesday.
In his report, Hooper stated a county-based economic developer could help further the development of the county’s comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, or CEDS. They could work with other agencies including tribal partners, the Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce, the Crescent City Harbor District, the school district and Crescent City.
They could also provide assistance to county businesses following a disaster and represent Del Norte County on California Jobs First initiative.
In his needs assessment, Dompka said the people he spoke with said the county’s lack of a designated economic development director prompted them to work with other counties or with Crescent City or the Harbor District.
Sustainable tourism and housing were also a concern Dompka raised. He also mentioned the Smith River Complex wildfires in 2023 and echoed Hooper’s statement in his report about providing assistance for businesses during disasters.
“There were a lot of people who put in extra time and [provided] their expertise to work on relief for businesses,” he said. “That’s a definite need because that organizational infrastructure needs someone to spearhead it and keep it moving.”
Wilson, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, called on staff to create a report focusing on whether the county should provide economic development services. After the city, county and Harbor District voted to dissolve the Tri-Agency in June, Wilson asked to have economic development services be included in the county’s 2024-25 strategic plan.
Wilson had campaigned on the creation of a strategic action plan during the 2022 election. He and his colleagues adopted the plan in April, though the economic development feasibility report was originally scheduled to be implemented in 2026-27.
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